Bottle and sterilising help

[plannedshock]

Hi I'm just starting to switch from bf to formula due to going back to work and need advice.
I've currently got the medela calma bottles, how many will I need?
What steriliser should I get?
When I sterilise do I need to dry them before I put them back in the cupboard?
If I don't buy a steriliser is Milton good enough? How long do you soak for? ( and how do you dry them?
All help advice grateful!
(Going to bf at night still for a while)

We used the old fashioned method of boiling for 10 minutes on the hob. No specialist equipment needed and low labour input. We had a bottle for each feed so that we only needed to sterilise once at the end of the day when DC was safe in bed. Then used to let drip dry on clean kitchen towel before putting away. I think Milton is fine as a steriliser but personally feel better not using chemicals.

How old is your dc? That's the main thing affecting the answers to your questions .

The average person will probably use up to 6 bottles a day. This is affected by age of baby, frequency of feeds.

You can cold water sterilise, usually takes 30 minutes in solution. Rinse is boiled water and your ready to go. You can't really store bottles in a cupboard pre sterilised, you need to make the milk up ASAP. We have a microwave steam steriliser. The method of sterilising is very personal.

I will probably get gasps of horror, but am going to confess anyway. Not only did we sterilise the bottles the night before using, but we also made up formula at the start of the day. Personally we didn't have problems. The making the formula ahead of time is more controversial I know, as there is some evidence to suggest bacteria can grow in this time, but really, storing the bottles overnight is not going to do any harm (assuming they are somewhere clean and not left on top of a bin ^^). Sterilising is a bit of a misnomer anyway, unless you have an autoclave. You are just making them very, very clean.

Thanks for replies, dd is 6.5mths, so I boil/sterilise either drip dry or kitchen towel dry then I can put them in the cupboard ready for the next use?

I use Milton, 15mins to sterilise and you can put bottles in and out for 24hrs without changing the solution. DD has 4 bottles a day. I make them up last thing at night, flash cool then store in the fridge. As each bottle is used I wash it, rinse it and put in the solution. When ready to make the bottle I take it out if the Milton, shake off the drips and use kitchen paper to put all the parts together. You don't have to dry then off or rinse off the Milton solution. Easy peasy