Has anyone else never sterilised their baby’s stuff.......

[Redtartanlass]

After reading this thread when I was pregnant with DD, I decided not to sterilise anything.

Wow, it was really scary just washing everything without sterilising, but DD is now 6 weeks and doesn?t appear to have come to any harm

Did anyone else take the leap?

i havent steralised a thing of dd3. i have a dishwasher lol. not ill very often (horrible cold atm.) and she is breastfed lol. but havent steralised dummies (for the 2 weeks she took one), the bottles i sometime use, her cups etc.

I stopped sterilising when ds as about 6 months old and I caught him eating fluff off of the hoover.

I've never sterlised anything for either of my kids (I do use dishwasher though) and again never had a problem.

santabops - lol
I sterlised for both DS until around 6 months, when they start putting worms and dog food in thie mouths

Misdee - breasfeed as well, but I still use bottles and breast pump. I don't use my dishwasher 'cos it's crap! I just use hot soapy water.

I've got to say that DD is the least sicky of all my kids, but that may just be coincidence!

Me! Dd is my second. She's 10months now (nearly!) but when I tried to give her the odd bottle earlier in her life I only washed in hot soapy water. So liberating!

I breastfeed too. So much easier for the disorganised and messy!

Aloha - exactly, liberating is just the right word!

Thank god I thought I was a bad mum for not sterilising DS2's stuff... although he's mainly breastfed I haven't done any of the occasional bottles / bowls / spoons. He has only had one cold at 3 months old. DS1 also got his first cold at 3 months old and everything of his was sterilised!

did for ds1 and 2 but not for ds3

was vey lax anyway

Well, I stopped after reading that thread (ds was 5mo already though).

Love that thread. I link to it every time someone asks anything about sterilising. Spread the word!

I never did either - I breastfed, but I also took the view that my baby needs to consume a few germs to build up proper resistance
Doesn't pay to be too maniacally fussy imo

i did steralise everything with dd1+2, they are the ones who were sicker and have eczema. but then they were also formula babies. (gonna get a battering for that lol)

Sterilised everything that didn't move (and some things that did !!!) with dd. With Ds sterilised the odd dummy - didn't bother with anything else... He's as fit as a flea.

I stopped after that thread too! However, my dishwasher is c*ap so now I sometimes sterilise again but am happy with a scrupulous clean in hot water.

I've just read the whole thread - fascinating. I breast fed so never used a steriliser, but feel better about not having sterilised water cups etc

Everyone should read this!

I?ve become almost evangelical about it and mention it to everyone and just can?t believe that I have been ?brainwashed? all these years.

Most people with newborns are shocked when I tell them I don?t sterlise and my HV well??.you can guess how she reacted

I am bf'ing 7mo ds but have never sterilised the breast pump or bottles for EBM. Don't own a steriliser.

I sterilised everything with DS1 and virtually nothing with DS2 now 15 months. I just washed them really, really, really well. It was easier as when he decided he was hungry he wanted feeding then and there and I'd just take a plate or bowl from the cupboard as it was (as long as it's washed well it's fine).

I'm very lax in sterilizing and always have been with ds since he was born. I'm very disorganised so have been known to wash out used bottles and re-use them immediately. He's weaning at the moment and I never sterilize those utensils. Only wash his dummies when I remember (maybe once or twice a week?) He's never yet been sick at all - not even a cold, he's 5 and a half months

DEFFO BRILL GUYS

Never sterilised anything for ds2 (third child). He was breastfed and I was off work for a year so weaned straight onto a cup (so no bottle teats) but never did breast pump, just washed very hot.
He was crawling (and licking the pram wheels etc) by 5mo anyway.
FWIW He is the healthiest of the lot, no excema or nuffink.

Sterlised like a mad woman with first child - didn't bother with second as used the playtex sytem when I need to bottle feed or express milk. Its all pre-sterlised and all you do is boil the teat once a week, same with the dummies.

Fab - less hassle and very portable!

In america they haven't got bogged down with the sterilising issues - boiled water or a dishwasher do just fine!

I've never sterilised anything - dd was in neo natal too and they didn't sterilise there. Didn't do it with her and am not doing it for ds who's 6 months. He's been completely fine - loads of colds care of his sister but nothing else. He gets some bottles now and I'm afraid I no longer air dry them all - using them straightaway after they've been washed thoroughly - so no time for anything to breed I reckon.

What a great thread. I never owned a steriliser. B/f mostly and otherwise would put stuff in a bowl with a wee drop water and microwave the hell out of it. But stopped this at about 4 months. IMO there is far too much paranoia about it all so it's refreshing to see that the experts agree for once. And once they start roaming round the carpet sticking everything in their gobs, what is the point!!!

Also agree that they have to build up an immune system and they won't do this if everything is sterilised to hell. My friend's mother was looking after her twin granddaughters aged 5 months. They had a touch of the sniffles but she was spraying dettox everywhere to keep things clean and wearing throw away gloves in a bid to stop herself getting the cold. What is the point of that when a cold is an airborne virus and any sneeze sends germs in all directions anyway

at Pagan's friends mother.