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

I don't feel sterilising is necessary past the point of 3 months if ebf. From 1 month onwards, baby's stomach develops and produces acid like to kill bacteria/viruses they ingest the same way ours does. Additionally at this point, they start putting lots of things in their mouths and I certainly don't sterilise her toys. We also continually wipe their mouths and faces with muslin/baby wipes, neither of which are sterilised either.

I strongly believe in allowing them to develop a healthy immune system so refuse to sterilise excessively. I am extremely clean however, I thoroughly wash all pump equipment and bottles in hot soapy water with cleaning equipment exclusively used for her stuff and do not let them sit in the sink with our dishes. I also take extreme care with milk storage - I don't leave it out for extended periods, once she has drunk from the bottle, I discard anything remaining after an hour etc.

I stress this is for breast milk only and if I formula fed, would sterilise everything for much longer.

OP, I bought a cheap steam steriliser from Mothercare which has been more than adequate for our needs. I don't think it would survive being used daily, let alone multiple uses each day for months but sufficient if ebf, pumping and giving the occasional bottle of expressed milk

My dc3 has had stays in two different level III NICUs in the US in the last year. The first, when he was preemie, didn't advise sterilising breast pump parts at all, the second, when he was admitted for breathing problems, said to sterilise once a day.

They were also happy for my milk to sit out for a couple of hours for his next feed rather than refrigerate it (I think if it was under 4hrs).

They were incredibly risk averse in all other areas so I'm pretty confident they believed this approach was very unlikely to cause harm.

Ps I didn't add the link in my post

This is such a weird thread!

A little electric steam steriliser costs very little and will keep your baby safe.

So if it hasn't already been said...

Breastmilk is antibacterial (to a point) which is why it can sit out for 6-8 hours under 27C. Formula is not antibacterial in any way which is why it must be scoffed immediately.

Here's a good tip! Rinse the breastmilk bottles with cold water rather than warm. Warm melts the fat and makes them hard to clean while the cold washes it away pretty well. THEN wash your bottles in hot soapy water, rinse and put in your steam steriliser.

I have twins. We have all the sterilised bottles ready to go before bed, I pump a feed ahead through the night if necessary, then collect all the bottles and wash/sterilise together in the morning. Through the day I rinse as we go, then do another big wash/sterilise in the evening.

Very simple and effective and safe.

Breast pump equipment needs to be washed and sterilised once every 24 hours as per official advice, and rinsed between use. That said, I have two pump parts so I sterilise them every 12 hours.

You cannot ever be too safe. You make it a part of your routine and you don't think about it again. We're going on 6 months of exclusively expressing and I still sterilise everything and will continue to do so until we finish with breastmilk entirely. It is so little work and it keeps my babies healthy.

Hi Disillusioned I have 3 French babies. I did sterilise until they were crawling (and licking the floor) but nobody else I knew did. Like everyone else, I mixed my formula with Evian straight from the bottle. It comes with a wee sticker here to say it's baby safe.

So far the kids are alright

I was told by an NHS hospital (large well known teaching hospital in England) just to use the dishwasher on the hot cycle for sterilising.

There used to be advice online from UCH that said sterilising wasn't necessary, but it's gone now.

Using a dishwasher on a hot (not eco) wash IS sterilising. It gets above 65 degrees, which is the temperature required kill bacteria. And it dries the bottles nicely so they can be stored safely, unlike those cheap plastic sterilising machines.

Yes! It was UCH. That's interesting you saw it too. Also interesting that individual hospitals do not have to tow the official NHS line.

I love all these formula feeders saying don't be so lazy/it's important for your baby's health without even realising the irony

lakehouse

Good point. I would never judge anyone for their choices, it's a shame not everyone has the same respect!

What do you mean Lakehouse?

The reason for sterilizing is that all milk breeds bacteria; and feeding bottles have screw threads and lots of other crannies (also in the teats) in which tiny amounts of milk can lodge, however well you clean. The sterilization is to stop the bacteria in those dregs from reproducing to levels that could cause harm to the baby. So, yes, you should sterilize.

