Bottled water or ????

[hellosmiletoday]

What other alternatives are there to bottled water. We have well water and we need to use a flouride bottled water for DD.

Recently I did quite a bit of research on city v well v bottled water and came to the conclusion that our water + brita was probably just as good or better than bottled...but what about the flouride!

Thanks in advance
Mommy to baby girl 5.8.04

[purpleeyes]

When we were visiting my mother in law she had something called 'nursery water'-it's basically bottled water with flouride! It was in a big gallon jug, but unfortunately, I don' remember the brand or where she got it.
Also, I know gerber makes bottled water for babies, but I don't know if it has flouride in it.
And one more thing...there is such a thing as flouride poisoning-something you might want to check with your ped about before you buy too many jugs of water! ;)

HTH!

Beth

[connor_mommy]

Our city water is not fluorinated, but we also give ds bottled water. Our pedi prescribed a multi-vitamin that contains fluoride.

mommy to connor
2/29/2004

[jenny76]

We just use water from our Brita pitcher. If you look at the instructions for the filters, you'll see that it filters out the impurities but does not remove the flouride.

Now my question is if it's safe to filter the water and leave the pitcher out of the fridge. Ours is currently refrigerated and it is very cold, so we tend to warm it just a bit just to take the huge chill off. If we can leave the pitcher/water at room temp, that would be much more convenient.

Edit: Oh, if your water isn't flouridated (I guess well water is not), there are flouride drops that your doctor can prescribe.

[Joolsplus2]

Like the PP said, your Dr can prescribe flouride. Also, do some research on flouride and decide whether you *need* it or not. I've lived in many municipalities that feel it's a toxin (it IS rat poison, after all, in higher doses obviously) and you can do more research on it before you decide to supplement.
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[ctmom]

there is a difference between the floride municipalities put in water and the rx floride, the rx floride is not derrived from rat poison

[jhaud]

pp's mentioned either flouride drops or multi with flouride... but, my ped said that dd only needs 6 oz of our city water which does have floride to be getting enough. so, in all of your considerations, it might be worth it to use both your well water and a daily cup of bottled with floride.

[hellosmiletoday]

Thanks. We do have well water. I like the idea of using just a little of the nursery water b/c I find it tastes like the plastic of the bottle. I'm not sure what is worse -- well water or bottled water!!!

[kensjen]

You can get fluoride drops from your Dr if you feel they are necessary. I wouldn't buy any special water, especially if you have the brita filter. We have well water, and give our son filtered water, we have a double filtration system.

We got an Rx for the fluoride, but rarely give it to DS. It isn't really too important, per our family full of dentists. We do use fluorinated toothpaste for him now, and brush his teeth twice a day.

They actually can have too much fluoride at such a young age.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Dannon sells drinking water with flouride in small bottles that are perfect for toddlers.

[chlobo]

There has been some research lately suggesting that ingesting flouride is not very good for you and does nothing to prevent tooth decay and problems. As a previous poster mentioned, too much flouride can actually do more harm than good.

Here is a link to an article about ingesting flouride:

http://www.organicstyle.com/feature/0,8028,s1-37-0-0-1140,00.html

There was also a Wall Street Journal article in July that talked about an increased cancer risk in boys to drank flouridated water.

BTW, I am just curious. It sounds like you really don't like the idea of well water. Do you have problems with ours? I love our well water.

[Tondi G]

if you decide you want flouridated water Sparkletts will deliver flouridated water and they sell bottles called Jr. Sport that have flouride in them!

https://ecommerce.4watersonline.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/estore/macros/DW_cs3-5gallons_popup.d2w/report

~Tondi

[hellosmiletoday]

I grew up with city water, so this is the first time I've ever had well water, so my concerns are mostly based on the lack of experience. I do not have any problems with the taste of well water, and our house has a newly installed prefiltration filter, neutralizer and softener mostly for the high iron levels. We got a water quality report upon closing, but the report is not as thorough as the yearly report we used to get from the city (e.g. pesticide, radon levels etc). Plus, all sorts of odd things are happening, such as a musty smell in a relatively new washing machine, weird grey buildup in toilet, old iron stains on faucet, etc...

But realisticly, our well water + brita is probably just as good or better than city/bottled water and free from potential plastic contamination from bottled water.

Thanks!

[holliam]

Like a PP stated, there is danger in ingesting too much fluoride. We brought DD to a pediatric dentist when she came home around 8 months (for another dental issue) and asked about fluoride because we only drink bottled water.

