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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

when did you really stop sterilising?!

48 replies

littleweed · 12/08/2004 14:34

My DS is 10 months and I still sterilise all his bottles and use cooled boiled water. out of all my frinds I'm the only one still doing this - they all stopped aorund 6 months and belong to the 'well everything is going in their mouth ' school of thought. Am i being too anal about this?!

OP posts:
Jennisaurus · 14/08/2004 17:45

We still do it and she is just 9mths. I'll stop soon I think.

Flip · 14/08/2004 17:50

I don't sterilise anything anymore but dh does if he makes the bottles. Ds2 is 8.5 months and doing really well. A bottle that dh washed and sterilised a couple of weeks ago was left with the lid on put in a cupboard. When I came to use it this week, I was going to give it a rinse but realised there was mould growing around the rim. So sterilising doesn't kill everything despite what I thought.

codswallop · 29/09/2004 11:31

here

twogorgeousboys · 29/09/2004 11:32

4 months, then dishwasher.

codswallop · 29/09/2004 11:33

never with ds3

Blackduck · 29/09/2004 11:37

Kind of got intermitant around 9 months...I figured that it was a bit pointless going to all that trouble when the dog frequently licked his face!

PicadillyCircus · 29/09/2004 11:38

DS is 10 months and still sterilising bottles and using cooled boiled water, but could be because he was bf until 9 months and so I worry more. Not sure why!

codswallop · 29/09/2004 11:40

stop!
liberate your self

Skate · 29/09/2004 12:22

Bottle till about 8 or 9 months I think. Don't know why - sure you could stop about 6 months.

Never sterilised spoons or bowls when weaning though - what for? You don't sterilise the pan you cook the food in or the food processor you use to puree it do you????

secur · 29/09/2004 12:34

Message withdrawn

bundle · 29/09/2004 12:39

think i stopped at 6 months with dd1, it's all a blur. with dd2 stopped when i saw her with cat's tail in her mouth

PicadillyCircus · 29/09/2004 13:01

Suppose I could stop....and I've never sterilised plates and spoons.

But I've just bought another packet of Milton tablets

vict17 · 29/09/2004 13:25

Sorry to be pedantic but the advice is still to sterilse bottles for milk until the baby is one year old. See here:
" All babies are vulnerable to the germs that cause diarrhoea and vomiting, and so it is best to continue sterilising bottles and teats (and breast pump equipment) until your baby is one year old and has built up more resistance to bacteria generally. The recommended age for starting solids is now six months, and bowls, plates and spoons can generally be cleaned using your usual washing-up method from this age.

Cleaning your baby's bottles and teats in a dishwasher will not always heat them to the right temperature to kill off all known bugs, so it's generally still advisable to sterilise after washing. If you do want to rely on your dishwasher alone, it needs to be run on a hot programme at a minimum temperature of 80 degrees centigrade. The bottles then need be filled with feed straight away as the dishwasher will not leave them in a completely sterile condition.

It may seem pointless to sterilise feeding equipment when the baby is crawling around the floor and putting all sorts of things in his mouth, but the bugs that stick to milk curds can be dangerous. Your baby's immune system will grow stronger into the second year and he'll be able to combat infections more easily."

marthamoo · 29/09/2004 13:31

Stopped with ds1 at 6 months when I caught him licking the toilet one day - really didn't seem much point after that.

vict17 · 29/09/2004 13:35

Sorry should have said what my source was - BBC website. Also says " it's estimated that the NHS spends at least £35million per year treating gastro-enteritis in bottle-fed babies in England". Not trying to be preachy - I know it's a personal choice but I just feel happier sterilising ds' bottles (only takes 5 minutes in microwave steriliser) because if I had to take him to hospital with gastroenteritis I would just feel so guilty

secur · 29/09/2004 13:36

Message withdrawn

bundle · 29/09/2004 13:37

marthamoo, that makes me feel better about the cat's tail

vict17 · 29/09/2004 13:41

Ah Secur, that is one of the many advantages of breastfeeding though isn't it? I really don't understand how two developed countries can have such differing advice.

secur · 29/09/2004 13:46

Message withdrawn

Cam · 30/09/2004 20:42

littleweed, I didn't sterilise anything for dd2 but she never had bottles of milk. I used Evian for water (still do) from birth.

Flik · 30/09/2004 21:07

I must be really wierd. dd2 is 18 months has one bottle a day and I still steralise bottles and dummys. Also did this with dd1's bottles untill she stopped having them. The healthvisitor scared me to death about milk remenents in the teets. Im gonna put the steralisor away tomorrow after reading this.

cod · 08/01/2006 18:01

Message withdrawn

expatinscotland · 08/01/2006 18:04

but vict, how do they KNOW the gastroenteritis was from bottles? dd1 got hers from playgroup, where all the babies were chewing the same toys.

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