How to Prepare Infant Formula: Perfectly and Safely

Choosing the best formula is the first step in making the perfect bottle. Making the right choice of healthy ingredients that also work best for your little one digestively, although not always easy, will help the rest of the process fall into place. 

Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients and regulations that best support physical growth and cognitive development from newborns to toddlers.

Your baby deserves organic nutrition without harmful additives, heavy metals, or added preservatives. The best formula is designed without toxic additives such as corn syrup, glucose syrup solids, or table sugar.

European baby formulas ensure that your baby receives all the necessary nutrients in the healthiest way possible.

By choosing the most natural ingredients, European baby formula gets as close to breastmilk’s innate goodness as possible.

Start with natural fats to give your infant the carbohydrates and protein they need for physical and cognitive development, followed by naturally sourced essential vitamins and minerals.

We cannot think of a perfect way to start a bottle of baby formula.

Bacteria growth can be prevented, or germs can be controlled through appropriate basic hygiene and regularly washing bottle parts. 

🧼 Washing your hands thoroughly each time you prepare baby formula or heat a bottle

🧼 Washing is essential after using the restroom, during diaper changes, or when in public

🧼 Using warm soapy water, rub hands together vigorously for 20 seconds

🧼 Make sure to wash in between fingers and fingernails

🧼 Clean and Sterilize any equipment or kitchen tools used in preparing baby formula. If possible, it is best to have utensils and contains that is for baby formula construction only.

🧼 Use a non-toxic cleaner to wipe down surfaces where your baby’s formula will be prepared or stored.

🧼 Sterilize all bottles, bottle rings, nipples, and caps when using for the 1st time

🧼 Cover all pieces with water and boil for 5 minutes

🧼 Remove carefully with tongs before letting them air-dry until cool

🧼 After the first use, it is not necessary to sterilize each time

Your baby formula box or container is essential. Check boxed baby formula for any obvious punctures, rips, holes, or leaks to the inside container.

Minor dents and dings are acceptable if they do not leak or cause the seams to open.

Extending hygiene to the powdered formula means checking to see if your baby’s formula has expired. Do not use baby formula with an expiration date or a use date that has passed.

Baby Formula must be used by the best date. Your baby will not get enough calories to grow. The formula also starts tasting bad, and bacteria can begin to grow.

 *Important note* European dates format is always DAY / MONTH / YEAR

With so many baby bottles on the market, choosing the best baby bottle your little one will take that is safe can be overwhelming. 

Plastic baby bottles are convenient, cheap, and unbreakable, but are they safe? Studies have linked exposure to the chemical BPA—which can rapidly leach out of plastic bottles when exposed to a hot liquid—to damage developing brains and tissues and a heightened risk of cancer later in life.

There is also a concern as an estimated average bottle-fed baby using plastic baby bottles could be ingesting 1.6 million plastic microparticles every day during the first 12 months of their lives.

As for the future, landfills are unavoidable, and each plastic baby bottle can decompose for up to 1,000 years.

Glass baby bottles and stainless-steel baby bottles are options families can feel good about. The choice is yours, as both are made without harmful chemicals, toxin-free, and eco-friendly. 

European baby formula is chemical and additive-free. Mixing your little ones’ powder nutrition with water that is just as clean will give your baby the healthiest present and future. 

Most water in the United States and Canada comes from home faucets and is safe to drink. This being said, it is still best to boil tap water and let it cool to the correct temperature before making your baby’s formula.

Bringing cold water to a full-bubbling boil kills germs, bacteria, or viruses. These things can find their way into the water supply if pipes are old or leaky, if there’s heavy rain or flooding in your area, or if there are problems with the main water supply.

Tap water in many communities in the US has added fluoride. This cavity preventive mineral is found naturally in water and soil. Still, the levels are too low to have any benefit, so the American Dental Association supports the addition of fluoride to water.

Babies can receive too much fluoride in water, and daily use may be harmful. Unfortunately, boiling tap water does not change how much fluoride is in it, and some water filters can’t remove fluoride, either.

Suppose you or your health care provider is concerned about your baby getting too much fluoride. Families can alternate between tap water and low fluoride bottled water to mix the perfect bottle.

Low fluoride tap water might be labeled as “demineralized,” “purified,” “distilled,” or “deionized.”

Families with a well for drinking water might have higher levels of minerals than are usually wanted to make baby formula.

