That is why, in a community without clean drinking water, a bottle-fed baby is many times more likely to die of diarrhoea than a baby fed exclusively on breastmilk for about the first six months. Mothers should be helped to breastfeed their babies. If for any reason a mother does not breastfeed, then she should be helped in other ways to give her baby good nutrition and protection against disease. The best food for a baby who, for whatever reason, cannot be breastfed, is milk squeezed from the mother's breast. It should be given in a cup that has been very well cleaned.
Cups are safer than bottles and teats because they are easier to keep clean.
The best food for any baby whose own mother's milk is not available is the breastmilk of another mother. If non-human milk has to be used, it should be given from a clean cup rather than a bottle. Milk-powder solutions should be prepared using water that has been boiled and then cooled. Cow's milk, infant formula, or milk-powder solutions can cause poor growth if too much water is added in order to make it go further. Cow's milk and milk-powder solutions go bad if left to stand at room temperature for a few hours.