Comments on: SteriPEN Baby: Bug-Zapping Formula-Safe Water

By: Jasi

Jasi — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:38:25 +0000

I was raised in NJ. Our tap was just fine. Every few months out in PA, however, we get word from the water company, "Whoops! Micro-organisms in the water could potentially make you violently ill and harm your children, especially infants... Will let you know when it's safe again."

So we've got Cartier, Tiffany's and Nieman out here. But still, no reliable safe water.

Really nuts.

By: Allison (CodeCrafter)

Allison (CodeCrafter) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:06:54 +0000

I'm with everyone else that this is total over kill for formula water.

Devices like this have been around for a while and they are really handy for backpacking because water is heavy and you don't want to be lugging enough water for your whole trip with or without a baby in tow. You could also just boil the water though.

We didn't go backpacking with a baby but we did go camping when my son was under 1 and we all drank the water that came out of the taps.

By: Erin S.

Erin S. — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:09:58 +0000

This is definately overkill. If you can drink it, your baby can drink it. One other thought to consider – the incidence of allergic disease in the US is going up exponentially…one theory is the “hygiene theory”…basically the immune system gets bored since it doesn’t have anything else to do and starts attacking things it shouldn’t….just a thought…

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:52:05 +0000

We took our own water with us whereever we went (Still do actually, for drinking with. Not always a drinking fountain handy for filling up the cup when needed) but we still would use the water source of wherever we were in general instead of our carried water when we could.

By: gertie

gertie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:46:05 +0000

Where are these parents filling up their bottles? I did half and half breast/formula with my first baby, so we mixed plenty of bottles on the road. I don't ever remember having to deal with a dicey water source. Even if you run out of your own bottled water and the drinking fountains look suspect, bottled water is available for sale just about everywhere. I can't see a modern American parent needing this.

What would be AWESOME would be to see a few million of these things drop-shipped to third world countries, where children die of water-borne illnesses. If the manufacturer had some sort of charity like that attached to the product, I might just buy one.

By: anjii

anjii — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:35:03 +0000

This is just one more thing that makes me grateful that I don’t have to use formula…

By: Pippin

Pippin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:07:45 +0000

We generally allow our baby to drink out of murky ditches and puddles in the parking lot. She seems to be doing fine with that.

By: Christy

Christy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:23:33 +0000

I see those super germaphope moms that always have antibacterial hand sanitizer hooked to their belts lining up for this one. The one who won’t let their kids touch ANYTHING. I personally believe that a little germ interaction is necessary to stay healthy. If you kill off all the little bugs you have no defense against the big ones.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:17:36 +0000

IF I forget to pack a reusable water bottle (filled with filtered tap water) in the diaper bag, and IF I don't already have some bottled water rolling around the floor of my mini-van, I still wouldn't think to reach for an $80 light bulb to purify questionable water.

An experienced hiker (or other outdoorsey type) would know to take enough drinking water for 2 or 3 times the length of the trip they're planning. And inexperienced hikers have no business taking their formula-drinking infants out of sight of the parking lot.