Sterilising bottles for formula

[lmadg86]

I know the NHS guidance says to sterilise until the baby is 1 but do people follow this?! I did with my first but to be honest, my baby is shoving all sorts in his mouth and eating solids now at 7 months so it feels kind of unnecessary…?

I stopped around 6/7 months from memory

Yeah I stopped around 6 months

Once my baby started splashing in the dogs water bowl we just put bottles in dishwasher with that extra “sterilise” function on - and I also sometimes just wash with hot soapy water in a pinch if a bottle needed and no time for proper dishwasher cycle! That would have been around 9 months.

Its not about what they are putting in their mouth - its because a very particular bacteria can grow on old formula milk that can make babies ill. Obviously up to you if you want to risk it, but i kept sterilising the formula cups until we weaned off formula onto cows milk. Gave up sterilising the stuff that never had formula on around 6months (dummies, chewing toys etc)

I stopped sterilising once I stopped using formula. It’s the formula that’s the issue, especially any that gets stuck in the bottle.

I sterilised as long as I was using formula, but only for bottles after 6 months. Formula is a perfect breeding ground for some really nasty bacteria, with bottles and teats really trapping it all. That said, I would probably just use the sterilisation function in the dishwasher if I was washing it immediately after use. Any that aren’t getting washed straight away I would sterilise. I was pretty lazy though and just used Milton towards the end when it was only one or two bottles a day. I just washed them up and chucked them straight in the Milton on the draining board. I couldn’t be bothered with any streaming etc. by the end.

ETA: I periodically sterilised dummies after 6 months. Mostly because they got dropped everywhere and sometimes it just felt like they needed more than just a wash.

Totally agree with this. Whilst the bacteria is unlikely to kill your baby at this age it could make them potentially very ill.

I always did although it wasn’t formula. I’d pump breastmilk at work and then they’d be bottle fed expressed breast milk. I’d sterilise the bottles I pumped into as well as the pump pieces every day as well.

Btw, dishwashers sanitise, they don’t sterilise.

Yes. It's the bacteria in milk that is very nasty. It can grow in the ridges of the bottle/ teat and be quite dangerous.

Also, assuming you're not boiling bottles anymore and are using a microwave sterilizer for example, it's an extremely simple job.

I always sterilised bottles when using formula, my son went onto cows milk at 11 months as he was refusing formula & eating 3 meals so it was unnecessary to keep buying it. I would highly recommend to keep sterilising bottles until you wean babe onto cows milk or whatever milk you personally use.