Sterilising bottles.

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi,

How long should you carry on sterilising bottles for? Is it 6 months or 12? If it's 12 does that include the whole bottle or could you just do the teat as long as you still wash the bottle and lid well?

Thanks

Hi,
My HV recommended 12 months so that's what I did - what a time saver it is too! I would think it means the whole bottle? I know milk is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, so best to be on the safe side.
Once you get down to 2 bottles a day, it's a doddle in comparison to the early days!

HTH

I didn't bother after about 4 months - washing the bottles well in hot soapy water is the important thing.

I used to fuss a bit about bottles being sterilised and washing hands etc. I then bought a teething toy which can't be sterilised, only washed and realised that if the toy going into my baby's mouth is ok, then it's probably not the end of the world if I haven't scrubbed the work surface or something similar.

A teething toy is different because it won't have quite to many areas for milk to get caught in and go bad in therefore allowing the perfect habitat for bateria. And you don't put milk in a teething toy!!

I don't bottle feed but if I were to start I would hot wash every bottle (obv!) and sterilise every day or two days if baby over 6 months. But I wouldn't sterilise after every feed iyswim?

Hmm, lots of different opinions!! 4 months or 12 months, big difference!

Anyone else?

We occassionally don't sterilise for DD (8 mo) but only when we are going to use the bottle straight away. I would sterilise if I was going to make up milk and leave it in the fridge as this would be a good opportunity for bacteria to breed. At 12 months most people swap to cows milk which isn't generally left in the bottle all day.