To think that sterilising bottles at 7 months is ludicrous...

[ThePerfectFather]

...given that 90% of what she sticks in her gob isn't even close to sterile? Toys, dummies, food - none of it sterile. She sticks her feet in her mouth most of the time, again not sterile. She is actively engaged in jamming anything within reach, or within rolling distance, in her mouth.

So why focus on this mandated "sterilise for a year at least" bullshit? It sounds like the usual crap trotted out by the NHS and the WHO that makes no actual sense when you examine it in a practical sense.

I've been sticking the bottles through the dishwasher to get them nice and clean but on the occasions I've got none clean, I scrub them in hot water and fairy liquid, give them a good rinse, and then that's that. Is this so wrong? How can a bottle be such a bacteria risk, but her Sophie giraffe that she chews on for hours is apparently fair game? I just don't understand my missus and her insistence on sterilising when our baby is surrounded be germs the rest of the time, and she's fine!

Why is it astonishing Mintyy? The guidance appears to have changed since DD was born in 2010. Why would you necessarily expect people generally to know this?

I'm with you therre Tarty. I've had babies in 1997, 2000, 2007 and 2011. The advice has been different for them all.

If any of them had been the last why would I know what the current guidelines were?

I am referring to the ignorance about food poisoning as opposed to general muck and grime that is around us all the time.

Gosh I stopped with all mine at 3 months but I always wash the baby's stuff separately with scalding running water and tons of washing up liquid. None of them get tummy upsets.

Ah, I understand now. In that case, I agree. The person who doesn't understand that bacteria on the floor are not necessarily the same as those which inhabit undercooked food, food which is kept warm but not hot enough etc is as ignorant as those who throw away food when it's past it's BBE date. Though obv the first is worse as food poisoning is dangerous.

EmptyCrispPackets, I'm surprised to hear that the NICU your DD was in didn't have sterilisers

DS was prem and spent his first 3 and a bit weeks in SCBU - the unit he was in had sterile-till-opened disposable bottles and teats for bottle fed infants, and cold water sterilising units (using Milton) for sterilising breast pump bits and dummies in. Separate sterilising unit for each baby.

I'd assumed that was standard practice in NICU / SCBU, given babies in there are premature and / or ill and therefore are more susceptible to food poisoning and so on.

YABU for using this phrase : "I just don't understand my missus".

baby with food poisoning is an absolute nightmare. microwave sterilising takes a few mins. Not a huge fuss. yabu.

I am referring to the ignorance about food poisoning as opposed to general muck and grime that is around us all the time.

I quite agree. But then very few people working in catering even understand or have been educated as to spore forming bacteria etc.

Even a basic food hygiene certificate hardly scratches the surface.

Rice, ( something most consider a safe food) is highly toxic if left out for the night etc and then reheated.

Bacteria like staph. a and e coli can be found on the human body and I'm fairly sure have been responsible for more than 150 deaths in the last 50 years worldwide!

Personally I didn't sterilise beyond 6 months but if people want to do it longer that is up to them :)

There is a theory around that the 'overly clean' environment we live in now actually makes children more likely to get sick because they are not building up their immune systems as much.

The vast majority of bacteria that can make you sick need time to multiply to unsafe levels so unless it is sitting around at room temperature for a while you should be ok.

FWIW I'm not loving the accusatory tone some posters are using here, basically saying 'it only takes 2 minutes, why would you not bother to make it safe for your child, what a terrible parent you must be!'

I like what you're doing is fine op :)

Sorry, think

My sol sterilised her kids bottles/beakers/spoons/dummy's untill the we're 2. Now the are 2+ and 4 they are ALWAYS Ill.

My two who teethed on the dog/random shoes/table legs are rarely poorly.

Sterilised is a mugs game after about 8 weeks IMO.

I am fairly old school, but we only sterilised for a few weeks with all of ours (needless to say they were/are absolutely fine). My mother didn't with any of us and I was very preme. Things have changed alot though and they give this advice out for good reason (one hopes). However, I cant help but think that over 6 months, unless you have a poorly baby, is OTT. But that's my personal experience, I am no health professional!!!

btw, my buddy is a micro-biologist, there is nothing she doesn't know about germs and bacteria and I seem to remember her just plunging things into a pot of boiling water for the first few weeks. Her kids are positively bomb proof when it comes to illness!! As opposed to my DSis who is a Sen Nurse and OCD about cleaning and sterilisation whose kids were ALWAYS ill when they were little!!! Interestingly, I was always a well child, but when I went away to boarding school at 10 I developed asthma. Turns out it was the fact that everything was cleaned everyday ( the cleaning product residue lurking everywhere was a killer). Needless to say I avoid cleaning now .

Just give em a good scrub in hot soapy water and leave them to air dry.

Once they started crawling i stopped sterilising.

I was told to sterilise up to a year old 13 yrs ago its not a new thing and the same with dd1 who was only on 2 bottles a day by 7 months anyway its the bacteria and formula can breed and really upset tummys , although i did start to rinse them out and put boiling water in them at around 8 months,

well this is interesting! i assumed you should sterilise until you stopped using formula milk - so i have a question.

We are going to Torquay in july and staying in a hotel. DS2 will be 10 months and on just 2 bottles a day so we will be using carton formula milk, do i need to buy a cold water steriliser and tablets or just wash in hot soapy water?

I can confirm that here in France my midwife explicitly told us a) not to bother sterilising, just give a good scrub in hot soapy water and b) just to make up the bottles with tap water.

I'm sure if it were really dangerous either the French or the Americans would have noticed.

"As for bacteria loitering on the teets and bottles - how is that worse than the bacteria on all her toys which get washed a hell of a lot less frequently?"

I always thought that a warm bottle of milk, full of lovely sugars and nutrients is the perfect breeding ground for any bacteria that might be lurking. The surface of a plastic toy is not quite such an attractive proposition.

I sterlised DS's bottles until he stopped drinking formula. But part of that is due to us not having a dishwasher. I probably would have just put them in there if we had.

I sterilised until 11/12 weeks with DD1.
And until 5 months with DD2 (when we went camping with no hot water etc)

The reason for sterilising is to get rid of the milk bacteria which is potentially very dangerous. This is why the NHS recommend sterilising until 6 months or a year or whatever it is.

If the bottles and teats are washed thoroughly in hot clean soapy water and left with no remaining milk residue it is not an issue, which is why I stopped fairly soon with both of mine- I trust my washing up skills, I get enough practice!

Both DDs have been fine.

not really I still wash my toddlers clothes in non bio, that's mainly to do with eczema though.

i dont sterilise anything but then again i bf and use no bottles or dummys or anything like that but i do freeze soft toys.

thing is its one of these none issues yabu if you make it one but yanbu if you say 'ok if you wish to insist on it then you do so and i will just wash the bottles for you to deal with' that way you both get what you want.you dont have to faf around with the sterilizer but the bottles get done. its win win

lastnerve i still use none bio on all my laundry have never used biological powder ever on anything

IMO, if a DC is old enough to crawl around and lick the carpet and put unsavoury things in their mouth, then they are old enough not to need their bottles sterilised.