The Spanish Association of Pediatrics publishes an excellent document that guides on breastfeeding and complementary feeding and that in the end presents an annex with Recommendations on how to feed babies with formula milk in a safe and correct way.
It is a document entitled "Feeding of infants and young children: Standards recommended by the European Union", which includes the work of a group of the EUNUTNET (European Network for Healthy Public Nutrition: Networking, Monitoring, Intervention and Training), with consensual recommendations on childhood feeding.
In Annex 4, entitled "Safe feeding alternatives" (page 27 of the document), the following practices are recommended to reconstitute, store and feed children with powdered formula, and for safe handling, at home, of the formula ready to drink liquid:
- Avoid pollution (by washing hands and ensuring the cleanliness of the kitchen and the tools).
- Prepare the infant formula in fresh powder for each shot.
- Use germ free containers (with thorough washing and sterilization by boiling for 10 minutes, immersion in sterilizing liquids or using microwave sterilizers).
- For the reconstitution and preparation of the powdered formula, exactly the following should be followed. instructions contained in the can or the package in order to ensure that the preparation is neither too concentrated nor too diluted; Both extremes can be dangerous for the child.
- Reconstitute the formula with hot water (> 70ºC) or water that has been boiled and cooled from 70º, avoiding recontamination.
- Cool the reconstituted formula quickly (before 30 minutes) and use it immediately; take precautions with the temperature to avoid the risk of burns in the child's mouth.
- Discard any remaining formula after each take.
- The ready-to-drink liquid formulas, usually sold in single-use bottles or in tetra bricks, are sterile products. However, they can become contaminated with potentially harmful environmental bacteria after opening or during handling or administration. Also in these cases, strict hygiene should be respected to minimize risks.
Also, in this same section of the document, apart from the tips to properly prepare the bottle with formula milk We are reminded that these milks are not sterile and other data about cow's milk, which should not be used for children under one year.
