Sterilising bottles - is it really necessary and how long for?

[NameChange30]

DH and I are debating this at the moment. The NHS and WHO advice is to sterilise bottles and other feeding equipment for a year. But in his country (EU, good healthcare) they say sterilising isn't necessary. I can see both sides of the argument but I'm leaning towards sterilising at the tiny newborn stage, just in case. But how long should we do it for? A year does seem excessive, I was thinking about 3 months...

If anyone could share experiences and/or advice (or even evidence/research on the subject) I'd appreciate it!

TIA

Baby
"I wouldn't want to risk ruining a batch of EBM by not sterilising equipment used."
That's a good point actually. Sterilising is a tiny amount of effort compared to expressing!

I was told the reason you sterilise is to ensure that any bacteria from residue of either breast milk or formula milk is killed off. So food bowls etc after 6 months is not an issue. I sterilised all my son's bottles until he weaned off them at 1. I sterilised his cups when he had formula out of them too. Stopped formula at 13 months but I don't sterilise now he is on cow's milk but do wash them thoroughly (obviously).

Did children in years gone by have their bottles steralised? Did they die because of it?

We can't steralise everything that goes in to our babies mouths from day dot. Do breastfeeding mums have to steralise their boobs?

Anyway, we stopped religiously steralising after a couple of months, but everything was thourougly cleaned and air dried, and given a steam once a week. I can't speak for everyone, but our DD has a brilliant immune system. I mix fed from a few months, and only ever gave her milk (F or BM) from a bottle as she was a boob refuser.

As long as you wash each bottle after each use, and properly, your LO will survive.

I got a blank look when moaning about sterilising bottels to german friends. apparently they just use the dishwasher and the microwave to warm up milk

I'm in France, and there's a big debate currently about sterilising bottles, with most advice being that it's no longer recommended at home.

See, for example: www.parents.fr/bien-s-equiper/puericulture/steriliser-les-biberons-cest-inutile-13391 (in French)

We sterilised until DD was about 8 months, and haven't bothered since.

what
Thank you. DH is French hence the discussion. I'll read the article. Thanks again!

I just don't understand why you wouldn't? It's pretty easy to stick them in a steam sterilzer or boil them up or something. It seems an odd thing to get quite so aggressive about.

i don't know why exerybody is being so rude OP (unless you are a journo, in which case, fair enough), there are lots of countries where sterilising bottles and stuff is not done. I have american relatives who were all baffled by the sterilising thing here as they just put stuff in the dishwasher.

FWIW, I sterilised for both EBM and formula although I was told by my HV that it's not necessary to sterilise things that are being used for breastmilk, I just could be bothered seperating stuff out. I didn't wean until he had turned 6 months so didn't sterilise any cups/plates/bowls etc at all. I still sterilised bottles until he turned one, which was a fools errand really because by then he was eating fluff of the carpet and licking rocks out of the garden...

Here's an English-language version of advice from a French health agency: www.anses.fr/en/content/infant-feeding-bottles-how-should-they-be-prepared-and-stored

(Awaits howls of outrage and swoons of horror as people realise the French don't use 'sterilised' water to make up bottles either. )

Here's a translation of the article's introduction:

"INPES (the national institute for health education), the French neonatal society, the ministry of health and the Paris perinatal network all agree: home sterilisation is no longer recommended. And not even necessary!"

Seems that some people on this thread would like to report all those organisations to UK social services

what yes I found that PDF in French!

I sterilised dummy's/feeding stuff/teething rings until around 5 months when DS was putting everything in his mouth. I did bottles for longer, until around 8/9 months I think.

People do love a bit of knicker twisting, especially if their way of doing things is questioned

Having a baby is a minefield, and you'll always get someone else giving the best 'answer', and books telling you that such and such a way is better. You'll be fine, and you'll get in to a rhythm of sensibility that works for you.

Congratulations by the way

Thanks for your kind words Sprinkle
Not long to go now, 10 days until my due date, and we have pretty much everything we need... apart from a steriliser!!

I stopped sterilizing when DD started crawling and putting all she could in her mouth (toys, bookes, etc).

*books!

Yes you need to sterilise if giving formula. Jesus.

You don't need some amazingly sparkling contraption to start you off, just grab some Milton tablets to start with, and then see which way you would prefer to do things.

All the best for your impending arrival

What? I've never used formula but I thought you had to use boiling water as the formula isn't sterile?

Sterilising is the easiest bit - it's the scrubbing that takes a few minutes but neither step is any real hassle at all.

Warm milk is a perfect environment for bacteria proliferation so I was happy to sterilise.

With my first one I sterilized religiously until my daughter started grabbing and putting all kind of toys in her mouth and did not see the point anymore.
With my second one, I took a more pragmatic approach: I sterilized everything until about 4 months, when she started on solid foods.Sometimes I would sterilize a bottle that fell on the floor on that softplay, or a dummy that had been under the bed for a week. I would sterilize when we were staying at my in-laws, because they have a cat...

At the end of the day, what you want is that the bottles and teats are clean so the baby does not get ill with a tummy bug from another child, a parasite from a pet etc...

Oh, and milton tablets are fantastic to disinfect toothbrushes and even a smelly rubbish bin.

My lo is 17 months and has been exclusive formula fed from birth, and will be having toddler formula until he stops having milk. We will sterilise his bottles until he stops having them (probably around 3 years of age)

This is just an observation not a criticism but if you carry on sterilising for that long then your child won't build up an immunity and will be at risk of horrible things, a three year old won't want bottles either

Upto you really, dd1 the advice was until she was 4-6 months same as weaning dd2 a whole year later was 1 year old and absolutely no weaning until 6 months tbh as soon as you start implicating the 10second rule on food and running dummies under the tap sucking them clean I'd consider whether to bother hth

bNameChange30b If you do decide to sterilise, we found the Mam self-sterilizing bottles really quick and easy to use.

sorry, bold fail!