Well water can easily be contaminated with toxins from the dirt or groundwater around it. This leeching is known to add toxins that can be dangerous to babies. Ask your local municipality or extension office to test your water samples if your home gets tap water from a well.

While waiting for the test to be returned, avoid using the well water to make your baby’s formula. Ask your pediatrician about using low fluoride bottled water instead.

If you prefer to use bottled water to make your baby’s formula, specialty gallons are sold. “Nursery Water” labels mean that these companies have followed guidelines to ensure the water is sterilized by boiling before being bottled.

Parents can use bottled water to make baby formula, although you still need to boil it. While bottled water is safe for adults, it might not be as safe for babies.

You can boil water in advance so that you are ready for your little one to be hungry. Remember hygiene at every step of baby formula preparation.

Boiled water can be stored at room temperature, out of direct sunlight for 24 hours, or refrigerated for up to three days.

🧼 Start with clean hands

🧼 Sterile glass jars or jugs and the lids you will use to store the boiled water

🧼 Sterilize them by pouring boiling water into them and rinsing them out with boiled water

🧼 Don’t use tap water to rinse them out; they won’t be sterile anymore if you do

Now that you have researched, inspected, sanitized, and boiled, it is time to put the baby bottle together.

First and foremost, it is essential that you mix the powdered baby formula precisely as instructed. Baby formula preparation is an exact science and has been designed perfectly to meet the nutritional needs of your infant.

Babies strongly prefer warm milk; in newborns, the warmed baby formula helps maintain body temperature and is comforting.

When a baby is hungry and crying, we want to quickly warm a bottle and soothe our sweet little one. It can be frustrating for both the caregiver and the baby to wait.

It is best to raise the temperature in the bottle gently to ensure that all the nutrients stay intact. The ideal milk temperature is at or just below body temperature – 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slowly raising the temperature of your baby’s formula will also help keep hotspots or uneven heating that can cause burning on your baby's skin, mouth, or throat at bay.

Microwaving baby formula is not recommended. The most pressing reason being that while the bottle may feel cool after microwaving it, the baby formula inside can be hot. This uneven heating will cause severe burns to your little one’s mouth and tongue. There has also been a debate for several years on microwaving baby formula.

Some conjecture is that most of its anti-infection properties and antibodies are lost, creating an environment where bacteria could flourish. Some contemporary thoughts are that microwaving baby formula will not harm the nutrients found in baby formula most parents do not consider this a chance worth taking.

A quick method is to simply use running tap water.

🍼 Hold the baby bottle filled with cold prepared formula under warm-to-hot running water

🍼 Rotate it around to reach all sides for roughly two minutes. Families may prefer to use hot tap water in a glass mug to place their baby bottle in.

🍼 Fill a mug ¾ full of warm-to-hot tap water

🍼 Place baby bottle filled with cold prepared formula in a mug

🍼 Let sit for approximately 2 minutes

🍼Heat water in a pan until just above room temperature

🍼Remove the pan from the heat

🍼Set the bottle in it until the desired temperature

Baby bottle warmers are a hands-free solution that warms your baby bottle with the touch of a button. With preset temperatures, they can take the guesswork out of heating a bottle.

Bottles come in different shapes and sizes, so be sure your bottles will fit into the warmer you select or choose one that adjusts to many dimensions.

 🍼Start by removing the nipple and collar of the bottle

 🍼Cover with a warming cap or travel cap

 🍼Set for the recommended time

 🍼Remove the bottle carefully

 🍼Replace collar and nipple

No matter which bottle-heating method your family prefers, remember your little one's safety comes first! It is imperative to always test the baby’s formula before giving the bottle to your baby to avoid burning their mouth.

An easy method is to dab a few drops of milk onto your inner wrist; you should feel almost nothing if it’s the appropriate temperature. Most babies prefer milk that’s as close to body temperature as possible. The temperature is perfect if you feel no warm sensation on your wrist.

If it’s slightly cool, your baby may still find it acceptable, but if you feel too warm, the bottle is too hot. Wait until it cools down before offering the bottle of baby formula to your baby.

Preparing the perfect bottle of baby formula beginning with a baby formula free of harmful additives, chemicals, or preservatives through toxin-free water, you want only the best for your precious little one.

The Milky Box knows that pure nutrition is essential for your baby’s first years of life. We proudly offer baby formulas that support your baby’s current and future health and well-being.