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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Okay, maybe I'm just stupid, but I really don't understand

22 replies

Tee2072 · 04/12/2008 20:55

what the obsession is with sterilization since as soon as the nipple/bottle/whatever is removed from the sterilizer or dishwasher, it is instantly no longer sterile! Its not like the air in my house is sterile!

Am I missing something here?

OP posts:

amerryscot · 04/12/2008 20:56

You are getting rid of pathogens that thrive on milk.

fourlittlefeet · 04/12/2008 20:56

its the germs and nasties in the air

constancereader · 04/12/2008 21:02

no, I agree with you.
I have heard that they don't sterilise in the US. Spotless cleanliness is what should be aimed for.

Original poster

Tee2072 · 04/12/2008 21:19

Yes fourlittlefeet and the germs and nasties will still be in the air when I take the object out of the sterilizer!

constancereader I am actually from the US and no, we don't sterilize obsessively there. Wash in dishwasher, store and use!

I imagine I will do that here.

OP posts:

hobnob57 · 04/12/2008 21:32

My neighbour's son was in the neonatal unit and she was told by his peadiatrician not to sterilise so that his gut could strengthen via exposure to microbes.

The vast majority of microbes are not harmful but vital for our health. As long as you are clean and sensible about things I believe that sterilisation is unnecessary. But with today's propaganda, you need to be brave.

Original poster

Tee2072 · 04/12/2008 21:35

Thanks hobnob. I mean, just thinking about it logically, how can anything in a standard home very be truly sterile?!?!?

OP posts:

notcitrus · 05/12/2008 10:17

I've worked in molecular biology labs where you really do have to keep sterilised items sterile, and the important thing is not touching the bits you want to stay sterile - any surface is laden with bacteria (or other DNA in the lab), but there's not much floating in the air.

My dishwasher washes at 50 degrees so I sterilise pump parts and milk storage containers because they will be in the fridge in contact with milk for a few days, but tend not to bother sterilising bottles and teats because the milk only goes in just before being drunk - not long enough for anything to grow. I store all the bits in an open box, too.

Given that first-borns tend to have higher rates of eczema and things possibly related to over-cleanliness, I figure being slack and treating A like a later-born baby is possibly a good idea... (wipe dummy off when falls out rather than sterilising it, etc)

PinkTulips · 05/12/2008 10:55

my 2 have never had anything steralised, not even dummies and dd has had AB's once at almost 4 and ds has never had them at 2.

i'm a huge believer in 'the more they're exposed to the more they're protected against' and my 2 seem to have fantastic immune systems as a result.

most microbiologists seem to suggest the same principles, my cousins father is a microbiologist and he's even told his son it's better not to wash your hands if you've only peed as urine is sterile so can't harm you at all. he tells him he only needs to wash his hands after pooing.

and someone posted a thread here a few years back about the fact that she was told never to steralise for her premmie baby as he needed the germs, washing well and air drying or washing in the dishwasher are more than enough.

DaidiNaNollag · 05/12/2008 11:13

That was RTKangamummy's thread. I have to say I do sterilise but only because I have no faith in my own ability to wash things! And my dishwasher is not great due to living in an area with water so hard it's almost solid!

nappyaddict · 05/12/2008 11:17

here's the thread

nappyaddict · 05/12/2008 11:20

PT - i don't wash my hands after changing a wee nappy - only a poo nappy but i have been flamed for saying that on here before. however wouldn't you still need to wash your hands after going to the toilet to do a wee cos the person who used it before you might have done a poo and then touched the toilet and the flusher etc and got germs on it, which you would then pick up aswell.

PinkTulips · 05/12/2008 11:40

lol.... hadn't thought about that.

but then by those standards did you ever see the episode of mythbusters where they tested every surface of the bathroom for faecal bacteria and they were present everywhere? so therefore you'd re-contaminate your hands turning off the tap or opening the door handle anyway so it's the same differance really.

