Sterilising and weaning

[mrschalmers]

As I've started weaning my son I want to give him formula milk to drink in his cup but do I need to sterilise the cup? I'm sure the health visitor told me I don't need to sterilise his bottles after weaning but all advice seems to say to keep doing it until 12 months so I have been.

I don't know what the official advice is, but I didn't sterilise anything after 6 months for my one who had formula. I washed bottles in very hot soapy water and let them have a good soak (using clean washing up bowl that I only used for bottles). But no, I didn't sterilise. I didn't offer formula in a cup (just offered cow's milk by the time we got to that point which was closer to 11 months), but I can see why I would have sterilised it either. Formula can be prone to encouraging bacterial growth because it tends to stick to things (in the spout of the cup), so it's those sorts of things you just need to be careful cleaning.

Each baby has got less and less time if sterilising from me, hot thorough soapy water is fine!

I don’t think it’s necessary. I think I still did it for a while with his bottles just out of habit but soon they start to put literally everything they find in there mouths to explore it, so it seems completely pointless.

anything that has formula in it needs to be sterilised as the powder isnt sterile. you dont need to sterilise anything else just the stuff that comes into contact with the milk. for as long as you use formula for x

anything that has formula in it needs to be sterilised as the powder isnt sterile. you dont need to sterilise anything else just the stuff that comes into contact with the milk.

Formula is a food stuff like any other, once you’ve added hot water to kill any potential harmful bacteria residing in the powder it is just the same as adding any other food or drink to any other container. It’s not more susceptible to unsterilised crockery than any other food once you’ve prepared it. Obviously don’t make up formula using cold water in an unsterilised bottle.

I sterilised DS's bottles til a year. Dunno why, just did what the packaging said