When did you stop using a sterisiler??

[mamachat]

DD is now one and I have just bought her new cups, bowls and cutlery.

She is breast feed and only drinks juice from a bottle.

Is is safe to just clean bottles and other equiptment like medican spoons etc??

[oggsfrog]

I never used a steriliser.

[RubySlippers]

you can stop

i stopped when DS was 9 months IIRC

i shove everything in the dishwasher, or wash in hot, soapy water and leave to airdryer

[MaureenMLove]

seems pointless (imho) once they're crawling around on the floor and putting anything they can get their hands on in their mouth. If you've got a dishwasher, as Ruby says, that's good enough at 1 year.

[Acinonyx]

Me neither oggsfrog!

[mamachat]

Oggsfrog - so what did you do if you used bottles?

[waffletrees]

Can't remember when I stopped but you certainly do not need to use one with a one year old.

[mamachat]

I don't have a dish washer, I also think it is abit pointless as she does crawl around and everything goes in the mouth...

[mamachat]

Sterlising I mean not a dishwasher being pointless

[nowwearefour]

i have never used one either. just good old fairy liquid is perfectly good enough. specially now she is over 1.

[oggsfrog]

I breastfed until she was 18 months so she never had a bottle.
She had sippy type cups for water, and I helped her drink juice out of a cup/beaker.
We live a pretty alternative type of life anyway, no indoor toilet, woodburners, water from river etc. I never even considered a steriliser - a great believer in a bit of dirt never hurt.

Anyway, dd is now 8 and healthy and happy, if somewhat grubby most of the time , so it never did her any harm.

[constancereader]

I stopped at six months after reading the thread about this here. Hot soapy water and leave to air dry on clean kitchen roll.

[hashim]

Eek! I didn't realise that you still needed to sterilise at 1! I stopped at 4 months.

[Gemzooks]

I never sterilised anything, just washed in hot soapy water and air dried. A bit of everyday bacteria is better than absolutely none in my opinion, e.g. getting fewer allergies and all that..

[mamachat]

Ok great coz I hate using the seterliser, so will put it away untill next baby comes... lol

[Tinkjon]

I still sterilise bottles at 10 months (we use fab Dr Brown bottles, which a dishwasher wouldn't be able to clean properly). Yes, proper washing is fine, but as it's so quick and easy to sterilise I just do it to be on the safe side. Even if you do sterilise, I've heard several times that it's only necessary for milk bottles, certainly not for water cups etc. I will stop at 1 year, when DS will go straight on to cow's milk. How I'm going to get him to drink it from a cup though is another matter

[SpecialOffer]

I stopped at 8 months, was advised as soon as they are crawling as they eat all sorts off the floor. Just washed bottles in hot water - was sooooo glad when I stopped using it.

[whatdayisit]

I always thought it seemed daft to be sterilising bottles, once they could put toys etc in their mouth, but my HV was horrified at the prospect of stopping before 12 months.

Apparently (so she said) milk is especially dangerous, and it is impossible to get the teats properly clean. Ok not to sterilise spoons/bowls etc though.

I followed this religiously for DS1, but not for DS2. Now at 5 & 7 DS1 is far more prone to tummy upsets etc and I often wonder if this has something to do with his flipping sterile bottles not allowing him build up his immune system.

[spicemonster]

I stopped at about 7/8 months. My DS has never puked in his life and he is 16 months

[Gemzooks]

there was a thread ages ago by kangamummy? I think, about some top London hospital neonatal department not sterilising bottles for premature newborns because it wasn't necessary..

[elmoandella]

stopped once started crawling around oputting stuff in mouth.

must admit, we would get it out again if anyone in the family caught a stomach bug.

just till the coast was clear.

[mamachat]

So do you all think its ok not to sterlise even with bottles, as that is the only thing I think may still need to be steralised

[missjennipenni]

Ive never sterilised my sons bottles (he is 3 months BTW)

[rookiemater]

Mamachat, I'm fairly sure 1 is the recommended age where you don't have to sterilise anymore. If you have any concerns, why not ask your HV, or failing that if you bung it all in the dishwasher it gets a fairly intense wash anyway.

[Gemzooks]

it's up to the individual, but I do feel it's a bit of an industry, like making mothers think they need anti bacterial cleaning products for example. Just selling us more unnecessary and possibly harmful stuff. This is all contributing to massively high levels of asthma and allergies as babies don't get immune systems developed enough.

In many countries they don't sterilise. I personally didn't, even with milk bottles/breast pump although was EBM in the bottles, because I just don't believe that babies should have everything totally sterile, clean is enough, washed in hot soapy water, thoroughly rinsed and air dried. But wouldn't want to say someone shouldn't sterilise if they feel safer doing so.

Also, my son only had the breast and went onto some bottles of EBM at 4 months when he went back to work, had he been really tiny i.e. first 6 weeks probably I would have sterilised if he'd had bottles then. Also, maybe had I used formula, I would have been more worried (because apparently builds up more harmful bacteria)...

anyway each to their own but it is worth finding out info yourself..

[Jojay]

I think the official advice is to sterilise bottles until they're one, but there's no need to do spoons, bowls, sippy cups( that don't have milk in them) after 6 months.

That's what I did anyway.