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Preparing formula milk for your baby is a daily necessity for most mothers. However, doing it correctly and scientifically to ensure your baby's optimal nutrient absorption and health safety is not something every mother is adept at. Nutrients in the milk won't be effective if the mother doesn't know how to prepare milk for the baby correctly. This often happens when making some common mistakes while preparing formula milk for the baby.
9 Taboos Mothers Should Know when Preparing Formula Milk for Babies:
Apart from breast milk, formula milk is the second essential source of nutrients for newborns and infants. When preparing formula milk for your baby, just a little carelessness or negligence from the mother can unexpectedly become the culprit harming the baby's health.
Do Not Sterilize Equipment before Preparing Milk for Baby
The digestive system of newborns is not yet fully developed, making it vulnerable to damage. To ensure absolute safety for the child and prevent the invasion of harmful bacteria into the baby's health, it is necessary to clean the milk preparation equipment with baby bottle cleanser and sterilize them using a sterilizer or boiling them for about 3-5 minutes.
Wet Hands When Mixing Baby Formula
If you've just rinsed the bottle, poured water, or just finished washing your hands and they're still wet, you need to dry them before starting to scoop milk powder. Wet hands holding the scoop will make it wet and moisten the milk. This milk will quickly clump, become moldy, and be harmful to the baby's health.
Scooping Milk Approximately
Many parents when preparing baby formula do not follow the manufacturer's instructions. It may be diluted or more concentrated than recommended. Parents should not do this because the manufacturer has calculated the optimal ratio. If prepared incorrectly: diluted milk will lack nutrients, concentrated milk will lead to constipation and digestive disorders.
Using Mineral Water or Bottled Purified Water to Mix Baby Formula
This is one of the most dangerous mistakes in parenting. According to nutrition experts, mineral water contains excess minerals when mixed with milk. Therefore, mothers should only use naturally boiled water cooled to an appropriate temperature to prepare milk for the baby properly, which is the ideal method.
Mixing baby formula with diluted porridge water
Cow's milk contains a lot of vitamin A while rice water and porridge are mainly starch with lipoxidase, which destroys vitamin A. Therefore, mothers unintentionally deplete the necessary amount of vitamin A for the baby's development when diluting milk with rice water or diluted porridge. Moreover, the starch in porridge and rice water will compete with calcium absorption.
Mixing breast milk with formula milk for breastfeeding babies also poses a risk of poisoning, affecting the child's life.
Preparing baby formula too thick
Many mothers often believe that giving their child thicker milk is better. However, that's not beneficial for the baby at all. Drinking thick milk regularly can cause stomach pain, constipation, poor appetite, and even refusal to eat,... What's more dangerous is that some babies may develop acute hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.
Mixing baby formula with water that's too cold or too hot
Many cautious mothers use very hot water to prepare formula milk for newborns to ensure safety, but this destroys the nutrient content in the milk. Some mothers want their babies to have milk quickly, so they prepare it with water that's too cold, which is also not safe as it can easily cause diarrhea. Parents should follow the correct temperature when preparing milk for the baby. If the milk is still hot after preparation, you can quickly cool the bottle by rinsing it under cold water.
Testing the temperature of prepared milk with mouth
Avoid using your mouth to test if the milk is still hot. This method is not safe for newborns and can easily transmit diseases to them. So how can you safely and effectively test the milk? Hold the milk bottle up and drop a few drops on your wrist, if you feel the milk is lukewarm, it's safe for the baby to consume.
Keeping the excess milk for the baby's next feed
Many mothers, out of reluctance, still intentionally leave the excess milk for the baby to drink later without knowing that when the baby has put their mouth on the bottle, bacteria from the air and the baby's mouth can be transmitted into the milk, sticking there and adversely affecting the baby's health. Usually, a bottle of milk that the baby has put their mouth on can only be used within an hour.
- [Learn More] How Long Can Pre-made Formula Milk Last?
- [Mom's Guide] Detailed Formula Milk Measurement for Newborns
- [Mom's Corner] What to Do When the Baby Refuses to Drink Formula Milk?
