Sterilizing Bottles

Wow! I'm so glad you asked this question - never even though about it! I've been washing and sterilizing bottles for 9 months now - what a relief I can now stop the sterilizing. Might get 5 minutes for myself in the evenings now!! :)

My pediatrician says it's not necessary to sterilize bottles. Although, for both of my kids, I still boiled everything once when they were new. I soak and rinse everything before putting them in the dishwasher.

I never did with either one of my boys. My ped. said that the dishwasher does a great job by itself.

I only sterilized one time with each of my kiddos. That was when I opened the bottles from their packages. From there I either hand washed them in hot soapy water or ran them through the dishwasher.

I never did it. How bad it that? Neither did my sister.

With my 1st born - I did it the entire time he was drinking from the bottle; 1 year. I'll do the same with my second son. I'd rather take the extra effort since it's soooo easy with my microwave bottle sterlizer. I'd rather do what I can to avoid them getting sick! Too may stories about babies with chronic ear infections, etc. For me it works!

I stopped around 4mo with my daughter. I'm not sure there is a particular point. I think I started just sterilizing them every other day for a bit and then just stopped altogether.

This article says that it's not necessary at all:
http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bnutrition/0,,b11b,00....

So, I guess you can just do what you feel comfortable with.

I've heard that sterilizing isn't really completely necessary unless your baby has an immune deficiency. Before the first time you use them you should boil the nipples for about 5 minutes but after that, you can soak them in warm/hot water and mild soap for at least a minute. Everyday when I get home from work, I fill the sink with hot, soapy water & put in my son's bottles from the day (along with washable parts from my breast pump) and let them soak until I have time to clean them with a bottle brush. Then I put everything on a drying rack & they're ready to go in his bag the next morning.

Bottles should always be sterilized. In my opinion & experience, the Avent Steam Sterilizer is the easiest option! It takes just a few minutes in your microwave. :)

I only sterilize my babies bottles every once in a while. What I do to make myself feel better about it is run a sink full of hot soapy water (I use antibacterial dish soap). I let the bottles soak in it for a little bit. I wash them with a bottle brush then use really hot water when I rinse them off. My baby is going on 4 months old and so far has never been sick.

My daughter is 10 months old and we quit when she was 4 months, because by then, she was putting everything in her mouth anyway. Our ped always said hot water was enough, but my hubby is a germaphobe! The dishwasher works great, but I like to do them by hand in hot water.

I only steralized for a month or so with my first, then just stopped. My doctor told me it wasn't neccessary and sometimes even led to thrush... When I did steralize, I used the Avent microwave thing, and it just got to be too much of a hassle (terrible, I know), but we had no problems from not steralizing. I didn't steralize at all with my second.

I have always hand washed my bottles after the first sterilization when you get them. I know I can put them in the dishwasher (my ped. said it was fine) but she told me that if I put the nipples in the dishwasher as well not to have the heated dry cycle on because it can cause the nipples to crack. Hope this helps!!! Don't worry...you are doing a great job mothering your son!! I don't know many people who sterilized their kiddos bottles for as long as you have so I give you major props for doing it so long and being so proactive about the cleaning of the bottles!! You are doing great!!!

...i hope when i 'send' this i don't find out that i'm the only one who never sterilized my son's bottles.

i breastfed, and pumped and eventually supplemented w/formula and i always diligently washed his bottles in hot, soapy water ... but i never sterilized.

okay ... here goes with the send. :-)

You've probably gotten other responses already ... but I just wanted to say that I don't think you need to continue sterilize his bottles. You may want to ask you ped just to be sure. But if things are going well and he's healthy ... then perhaps just cut back to sterilizing maybe once a week or so. Do you hand wash them or put them in the dishwasher? I think the dishwasher does a good job of getting them good and hot/clean. Though, if you've left the bottle to get icky, you may need to soak it first before putting it in a dishwasher.

Hope this helps! Congrats on the new baby!!!!

you only have to sterelize a brand new bottle. and i used drop ins so it was never a problem. if you feel paranoid about that medela makes a sterilizing bag you pop in the microwave and can reuse up to 6 times they are not very expensive.

my pedi dr. was never too worried about sterilization of bottles. He said most people over-obsess about it because our modern cleaning methods are quite adequate. However, he said at the most, up to 4 mos. of age and that is what most books recomend. After that, just good washings is fine.

& FYI, a quick, cheap, and safe sterilizer for babies is hydrogen peroxide. I keep a squirt bottle of it in the kitchen for toys, bottle excessories, and the high chair. It leaves little residue that desipates quickly. Works great!

T.

I have 3 children the youngest being 6 months and and we have NEVER sterilized a single bottle. Hasn't killed any of them so far.

i think you need to sterilize the bottle nipples once a week sa long as he's using the bottles. i guess it's best to ask your baby's doctor. also, you can call 1-800-4-GERBER for questions.