What happens if I make baby formula incorrectly?
One of the things I’ve heard and read quite often since becoming a dad is people freaking out over potentially making baby formula incorrectly.
Now, before we go further I’m talking about the style where you put two ounces of water per scoop of dry formula, I’m not talking about creating your own formula which is another article entirely.
How hard is it to prepare formula?
The general rule applies to all powdered formulas I’ve run across – pour two ounces per scoop you’re going to use into a bottle, dump formula into bottle, shake, serve to child.
Sound pretty easy? That’s because it is.
What happens if I pour too much water in?
Assuming you’re talking about a half ounce or so over, the formula will contain slightly fewer calories per CC. In my experience baby won’t notice. Delicate little stomach will process it normally. May be slightly more pee or waterier poop.
Keep in mind, I’m not advocating watering down your formula. This leads to too few calories getting to the baby. That’s not a good plan. Seriously, there are places that will give you formula if you’re having difficulty getting it. Don’t intentionally water down.
What happens if I don’t put enough water in?
Too little water leads to baby having a pancake dinner, and can cause a little dehydration if you did it often, but one time isn’t going to damage baby. You can eyeball 2oz, or you can measure it out using complicated devices, results are the same.
You might get a complaint on either too much or too little water, but it’s not going to cause damage.
What if the formula isn’t at 98.6f/37c degrees?
Many feed formula to their kids at room temp, or faucet temp which is around 62 degrees. Many give baby milk out of the fridge. A reasonably cold milk isn’t going to harm them, and as long as it’s not scalding chances are slightly too warm isn’t going to make them into psycho killers.
The only thing I noticed with my kiddos is warmer milk tended to increase gas in my fart machines, and if it was too cold feeding took longer because they wouldn’t chug it.
Should I worry?
No, but you’re taking advice from some guy on the internet. Keep searching and I’m sure you’ll find the soul-wrenching tale of woe that some family blames formula imbalance for. Realistically that story doesn’t exist without several odd factors that would contribute to another problem down the line.
Is pre-packaged liquid formula better than powder?
No.
