formula feeding questions

Breezy8407

My 37 week'ers are 4 months and a week old now. I forgot to ask these questions last week at their 4 month check up....

1. We are still using the newborn or slow flow nipples. They don't spit up an excessive amount, and are pretty good burpers. DD is a lazy eater and either takes forever or starts playing with the bottle. Time to move up?

2. For formula mixing, we have been buying the Gerber mixing water at Target. It's not expensive, but it NEVER seems to be in stock at the two Targets we go to. How important is it to use this water or boiled water? Can we just use tap water at this age? (We have a water softener if it matters).

AmyJoy728

I would try moving to the next nipple, they may eat faster. We are on avent #3 nipples.

I use water from my brita for bottles.  

Rynleigh

I used tap water with my girls - but our tap water in the cities I lived in was safe to drink. Ours with our second was fluoridated, and that is something that a lot of parents want to keep out of their babies bodies - our pedi recommended making sure they get some of the water, because otherwise they usually recommend a fluoride supplement instead. My youngest has much healthier, stronger teeth than my oldest (who never had fluoridated water), so my mind has been set on a positive outlook for fluoride. 

I was cautious with my oldest and would boil the water first and refrigerate it by the gallon to use later, but I gave up on the extra work when she started eating solids. Never bothered boiling with my second. Always check with the health and safety boards in your city to doublecheck the safety levels of your water before using it in formula. Most doctors I've spoken to warn against using tap water if your city/town uses well water because you have less control over the metals/minerals in it - stuff that you can't boil off. 

benz2010

I would move up in nipples, we did at 3 months. We use the water out of our filter. We have a well and as a dental hygienist it bothers me that they aren't getting fluoride, but we will just have to start fluoride treatments when they get some teeth

Kb103109

I would say yes to moving up to the next nipple size.  I also use water from the Brita.  When they we newborns I used bottled water, I want to say it was around 6 months old I started just using the Brita.

angelfire02

We just moved up in the Born Free nipples and it has made a huge difference, they are so much faster and more interested in their bottles now.  I still use bottled water, but I just buy the gallons of Target brand, not like the nursery water or anything.  I grew up in an area where flouride is in our water and I have good teeth without any other issues....or at least flouride related issues.

erniebufflo

We've used tap from the start. My hubby is a pediatrician, and he said it was fine. 

besu-chan

Definitely go for the next nipple size, just be prepared for a little sputtering the first few tries We use water from a Brita pitcher.