TisTheSeasonToBeSolo · 05/12/2008 11:44

I always sterilised my pump and put the parts into ziplock bags and straight into the fridge once cool.

suwoodolf · 05/12/2008 11:45

Pinktulips do you think that is a big thing that a DC hasn't had antibiotics by 2? Mine hasn't either, thats why I'm wondering. I sterilised bottles til about 8 months, but dropped dummies were picked up etc. My house is relatively clean but we do have cats and the odd dust bunny glides past now and again

TisTheSeasonToBeSolo · 05/12/2008 11:51

Well, I always wash my hands after entering the toilet even if I only go in to adjust my clothes. If I've touched the lock/door handle/wall whatever, then someone before me that has not washed their hands has touched all these things. EUW!

And ladies, when you wee and wipe, don't you have vaginal discharge? it's not just urine you are potentially touching is it? and if you are wiping front to back, you should be going in via your backside(putting your hand behind rather thanfrom the front)...specks of poo are waiting to get onto your hand, even if you can't see them.

PinkTulips · 05/12/2008 12:00

suwoo... i only mention it as my two are the only kids i know who aren't on ABs at least once every 3/4 months .... i know one baby who's barely one and has been on ABs every second week of his life since he was a couple of months old

most of the other kids i know catch bugs on a regular basis that require treatment whereas, while mine get coughs and snuffles and mild bugs, they never, ever need to go to the gp. we've been living here over a year and neither child has had to go to the doctor for an illness yet.

pets are brilliant for a childs immune system apparently, i read an article when preg with dd that said kids born in houses with pets are far more resistant to bugs and infections than those who don't have pets.

Solo, i didn't say i don't wipe... i said my cousins microbiologist dad said there's no need to! although like nappyaddict i don't always wash my hands after a wet nappy, only a pooey one.

must remember to ask him about vag junk next time i see him.... i don't like the man so it would be worth it to see his reaction

nappyaddict · 05/12/2008 13:37

I suppose for boy it's different because they don't wipe if they have a wee do they and they don't need to touch the flusher or a cubicle door or anything. The only thing they touch is their willy.

TisTheSeasonToBeSolo · 05/12/2008 15:00

And willies aren't sweaty? Sweat = bacteria...blah blah blah...
NA listen to yourself!

PT, I'm sure you do wipe, I didn't suggest you or anyone else didn't. Would be interesting to hear the reaction to vag junk too .

My dad almost died last year after a stay in hospital resulted in his contracting C Diff. Don't do this to anyone, wash your hands!!!
Dad has cancer now and is soooo afraid to have to go into hospital for any longer than a few hours because he feels that if he does, that he will end up getting it again and it will finish him off.
Everyone is worrying about measles, but I'll bet more people have died of C Diff this past two years than of measles. It's far easier to not pass on C Diff than it is to not pass on measles iyswim.
WASH YOUR HANDS!!!
Trust me, you wouldn't want to see anyone go through this illness month on month, losing weight, crying with pain, suffering so badly. It would likely have killed a small child.
I know I've changed the subject of the OP slightly, but keeping bottles clean is all well and good, but keeping hands clean should be second nature...you wouldn't feed yourself or anyone else poo intentionally, so why would you do it unintentionally by not washing hands after visiting the toilet or changing nappies ~ even just wet ones?
Rant over...

nappyaddict · 05/12/2008 15:13

I know sweat = bacteria but we sweat all over our bodies and we don't wash our hands every time we touch our arms, legs, faces etc. If a microbiologist is advocating it then it can't be that bad can it.

Original poster

Tee2072 · 05/12/2008 15:15

Just for the record, although I do not think I will sterilize my LOs bottles when it arrives in 6 months, I do wash my hands a lot!

OP posts:

thrEEfrenChhens · 05/12/2008 15:34

interesting thread - I do sterilise bottles and wash my hands after changing nappies and going to the loo - but I've heard that tea towels are full of nasties and I often dry my hands on them after washing! should I wash my hands again?!

LO 4 months has just grabbed a handful of the dog's fur for the first time and I didn't wash his hands a

TheTwelveDAISYOfChristmas · 05/12/2008 16:04

I never sterilised anything with my BF DD (now 18 months). Everything was washed in the hottest water and allowed to air dry. I did sterilise any containers used to store EBM, but never bothered with the breast pump itself or bottles/dummies.

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