Help Needed - sterilising bottles question from new mum without any clue!

[lynniep]

I've been given an avent steam steriliser and I don't have any instructions but I've read online that stuff stays sterile in the steriliser up to 3 hours after you've used it to sterilise bottles. Good, smashing, happy with that...

My question is though - what happens afterwards? As in - if I want to take a bottle out of the house to use as required (say I've got a carton of ready-to-go formula)?

If I take the bottle out of the steriliser then what do I do with it until I want to use it, as surely its no longer sterile once its out?

I feel a bit daft for not getting it, but seriously I don't!

Screw the teat thing on and put a lid on it.
Inside and teat stay sterile till you add the formula.

If you don't want to schlep readymixed stuff around you can fill a sterilised bottle with boiled water, screw teat and lid on (no need to keep it cold) then add formula to the water when you need it.

aha! simple as thst. ok, thanks, thats great!

"surely its no longer sterile once its out" You're absolutely right, it's not sterile once you open the steriliser. But that doesn't matter Any milky bacteria have been killed off. There is a school of thought that sterilising is not required at all. In fact IIRC, the US don't sterilise, just dishwasher stuff.

I have an Avent Express one. The instructions read for after sterilisation
1 Do not remove the lid straight away. Let the steriliser cool down for 3 minutes.
2 Turn off at the mains, unplug and disconnect the lead from the back of the steriliser.
3 Wash your hands thoroughly before removing the sterilised items.
4 Remove the lid.
5 The tongs can be used to remove items and to pull the sterilised teats through the screw rings of the bottles
6 The contents will remain sterile for 3 hours following the end of the cycle, provided the lid is not removed.
7 The steriliser must be left to cool for at least 10 minutes between each use to allow the thermostst to reset.
8 After each use pour away any remaining water, rinse and wipe dry.

It also says you should descale your steriliser every 4 weeks, you can buy sachets to do this at places like Boots.

I would say as the bottle is sealed once removed from the steriliser it remains sterile inside.

Whatever happens, don't do what i did for weeks. I was such a muppet. I (for some reason) thought the bottles had to be thoroughly dried on removal from steriliser, as figured any remaining water would go a bit "manky" inside the bottle, so I spent hours with kitchen roll drying every nook and cranny of every part of the bottles (and the hated pump), and then wondered why my bottles always leaked.

Such an idiot. Of course the kitchen paper was not sterile, so I might as well have not bothered sterilising.

So much wiser now... .

thats great - thanx 4 instructions
LoL at drying afterwards - I'll probably end up similarly daft so thanks warning