To not sterilise bottles for my 7mo?

[AndRosemary]

I know it’s against NHS advice, but I saw this article and realised it doesn’t really make any sense?! She puts the dog toys in her mouth daily, so why should I waste my time sterilising bottles? The article shows that France doesn’t suggest sterilising, and that washing with soap and water is enough.

I thought this logical, but my friend seemed shocked and appalled 😳

Sterilising is for the risk in the formula powder - although this is still really small.

I did sterilise bottles for all formula feeds, cold water so nice and easy.

Oh I meant using expressed milk. I’d still use boiling water on the formula (if I used it), but not sterilise the empty bottles. Does that make sense?

It's because of the fact that the formula milk can develop nasty bacteria or something.

I could not read the article. But I've heard this debate before.

If you want to be on the safe side, sterilise.

My steriliser broke about a month ago and I occasionally just fill the bottles with boiling wanted and put all the teats in a jug of boiling water. All OK at the moment. I did the same with my first and they survived.

My baby is 10 months.

You need to sterilise because milk can go off and carry different harmful bacteria that chewing in something that is picked up from the floor.

It's to prevent that , that you sterilise bottles for. At some point putting bottles in hot dishwasher cycle will do but not at age 7 months

I didn't, just put them on the top self of the dishwasher. At that age they were eating food cooked with normal kitchen pans/dishes, with non sterilised plate, knife, fork & tippy cup so there didn't seem much point treating bottles differently. But I only used them for expressed breastmilk, so not sure if the rules are different for formal.

Thanks for the replies! Does that still hold for expressed milk? Also surely using boiling water on the formula would be enough if the problem is bacterial growth in the formula powder? But keen to know if I’m wrong as I don’t want my baby to get unwell!

I didn’t sterilise anything once my baby was 6 months and my life was a lot easier for it. They had a sippy cup from 6 months for expressed milk

It's more because milk can get stuck in places, especially the teet and it can go rancid quickly with bacteria.

Seals on bottles can also trap mold.

Also not everyone 'cleans' their bottles the same way.

You'll have people who will use a scrubbing brush they've just used on a chopping board to scrub off raw chicken.......some people really are that level stupid.

So the advice is there to capture all the people who really don't scrub their bottles well enough I think.

NHS don't give this advice for laughs and giggles

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/sterilising-baby-bottles/

It's E. coli , salmonella etc that you're protecting against by sterilising baby milk bottles

www.amazingwaterinc.com/blog/what-happens-if-you-dont-sanitize-a-babies-bottle

www.hellomotherhood.com/491020-can-you-refrigerate-bottled-baby-formula.html

@WhereIsMumHiding3 but then is the french advice negligent? Or do they just accept a higher level of risk? I just don’t understand how the advice can be so different

Honestly for the sake of 10mins why on earth would anyone risk their baby getting seriously sick.

The risk is small but it's there.

Bottles that are being used for formula milk should be sterilised, as any trace residues of milk that haven't been washed off can harbour harmful bacteria. This is different to licking the floor or eating from unsterilised plates and cups (which is fine). Some parents choose to wash the bottles in a dishwasher when the baby gets older which does the same job as a steriliser. As a nanny, I use the steriliser until 12 months, I don't find it that difficult or time consuming.

I didn’t sterilise from 6 months- just shoved them in the dishwasher !

In the US. We stopped at 6 months but the pediatrician said we didn't even need to do that. DD is healthy with no pre existing issues. It is so much easier to just wash and put away without waiting on the sterilizer.

From a year 3 months onwards I used bottles or soppy cups that had been through dishwasher

But if you look at the teats it's easy for a residue to be left from just washing. If you get a Tommy tippy type sippy cup , definitely recommend you take it apart fully regularly to scrub clean as you can get mould growing on residue inside the spout part that is hard to clean even when washed well or put it through dishwasher

It's the risk coming from the milk, not anything else. I continued to sterilise for as long as DS used bottles. If you allow your DC to graze and keep drinking from the same bottle 1-2hours after making it, then you definitely need to start of sterile. If DC wolfs it down in 10mins and any leftover is discarded, then you a probably alright if the bottle has been in the dishwasher.

You absolutely don't need to sterilise bottles when using breastmilk.
A good wash in soapy water is sufficient
Boobs aren't sterile!

Dishwasher was fine

I can't say for sure but my French friends used open plastic cups with no teats or spouts far earlier than we did. They also ebf longer. And they didn't use the complicated no leak spouts in tippy cups that we tend more to use here. So there might be a cultural difference in use/ feeding babies. I don't know if that is general amongst French parents/ culture.

Regardless, if you live in U.K., it's recommended that you use NHS U.K. advice. Our behaviours may be different but the NHS advice is there to act preventatively. Babies can become seriously unwell and sadly even die if they develop bacterial infections from poorly sterilised bottles. So why risk it?

I would keep sterilising them, but then I would let them actively chew on dogs toys at 7monts either…….

I didn’t sterilise anything past 6 months, just dishwasher or a scrub with hot soapy water and rinse/air dry. Please don’t let her put the dog toys in her mouth though that’s rank.

Not from breastmilk in a bottle which is what the OP is talking about.

This. I may even stopped at around 5 months.

The NHS advice is to sterilise bottles for expressed breastmilk too, the risk may be smaller with breastmilk but it's not that much of a hassle to sterilise really - wash bottle, pop in steriliser, when it's full switch it on, when you need a clean bottle take it out of the steriliser.

A good wash in hot soapy water is enough if using expressed breast milk.

Please keep her away from the dog toys though.