However, when to stop is a bit more debatable. I had to bottle feed my first (as she refused to suck at the breast) and I remember when she was about 7 months and crawled across the (less than sterile) kitchen floor to watch me putting her bottles in the sterilizer and I thought "Hang on a minute - this is mad - she is crawling round my floor, then sticking her hands in her mouth, and here am I sterilizing bottles!" I gave it up at that point!

Oh come on Lakehouse.

There's no need to try and turn this into a breastfeeding vs formula feeding argument

It's a good point though. Lots of "holier than though" PPs accusing me and other of being lazy and not caring about a child's health if we choose not to sterilise... whereas arguably breastfeeding/expressing can be more difficult and have health benefits compared to formula feeding.

I don't want to get into the debate - as I said I respect people's choices - but I would never accuse someone of being lazy and not caring about their child's health because they chose to FF and not BF. It's a shame some people don't seem to extend the same courtesy when it comes to the choice about whether to sterilise.

It seems every feeding decision is a bloody minefield of controversy and insults!

thou not though

lakehouse what do you mean by that? (sorry if I'm wrong) but it comes across as if you're suggesting people who formula feed are lazy and don't care about their baby's health?!
Maybe you should rephrase, or did you intend to be goady and start the breast/formula argument?

What about the majority of posters who are not calling you lazy?

For someone professing your lack of judgement of FFs you are remarkably quick to agree with old goady pants there.

What is the issue with sterilising? Its not harmful, it doesn't take long.

This thread is about a first world problem.

"but it comes across as if you're suggesting people who formula feed are lazy and don't care about their baby's health?!"

I read it the other way. Having done both I found bottle feeding far more of a faff than breastfeeding (which, although it took ages to establish was a lot easier in the end).

Bottle feeding - sterilising, making up feeds, heating said feeds, washing bottles, sterilising
Breast feeding - pop breast in baby's mouth

I'm not getting involved in a debate either because I did both.

I thought it was pretty self explanatory, for those who understand irony. OP has nailed exactly what I was getting at though. Those in glass houses...

So you do think that people who FF are lazy and don't care about their children's health?

Why not just say it if that is what you believe?

I have more respect for FF who just get on with it than parents desperately trying to reinvent the wheel so they can distance themselves from the plebs who came before them.

If more people just got on with the every day business of feeding their babies without making a sodding great meal of it all our lives would be a lot easier.

I think you have got the wrong end of the stick TheFirstMrsDV.

Read my post. Although, I am happy to be corrected.

I think you have. I wasn't responding to your post

just goes to show how ambiguous that post was then

It was part of a conversation.

There is an interesting debate to be had on this thread. Unfortunately most of posts seem to be telling the OP how to sterilize, which is patronising and boring.

I FFand sterilize my baby's bottles because I'm terrified of enterobacter sakazakii. I did a lot of research (too much probably) and it's such a terrifying disease that I really freaked myself out. We've had a lot of arguments in this house because DH keeps forgetting to put the lid back on the sterilizer. I have cried about that on at least one occasion If you're bf that isn't a worry, though I would imagine all the sugars in breastmilk can allow bacteria to grow (in spite of its magical properties).

But keeping children in a sanitized bubble for too long isn't good for them either, apparently. So wtf do you do?

My DS is four months old and the other day I have him Sofie the giraffe to play with. It can't go in the steam sterilizer and I can't get sterile wipes in this country, so I just washed it and gave it a wipe. He sticks everything in his mouth now anyway so my efforts to sterilize his entire environment are becoming a bit futile.

I'll probably carry on sterilizing bottles for a while because of the risk from the formula, but dummies etc. can probably just do with a wash. At the moment I tend to dunk them in a mug of boiling water for a minute or two after washing them and I have some wipes for when we're out and about.

So, to sum up: I still think sterilizing formula bottles is important. Bf guidance seems mixed so that's your call, and whatever you're comfortable with I suppose. Dummies etc. don't harbour the same sort of bacteria so I don't think they require the same level of sterilization.