AIBU to have let him talked me into not using the sterilizer any more?

[StealthPenguin]

Hello all :) How is everyone today?

Basically DS is 7 months old now, is on three meals a day with milk for breakfast, in mid afternoon and sometimes a few ounces before bed.

DP has said that we don't have to sterilize the bottles any more, and that just a good scrub in soapy water and then a rinse in good enough. He backed this up by saying that I scrub them out in soapy water anyway, and that if we wanted to continue sterilizing his bottles we may as well sterilize his feeding bowls, spoons and bibs too...

I can see his point, and it makes sense. But a part of me is just going "noooooooo!" and I can't really put my finger on why.

So, what does Mumsnet think? And if I'm being stupid in letting him talk me round to his way of thinking, then tell me!!!!!!!!

Peace out

I daren't admit how long I sterilised for. A lot longer than a year, put it that way. I sterilised everything, feeding spoons, plates, dishes, blenders, sieves the lot. Got over it when I had DC2 though! Sterilise for as long as you want really, if it gives you peace of mind.

I did it for a year and then started putting it in the dishwasher. Milk does bread bacteria and I think it cna get a bit stuck in the rim or teat. But according to the other thread going on about Formula I never made it up in the first place according to current guidelines! So do what you think is best because these things "recommendations" change all the time as far as I can tell.

Frankly, if I was preparing formula milk for an adult in a baby bottle, I'd sterilise! They are very, very, very fiddly to clean, and diarrhoea from gone-off-milk is an equal-opportunity bastard and no respecter of age! It hits young and old alike.

Elphaba and Chipping are right. The holes in the teats are small and can trap milk even with scrupulous cleaning.

Just read with interest a thread about E. Salakanii (or whatever) - the pathogen in formula that can kill babies or leave them brain damaged. I'm still making up 5 bottles daily, storing in fridge and reheating when necessary, so I'm no ff angel, but sterilising isn't about getting rid of bugs you find around the home or in other foodstuffs. It's about getting rid of this particular bug that's very nasty and has a penchant for formula milk.

Sterilise as long as you give formula milk, in bottles especially, I say. The chances of anything happening are extremely low but if it did happen, you would feel awful knowing you may have been able to prevent it.

Move to cow's milk at 1 and then relax...

This thread

Nobody I ever met knew my moms teat cleaning trick. Only thing that gets the gunk out is to pour a load of salt in the teat, and then massage it around for a few seconds. Sorts our all the nooks and crannies, and of course salt helps get the germs, and washes away easily.

I would still sterilise bottles that are going to be made up in advance, but nothing else.

I've never sterilised anything,and my dds have had less than the normal number of tummy bugs I would think. I bf though,so they've never had bottles,so can't comment on them specifically.

The government guidelines is to sterlize until 12 months.

I always used cold water steriliser and it was handy to keep the bottles in, had a million tablets so continued until 16 months to use the tablets up

In lots of places, sterilizers are unheard of....

currently I make up DS (18 months) nightly formula by running the bottle (having been through the dishwasher) under the cold tap. He's never been sick.

I hardly sterelised with ds and sighed in relief after researching the topic before dd and sterelised nothing, - not ever, not even as a newborn.

BUT milk residue has to be GONE and you have to be certain.

DC1 - 6months max
DC2 - 3 months ish maybe not that long actually
DC3 - due in summer, Im not even getting it out of the box!

This reminds me.

I remember going to our local museum and seeing an exhibition of old cow cream jugs (I live in the Potteries) and being told that although ornate ane beautiful they used to cause lots of salmonella poisining becasue the fiddly bits and small spouts coulndn't be cleaned properly.