He said he absolutely would not worry. He said that jarred baby foods actually have enough in it, even though I told him we mostly made her food. He said to just use some of our tap water occasionally to make our food, and that should probably be fine.

He was very against fluoride drops, saying that they were not necessary.

Holli

[chlobo]

Our well water far exceeds the quality of the town water I grew up with. There are so many things added to city water just to make it safe to drink. It's really astounding. And, city water is still subject to the same kinds of contamination.

My DH & I decided that we would get a thorough water test every year and test for those things we are most concerned about. So far so good. If you have concerns, you should get retested. It's possible the local health department might do it. Can't hurt to ask. Radon would be a separate test, though and is a bit pricey.

As to the musty smell in the washer - does your house get somewhat humid in the summer? Our brand new front loader started to smell when we left the door & detergent chamber closed all the time. I guess it was the humidity. The remedy I was told was to run the washer empty with dishwasher detergent. Cleared the smell right up. Now we just leave the door & chamber open in between washings.

As an aside, my dentist told me that some water has naturally occurring flouride. That is not one of the substances routinely tested for. Next time you test you could add that and see if your well water has any.

Good luck.

[hellosmiletoday]

Who does your testing. Ours was done by the county.

Which brand dishwasher detergent did you use, and how much! A few days ago I googled for info on cleaning washing machine and tried baking soda and vinegar with no luck. I've read that cascade complete can work.

Washing macbine is on 2nd floor and air does get a bit stagnent, although MUCH less than in FL. We used to leave door open in FL, not sure what the sellers did (I've only been in NC 2 months).

Our flouride content in NC is <.2ppm (from what I recall, city water in FL was about 1 ppm).

[chlobo]

We have a private lab do the testing. That way we can request what level of testing we want. Of course we have to pay out of pocket but its worth the peace of mind. We go to the lab, get the containers, take them home, fill them up and then bring them back to the lab. If you want to be really thorough you could test some before and after the filter, just to make sure the filter is doing its job.

My DH is a bit fanatical so we have a reverse osmosis under the counter filtration system put in. Makes the water taste even better. Really removes the salty taste left by the water softener.

While I am working on eliminating all the "harsher" chemicals in my house I have to admit that I do use Cascade Complete on the washing machine at the moment as I haven't researched an alternative. And it works everytime.

FWIW, I live in the Northeast and my washer still gets stinky so I would think its a possibility in NC, where probably gets a little warmer & a little more humid more of the time.

As an aside, I just heard that the unions representing 7000 EPA employees are trying to pressure the powers that b at EPA to put a moratorium on adding flouride to drinking water now that research has come to light about the potential to increase the risk of cancer in young boys. You can read about it here, on the union website. The last 3 links seem to be the most recent:

http://nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/fluoridesummary.htm

[Joolsplus2]

Oooh, dishwasher detergent...I'll have to try that. My front loader has a "boot" that always stays full of water and gets pretty grungy.

Thanks for the tip!

I have friends on well water, and they do nothing to filter it, and it has SO much iron in it, all their appliances are red-dirt colored, your hair smells rusty, and their habit of running the washing machine at night and putting the clothes in the dryer in the morning makes everything smell moldy from sitting too long. Um... they aren't exactly neat freaks, lol... THAT kind of well water would drive me over the edge! I know most is better than that :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[chlobo]

Well they can treat just about anything in well water. I swear there is a filter for everything so if they were so inclined, they could reduce or eliminate the problem. I agree, that kind of issue would drive me crazy as well.

Generally, though, I like that our water is not treated with chemicals and is only filtered. I am fortunate to live in a low-density community that hasn't had *as much* exposure to harsh chemicals as some other places using well water have.

[hellosmiletoday]

The water outside from the hose is pretty red from all the iron -- very gross. We can not use it for anything (especially not in baby pool). However, the household water is filtered and softened so its crystal clear.

Another problem I've noticed is that the water tastes funny after sitting out for a while (I always take a cup of water to bed, and by the early morning its gross, unlike my old city water). I guess the lack of chlorine allows bacterial growth?

[chlobo]

It could be the water softener that makes it taste a little funny. I know ours tasted better when it was cold. When it warmed to room temp is was almost a little salty since what the water softener does is add salt. Certain filters will filter out that saltiness & make it taste better. I'm sure there are also some naturally occurring, harmless elements that make it taste a little off.

[hellosmiletoday]

The Cascade complete cleared up the smell....and I can continue hanging dd's clothes to air dry without worrying about them possibly getting musty.

Thanks!