Safety Tips for a Baby Bottle
Though breastfeeding is important for babies, there will come a time where you need to feed your baby with formula from a bottle for nutrition and sustenance that they need beyond their age. Hence, it is highly important that you make sure that each of the feeding bottles that goes directly to the mouth of your young ones are safe and clean. Powdered infant formulas are not sterile, and it could contain bacteria that can cause serious illness to your baby. By storing and preparing formula correctly and by sterilizing the bottle, you can significantly reduce and totally eliminate the risk associated by unclean feeding bottles. To avoid the possibilities of health hazard among young ones, below are the dos and don’t when it comes to taking care of your baby’s feeding bottle:
How to Keep Baby Bottle Safe and Clean
-
Do
Sterilize you baby’s feeding bottles including similar accessories (such as pacifiers) regularly or after usage. Scrub the bottle well using only mild soapy liquid. If you just purchased a new feeding bottle for your baby, makes sure to boil the bottles in proper boiling temperature for about 5 minutes before using them. It is to ensure that there is no chemical or other toxic compounds in the bottle as inherent to a newly manufactured feeding bottles. After its first use, wash them for 1 min. in hot soapy water and rinse well to remove the bacteria that could make your infant sick.
-
Don’t
Never use a strong dishwashing liquid to clean your baby’s feeding bottle. The chemicals or the residue of the liquid soap that you use might intoxicate your child if not rinsed appropriately. Never utilize the sponge used in cleaning your plates and other kitchenware. Use another sponge specially dedicated only for cleaning your baby’s feeding bottle.
-
Do
When you observed any discoloration, wear and tear or thinning in your child’s feeding bottle or its nipple, it’s time to replace the baby bottle right away. To test the nipple strength, pull it on the bulb with sufficient force. It should be rebound into its original shape, and if it doesn’t, you have to throw it away.
-
Don’t
If the nipple of the baby bottle already shows a visible tear, swelling cracks and breaks, do not wait months to get it replaced. When the teeth of your child are developing, the pieces of the deteriorating nipple might become a choking hazard for your young one.
-
Do
Do check the temperature of your baby’s milk before feeding them. To know if the formula is at its proper temperature, squirt a few drops on your palm or the back of your hand.
-
Don’t
Do not heat the formula in the microwave. Some parts of the bottle can heat up than the other and could burn your baby. You can chill or warm the bottle by placing in running water, but make sure that the running water should be below the lid of the feeding bottle, and then shake it to reduce the heat from a hot spot.
Ensure the safety of your baby while keeping them healthy by following the guidelines above.
Check best baby bottle warmers 2016
