Sterilizing Bottles and Binkies??

It's just liability coverage for the companies. I have 3 children and never sterilize their bottles, binkies, etc. I simply use hot water and soap and friction. Just like hand washing, nothing beats good old fashioned cleaning and friction to remove germs. We are too germ phobic as a society anyway and affecting our immune systems. It's good to get exposure to dirt, germs, allergens, etc to build up our immune systems too!

BuUt with a newborn and wanting to avoid any more sleep deprivation, I do try to keep things as clean as possible that will definitely end up in their mouths! So I always use soap and water to clean them. I also just use plain water to rinse a binky that's fallen on the ground and rub it really good when on the fly. I read a study that showed that parents that "cleaned" binkies with their own mouth passed more bad bacteria and colds to their children than when they simply rinsed them with plain water!

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I personally think that the biggest risk is not any germs but rather by-products of packaging and manufacturing that could be sticking to them (industrial lubricants, dust from packaging, etc.) and a good wash with dish soap should do the trick and must not be skipped.

I wouldn't sterilize on an ongoing basis because food and breastmilk isn't sterile anyway and one of the things that needs to happen with any baby is for the gut to be colonized with bacteria. You just want to keep any illnesses from spreading, of course, but what matters more there is who makes up the bottle, not whether it was sterilized.

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I boiled the bottles and nipples and soothers for the very first wash, but after that I just used hot, soapy water and rinsed them in hot water. I did this for my first son and am doing so for my seven-month-old twins' bottles, too. They are all happy, healthy kids and we've never had a problem. I'm of the belief that some exposure to germs is good as it helps them build up antibodies.

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They probably have to put that on the package so you can't come back and say something like "Your product gave my child ecoli", or some other bacteria. I would do it anyways just because someone could have touched it before it was packaged.

You definitely do it before the first time use. After that, a good run through the dishwasher is good enough, and if you don't have one, handwash them.

I think I did this once and thought why?! I just sent everything through the dishwasher instead. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone getting sick off of an unboiled binky or bottle. Also, if you boil something, you do run the risk of over boiling and the plastic melting a little, which then will make the plastic more vulnerable to leaching chemicals out.

no and no. first time only but then soapy water fine. really.

I never sterilized anything I bought new. Bottles that I got second hand I did sterilize. Keep in mind, if you run the stuff through a dishwasher, that will sterilize them. I didn't have a dishwasher so I simply rinsed them, then washed them in warm soapy water (if I wasn't washing them right away, I would leave them soaking in hot soapy water).

I sterilized once when they were new, then after that just ran through the dishwasher. I don't sterilize things for my toddler, just the baby nipples and pacifiers and breast pump parts. I used these microwave sterilizer bags made by medela and they are awesome. They just take a minute or so I think, maybe not even that long, and you get like 20 uses per bag. They come in a box of 6 or so for just a few dollars. I would occasionally sterilze breast pump parts. I never bought more than the one box.

I always did the first time we opened the package.

The dishwasher is fine, it gets hot enough to be close to sterile. However, for a young infant I would not rely on handwashing (under 6 mo). You can buy a microwave sterilizer or one that plugs in.
One more advantage of breastfeeding...

I had never sterilized bottles/pacifiers with both of my kids. Hot water & soap will do just fine.

Well, I breastfed all of my children for 12, 17 and 14 mos. and never once sterilized MY nipples and the children were rarely sick. And as any mother knows, you don't necessarily get a shower everyday!

dishwasher. worked just fine.

Just the first time. If they all say it its probably for a good reason. Who knows what goes on the the factories and they are probably trying to cover their butts! After the first time just wash them in hot water with a little bit of soap.

A wash and rinse in hot soapy water and a bottle brush is good enough. However if it would make you feel more at ease, you could get one of those microwave sterilizers to use after you've washed them. Easier than boiling.

Hi :) Yes, when your baby is very young especially. I nursed all of ours but carried water in a bottle.

Hi. You only need to boil the bottles, nipples, binkies, etc... once. when you first buy them. They are not sterile, and if you want to trust that a stranger working on the assembly line, making minimum wage or worse, washed their hands, don't do it. I got lazy with my oldest, he is now 16, and he got thrush because of me not sterilizing his stuff. Yes, I put the stuff in the dishwasher and he still got it.

I just wash bottles in the dishwasher, but binkies, nipples, bottle cap rings, basically anything rubbery I wash with soap and water then boil for a few mins too.

When those items are being made they are not sterile, they could have been dropped on the floor. I usually washed ours in really hot water and soap every time before using them again, never boiled a one. From what I hear, plastic can't be made sterile anyway.

I did the same as most others - boiled it when they were new and out of package, then hand washed or dishwasher after that.

I only sterilized bottles and binkys every couple weeks or so by boiling them in water for a few minutes, (but that was because I never had a dishwasher). And I only did that for about the first month or 2 of their lives... After that they have gotten most of their immunities to anything that sterilizing MIGHT be protecting them from... I have 3 children (now ages 5,11,and 12) and they are all alive and well, and never got any illnesses as infants.

I used to sterilize mine every time but I have twins and it seemed like it took forever and just too much work and time. After about 2 months of that I just washed my bottles and nipples and my kids are just fine.

I boil them when they are new, then thorough washings after that. I sterilize because you never know where it was or what it was touching before you took it home.