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!

Ah. I don't mix up bottles in advance. When I am going out, I take cooled, boiled water in a bottle, in an insulated carrier, and a separate milk powder pot. It takes all of 5 seconds to mix the two together, and avoids the milk sitting around growing bacteria.

Thing is, if a bottle isn't washed properly before being sterilised, then as soon as the steriliser cools down, bacteria will start to grow on the patches of milk that haven't been washed off. And once you have opened the lid of the steriliser, the stuff inside is no longer sterile.

I have sterilised my baby's bottles up until they started crawling. After that, there is just no need. They need a good, thorough, proper wash anyway, and if you use hot soapy water and rinse and check them when you are done, then a thorough wash is plenty.

When DD was tiny 14 years ago, and they advised sterilising until 1yo, I used to get looks from the HV. Fast forward 4 years to DS1, and the HV apologised, and said that they now only advise sterilising until 6mo.

The advice changes all the time, but the fact that a thorough wash and a check to make sure they are properly clean suffices for a baby that can crawl, or a toddler who can walk, will not change.

It is more likely to get food poisoning from baby milk if it has been kept made up for too long, bad storage and mixing ahead of use, rather than non-sterile bottles.

And if you are making weetabix in a baby bowl with their milk, and washing thoroughly suffices for the bowl, pray tell me what the difference is for a bottle?

lequeen i was the same with dd1 and she was always snivily (not a word is it ) and had tummy problems with dd2 I did sterilised but i didnt try and wipe her down with bleach if she got her hands mucky and she is healthier than DD1 germs rule !

Disclaimer i have never bleached a child

I hate to open another can of worms but you do know you are mixing up formula contrary to current guidelines, don't you Couthy?

And in France my MW explicitly told me to sterilise or use the dishwasher being sure to rinse after and to use Evian. When I challenged her on not using 70C water she said boiling water was considered a greater public health risk because people made bottles whilst trying to juggle babies and didn't wait for them to cool but that formula isn't sterile and it's safer to make with hot water.

Public health information is just that - health information designed for the public. Different countries have different public perception, so advice varies. It's not the law, it's advice and information. People are free to take calculated informed risks but I feel cery strongly that they should be both calculated and informed. Personally, having known a baby who didn't die but is disabled for life after a dodgy batch of formula, I choose hot water and sterilising. DS is 14months and I sterilise the bottles he has lait de croissance from because it's doesn't take a minute to chuck then in Milton and the breast pump is there to kill any lurking thrush but that's down to my personal experience and understanding of the risks. There are other things I'm probably much laxer about!

Mintyy - that is a can of worms. It's how I did it for all three, and they were bottle fed from day 1. But then I never saw an HV, only saw a midwife once and didn't do any classes. Nor did I trawl the Internet or read any leaflets. I used good old fashioned common sense and my kids are all super healthy . I would love to know where all this tripe comes from - I have seen some nonsense over the years, especially the scaremongering of what you can't eat/do whilst you are pregnant. I suppose it's supporting several people's job security somewhere .... but for the love of God, why do they insist on trying to make pregnancy and babies so complicated. It really doesn't need to be. I'm sure I'm not the only product of a generation that added gin to the baby's milk so they could get a good nights sleep - God forbid anyone suggests that these days

loving the Evian promoting Midwife