Do babies bottles etc need a steriliser?

[fourbythree]

I'm sure I read somewhere that of you wash babies bottles/ tears etc thouraghly and run them through the dishwasher then they don't need sterilising as well... Have I dreamt this or has anyone experience or references for this?
Thanks

[BackforGood]

well, it's a long time since mine were little, but the advice then was to sterilise until they were 1

[fourbythree]

Thanks back... Mine are a bit older too and I had sterilisers for them... But I'm sure I read a thread here a few years ago about not needing to
If you have a dishwasher

[Weegiemum]

I cleaned bottles and breast pump in the top shelf of the dishwasher until 6 months. I admit to being lax. But they were never ill.

[NancyJones]

I sterilised until they were about 7mths. I think advice is until 1yr but as they were all crawling by then I thought it was pointless. I used a microwave one as it was so much easier.

[Pregnantberry]

I have heard anecdotally/on non-official websites that a hot dishwasher sterilizes them with the steam (I don't think a good wash in the sink is considered the same), but AFAIK official advice will tell you to sterilize them properly to be on the safe side.

That said, there are usually a few posters pop up in threads about this who say "I never sterilized mine - they put all kinds of things in their mouths all day anyway so what's the point?" but that logic doesn't really bear out when your baby is really little and can't pick junk up/suck the carpet anyway and they have a poor immune system.

IMO just err on the side of caution, it's not a huge effort and you'd hate yourself if your baby got sick.

[DramaAlpaca]

As far as I'm aware a dishwasher sanitises but doesn't sterilise. It doesn't get hot enough.

[NancyJones]

I do think there's little point when they get to 5 or 6mths and are off crawling and sucking shoes! didn't realise that was a militant viewpoint!

[TheScience]

I do them in the dishwasher. To be honest it is more important that they are cleaned really thoroughly than sterilised - a good wash in hot soapy water and left to air dry is fine.

[Pregnantberry]

Not militant, I can understand that logic when they get to 6 months or so and are chronic dirt munchers but I have heard it used as justification for stopping unnecessarily earlier IYSWIM which is different.

That said, I am, admittedly, a bit of a worrier.

[NancyJones]

Yes, I think that's true. It's the bacteria from milk which can make them ill so a good soak then scrub should get rid of that. I used them to store expressed BM and they always seemed quite scummy afterwards.

[NancyJones]

I tried to fall somewhere between constant worrier and slovenly mother and veered between the two depending on the day. Though you do get more lax when you get to 4!

[ZuleikaD]

It's important to keep on sterilising bottles even after they're crawling and putting things in their mouths, as the bacteria from old milk can be really nasty - far worse than anything they'd pick up off the carpet.

[santaandthearmadillo]

I'd say yes, I dont put them in the dishwasher as it takes ages, the steriliser takes six minutes.

[NancyJones]

Hmm, I think crawling into the hall and sucking the studs on his big brothers football boots was fairly nasty too do not so sure on it being a much safer pastime but I don't disagree about the bacteria in stale milk.

[BertieBotts]

There was definitely a thread. It had "microbiologists" in the title if you want to do an advanced search, it was in breast and bottle feeding.

[FannyFifer]

No need whatsoever for sterilising.

Wash very well with hot soapy water making sure all milk residue is gone, the rinse in hot water & leave to air dry.

[storynanny]

I sterilised mine back in the day, but was surprised when visiting my new grandson last year in Usa, that they don't. I thought it strange as they make a big thing about hand gel before you touch a baby.
However, as a sensible MIL I made no comment at all about sterilising or hand gel! I learned that on mumsnet.

[Bunbaker]

DD is nearly 14. When she was a baby the advice was to sterilise until age one, so I did. She wasn't crawling until nearly one anyway, so she wasn't putting stuff in her mouth as early as 6 months.

[Bankholidaybaby]

I read that the dishwasher doesn't get hot enough to sterilise effectively. I hand washed and sterilised until 6 months and now I dishwasher and then sterilise and will do until my son is one. For me it was always the hand washing I hated - the steriliser but only takes 8 minutes and all I have to do is press a button! I do it because I've been told, as have pps, that anything that touches milk should be sterile, even after your baby has started to shove other things into their mouth, as the bacteria from that can be nasty.

[Fairy1303]

I think after 6 months dishwasher is fine to sterilise (but I stopped sterilising then anyway) - before 6 months ish their immune system is not great so why risk it?

[storynanny]

Steam sterilisers sound amazing. Back in the day, I sterilised bottles in an old ice cream container with milton, made everything smell horrid and gave you sore hands. That was my first morning job, then I made up 24 hours worth of new feeds, as allowed back in the day, then dragged out my twintub to boil the cloth nappies. Baby number 3 had disposables, what a wonderful invention. Baby number 3 did not have bottles sterilised for very long as big boy 1 and 2 introduced him to many illegal substances such as squash, water out of the tap at an extremely early age.
If I was a new first time mum today I would still do everything by the book and follow current advice re such things as sterilising.

[ZuleikaD]

Fanny, there is certainly no need to sterilise anything used for breastmilk, but formula powder is far from sterile (which is why it's so important to use water that's been heated to the correct temperature) and it IS important to sterilise all bottles, teats etc used for formula.

[NancyJones]

I BF until around 7mths but still sterilised the bottles and containers I used for EBM. I used formula from 7mths but only ever the ready made stuff in cartons. Not sure how this compares to powder.
I still think when they are crawling and putting all sorts in their mouths from shoes to garden creatures it sort of defeats the purpose especially if you wash them all in very hot soapy water and allow to dry.

[Zara8]

We sterilised till DS was about 7 months. Bottles were (and are) washed in the dishwasher

Where I'm from (New Zealand) you are told only to sterilise until 3 months.

[fourbythree]

Thanks everyone - I'll look out the microbiologist thread... This is baby no 4 for me and I tend to be on the side of germs being very good for kids.... However I can see that milk hanging around in bottles is prime bacteria fodder and despite planning to breast feed sure I'll have bottles around at some point.,, further research needed!