Yikes!

I've been having trouble with this notion that formula water shouldn't be boiled because it "concentrates the solutes."  Well, I just boiled 2 saucepans of water for 5 minutes each, 400 ml in each saucepan.  Then I allowed each to cool until it stopped steaming.  One was uncovered the whole time, one was covered the whole time.

The uncovered saucepan lost 75 ml, or nearly 20 percent of its volume.  Solute levels in that water are now 25 percent higher than they were!   (In one case you're comparing a changing amount to a stable amount, in the other case you're comparing a stable amount to a changing amount.  The math is different.  Think what happens to the solutes if you reduce the water by 50 percent.  They increase by 100 percent.)

The covered saucepan lost 25 ml, or just over 6 percent of its volume.  Solutes in that water are now roughly 6 and a half percent more concentrated.

So now I'm a believer.  Don't boil that water, folks.  Or if you must, by all means keep it tightly covered when you do.

(But someone please remind me: what *is* the formula-feeding mother to do if she wants the cleanest possible water for mixing but doesn't want to boil?)

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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