Lisa, the matter of the WHO guidelines to use water at 70 degrees C to 
reconstitute powdered artificial baby milk (ABM), and the fact that this 
also would affect probiotics negatively, came up in a presentation I gave 
recently. There is no easy answer on that, and the jury is still out on the 
effectiveness of probiotics added to this type of mixture. There's a 
Cochrane Review that covers that, but I don't have it in front of me

However, I wouldn't add breastmilk to a bottle of ABM for fear that the 
protective properties would be rendered less effective. (I don't have a 
recent reference. Perhaps someone else has?) I tell mothers to give their 
milk first, and then the other stuff separately. Sure, they'll mix in the 
baby's stomach, but the human milk should already be doing some good before 
the ABM is given. Comments?

Virginia,
in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lisa Paul wrote:
Because of the wonderful sharing of this group, I am aware that WHO 
standards for formula preparation involve heating the water to make the 
non-sterile formula safe.  Today it occurred to me that this practice would 
kill any probiotics in the formula.  I know one brand says on their website 
not to heat up past 100F to get the benefits of the probiotic.

Do the good bacteria in breastmilk help to contradict the non-sterile state 
of powder formula?  If a mom were to add breastmilk to a bottle of formula 
prepared with cool water, does that help?  Are the probiotics more of a 
marketing gimick?  (I am a believer of probiotics for adults, I am thinking 
it could help infants too? But is there any evidence that it does?)

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