sterilising....

[gd1976]

Hi there,

I am extremely confused about sterilising!! There seems to be so much contradictory advise I don't know what to listen to!
Firstly, athough i am breastfeeding i give him a bottle of formula at night. THe official guidelines seem to say we should make up the bottle just before you give it to him and that the water needs to have been boiled, and left for no longer than half an hour and the milk needs to be added when the water is 70 degrees or more. But people i know talk about making up the bottles in the morning and keeping them in the fridge and then just heeat them up as and when they need them but within 24hours..... Even though this isn't officially recommended, is that ok? And when you are out and about, and for instance you give your baby a carton of formula, how do you keep the bottle you put it in sterile if you left the house several hours earlier? Guidlines say you have to sterilise and use the bottle within 3 hours if kept in the sealed steriliser.... Obviously that is not possible if you are out and about.....!
And my last question is if you are expressing when at work, and you want to keep the milk in a cool bag to take home and use, how do you keep your breast pump sterile? the part you put on your breast for example isn't covered by anything so is open to the air and therefore can't stay sterile, does this matter?

Sorry for all the questions, but all rather confusing!!!!

[bitofadramaqueen]

Some information here from the Department of Health on preparing formula. While the guidance is to make up bottles as needed, they also issue guidance on preparing feeds if you need to make up bottles in advance.

I use cartons when out and about, I tend to put the sterilised bottle into a bottle container (I've got these. When it comes to feeding time, I usually wipe down the outside of the bottle with a milton wipe, wipe down the surface I'm using then open the bottle and empty in the carton. This way was the best that I could think of when I started to FF - I found it all a bit confusing too!

Can't really help on the breast pump info, but when I had my DS 4 months ago one of the midwives did say that the guidance had changed and that breast pump equipment didn't need to be sterilised. Have no idea if that's accurate though!

[Gemzooks]

I don't believe in sterilising, I pumped milk at work, used to wash all parts of the breast pump in hot soapy water and air dry. Never had any probs. The same with milk bottles. I didn't use formula so don't know about that. Don't forget your breast is far from sterile, and neither are your hands that assemble the breast pump (the basic one I had required you to stick a finger inside it to put the valve in). I used to pump one day and the milk was given the next. However I never froze milk or let it go longer than 24 hours.

I really believe the hot soapy water and air dry is absolutely fine, too much sterilising leads to weakened immune system in my opinion...

[MrsNormanMaine]

I make up 8 bottles of cooled boiled water and have a tub of formula to make the feeds as I need them. Chuck if not used in 24 hours but no idea what current advice is - just what we've always done and had no probs - three children and pretty quick to throw off any bugs if they get them. Most friends who started off sterilising religiously have got less and less bothered the more children they have.

[hf128219]

Once a bottle is sterile - it is sterile.

Just do not touch the teat. If using a carton of formula do not let the carton touch the bottle when you are pouring the milk in.

[expatinscotland]

same as MrsNorman.

dd2 was bf'd till she was 4 months and then we did the same as we did for dd1 and ds, who were ff'd from a couple of days after birth.

[gd1976]

Thank you all so much for all the info, that's a great help as i was very confused before!!! And thank you for the links bitofadramaqueen, this website is great- I'm new to it all.

[Bubbaluv]

There is a hug thread on MN that started in about 2006 and has been bumped repeatedly ever since. It explains why sterilising is not necessary even for premis.
The 70 degree thing for the formula is correct though. Then you are sterilising the formula as it can contain some really nasty bugs.

[gd1976]

ok, i will look at that too, thanks

[bitofadramaqueen]

No problem, bottle feeding can be a bit of a minefield! I do make bottles up in advance in the way that the Dept of Health suggested, but you'll find plenty of views on MN that you should make them up one at a time if you look hard enough!

[phraedd]

this breast pump comes in a plasitc container that is not only good for storage but can also be used as a microwave steraliser! This makes it great for taking to work

I love the tommee tippee closer to nature range!

[meandmyjoe]

Oh God I rememeber having the same worries exactly! I was paranoid about the bottle when using cartons out and about. I made all my formulas up fresh for weeks until my HV asked why I was making things so much harder on myself and reccommended making up formula for the day and putting them in the fridge but no longer than 24 hours. i did eventually start doing this as my ds was hungry and it simply wasn't practical or do-able to keep making them up every hour or 2. Regarding taking the bottles out and about. I used to sterilise them, and keep them in my bag just empty but with the lids and caps on them so I pressume they were still sterile but I was always a little worried. I have to say though that I still worried and sterilised everything til ds was 10 months and then I just thought 'hang on a minute, he crawls about all day on ther floor, he kisses the dog, he eats crumbs from under the sofa, why am I still doing this??!' I finally had the confidence to stop sterilising. I should add that I always made sure the water was freshly boiled and left for 20-30 minutes and NEVER reheated formula once it had been partially drank. He was fine, never any tummy bugs or any problems at all. Try and relax but I know it's confusing!

[Bubbaluv]

Thread about what microbiologists say about sterilizing- really worth a read!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/91585-imho-and-the-opinion-of-microbiologists-there-i s-no-need

[bikerunski]

what mwandmyjoe said. My HV told me that the Dept Health guidelines only changed in April this year, and that people had been making up bottles in adavance and leaving them in the fridge for up to 24hrs qutie happily for years. If I am going out for a short time I take a bopttle of formula out of the fridge and take it in an insulated bag with an ice pack (then put it under top to warm up or get a mug of hot water from somewhere). If longer, then I take a wee flask of cooled boiled water, some formula and a sterilised bottle and mix it up as needed.