Tap water for baby?

Question

My daughter is almost 5 months old and to this point i have used spring water to make bottles. (breastfed for about 3 mos). When is it safe to use water straight from the tap?

Answer 1

I agree with some comments about bottled water being no better than some tap water (in fact, where I used to live in Alaska they put the tap water in bottles and sold it as 'bottled water'... very funny! It was good water though, dont get me wrong, but why pay for it!!!) but you need to be sure what your water has been treated with. I think some cities add too much flouride into the water, which can cause baby to have blotches/stains on their teeth when they are older. Not to mention high levels of chlorine. You also have to be careful when picking bottled water, not all bottled water is good for them either.
Ok, just googled this and here's part of an article from the link below talking about the flouride in tap water:

BOTTLE-FED babies are receiving excess fluoride because their formula is made using fluoridated tap water, a Food Safety Authority of Ireland assessment indicates.
The Department of Health asked the FSAI to investigate the impact of fluoridated tap water on infants amid concern at studies linking fluoride to cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, hip fractures, dental fluorosis and thyroid disorders.
Anti-fluoridation campaigners claim that new-borns who are fed formula-prepared with tap water are receiving three times the limit recommended by the British Medical Association, while a three-month old child receives up to six times the limit.
In the US, the Academy of General Dentistry advises that in fluoridated areas "it is recommended that parents use low fluoride bottled distilled water or tap water with a reverse osmosis home water filtration system attached that removes most of the fluoride.
"As a group of health care professions, we have a duty to protect public health and therefore we will be initiating a nationwide publicity campaign to highlight the dangers of using tap water to make up infants' feed," Dr Mac Auley said.

Better to be safe than sorry with this sort of stuff I think.

Answer 2

Spring water is no safer than tap water. Distilled water is supposed to be, but I'm not so sure about that either. If you've been giving spring water, tap water is fine too.
For my first baby I boiled the water until she was 6 months old. Then I heard boiling is bad because it concentrates the minerals that can be in the water. For my second baby, I started using tap water when he was 2 months old. I had to stop breast feeding him at that point, and he's fine. He's 4 yrs old now. Most water supplies in developed countries are safe. If your not sure call your local water dept and see about having the water tested.

Answer 3

I subscibe to something called the Green Guide, which is an environmental website. They had a story on there about tap vs bottled water. What they said is that regulatory agencies require that bottle water plants must be checked 1x a year, but that water supplies for major cities must be checked 4x a year. So you often get better quality water just from your tap.

I'll see if I can find the article and if so will come back and update this post.

Also you can go to this great website called scorecard.org and put in your zipcode. It will tell you how good your air and water is and who are the polluters in your area.

Hope that helps.

PS:
Here's the one I was talking about from http://www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=49
"The study found that tap water is often better regulated than bottled water and has to meet more stringent standards at both the federal and local levels. Cities must test their water for chemical contaminants at least once a quarter, but bottlers must only test annually. "

AND...
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=101&s=mos
"Americans say one main reason they drink bottled water is because it is safer than tap water. Yet a four-year Natural Resources Defense Council study tested a thousand bottles sold in the United States and found that about one fifth contained chemicals such as toluene, xylene, or styrene--known or possible carcinogens and neurotoxins."
...

Answer 4

Is the tap water in your area not good? In many places, the water is just fine...that's why we are all still alive today (know my mom wasn't buying bottled water) :-) However, you can always boil it and then put it in the fridge for use as needed. I used to do this when we lived overseas. That way you don't have to boil Every feeding and less expensive than bottled.

Answer 5

it really is going to depend where you live for example where i live there are high level of aresenic in the water so you dont ever want to drink tap water much less give it to baby also if you are going to be traveling with baby switching water can upset her stomach for now i would just say stick to bottled water or if you really want to use tap water call the water department make sure the water is safe and then use a home water purification system.

Answer 6

It is usually safe by now. Only use cold water though, because if there is lead in your water it is more likely to be in the warm water. Let your water run for 2 or 3 minutes first, and if your still iffy then it is 100 safe as long as you boil it! Save on money and use tap, it's safe, or else we couldn't drink it! Glad you take precautions though!

Answer 7

It depends on where you get your water from. Do you get it from a well...then always use spring water! Otherwise tap water is just fine.

I always bought drinking water for my son's bottles but I would rather have bottled water then tap so I figured I would give him the same!

Answer 8

It depends on where you live. I don't drink regular tap water from our house. We have a filtering system on the kitchen sink and we use that or the water from the refrigerator to drink. I have made my baby's bottles for both kids with the filtered tap. The doctor and the company that installed the filter system said it was OK.

Answer 9

Get your water tested before you give her tap water. If it tests fine , then its safe for her. I boil my water and keep it in a jug for my children that are 2 and 5.

Answer 10

I didn't use tap water, unless it had been boiled and allowed to cool, until my children were 12 months.
Boiled tap water which has been allowed to cool is fine from birth.xxxx