Sterilising bottles

[Septbaby]

Evening all! Just wanted to gain some opinions on when you stopped sterilising your bottles for FF? DS is 5 months, and I'm happy to keep sterilising for as long as necessary to keep him safe and healthy, just wondered what the consensus was as I know Formula is considered unsterile (sp?) until mixed with v.hot water. DS is shoving all and sundry in his mouth now so no doubt is building up a glorious immune system but just unsure on the formula issue. Thank you muchly xx

For me, it depended what was in the bottle. If it was ready made formula or breastmilk, I didn't sterilise. If it was powdered formula, I did. The age of my baby was irrelevant.

DS1 is almost 6 months and I've just stopped sterilising. He's fed with a mix of both the powder and ready to eat. His bottles are scrubbed in hot soapy water. I'm one of those mums that quite often picks his dummy up from the floor and pops it back into his mouth so I guess whatever you feel is right.

I've always sterilised bottles and breast pumps until at least 6 months.

After then, given that it really isn't difficult for me to shove four bottles in the microwave steriliser for 4 minutes, I've carried on sterilising bottles when at home. By the time baby is 12 months stop using bottles and so stop sterilising.

Having said that, this is only when at home and sterilising is easy. After baby is 6 months I would not have a problem with my baby having an unsterilized bottle when out and about, when it is not convenient to sterilise.

I stopped sterilising when ds switched to cows milk at 11.5months. Up to then I sterilised for ebm, ready made f and powdered f. We also had a microwave steriliser so only took 4 minutes after washing up so was really very little bother. For the first 2 weeks of weaning I'd wash ds's spoons dishes etc then douse them in boiling water from the kettle whilst at the time he was eating his buggy wheels. Can you tell he's my first???.

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies :) just interested in people's thoughts, I've been very much the same sterilising ,scrubbing and the likes, only to turn around and see the dog licking DS feet and the DS proceeds to give his feet a good chomp... And I don't doubt it will get worse and soon they'll be sharing food and germs . Originally it did make sense to me to sterilise until 12 months when we do cows milk, so I'll see how we go thanks all