Microwaves action on milk for infants

[Jim Hutchins]

Stephane Corteel (scorteel at resulb.ulb.ac.be) wrote:
: As a young father (my baby now is 7 weeks old) I read a lot...
: I've read (and some people also told me) that warwing up a feeding
: bottle using a microwave oven is not recommended because the microwaves
: cause molecular changes in some proteins of the milk.

I find this difficult to believe; it is not clear to me how the
method of heating would have any effect at all.  Heating is heating,
as far as proteins are concerned.

: But, at this time, nobody could confirm that or give me an more
: scientific explanation.

There is a *good* reason not to heat baby bottles in the microwave,
however.  Heating in the microwave tends to be uneven, and unless one
is *very* careful to *completely* mix the bottle after heating, it is
likely that the baby's mouth or digestive tract could be _severely_
scalded by a zone of superhot milk surrounded by cooler milk.  The old
way of placing the bottle in a hot water bath allows sufficient time for
convection to occur and heating is, in general, more even.

If I am wrong about any of this, someone correct me.

--
Jim Hutchins                    []     E-Mail: hutchins at fiona.umsmed.edu
Associate Professor, Anatomy    []     Assistant Professor, Neurology
Univ Mississippi Med Ctr        []     Jackson, MS