sorry really dull question.....

[sparkle]

are you supposed to sterilise the ice cube trays to freeze puree? can you tell i'm having a food paranoia night? I seem to have forgotten everything I did first time around with purees

Don't bother!! DId you sterilise the pan you cooked the food in or the processor you pureed it in?

Didn't think so!

Yes. You should sterelise as much as you can until 6mths.

Thinking back i think i used to pour boiling water over mine in the sink just before i added the food, because i had a steam stereliser which they didn't really fit in. And couldn't be doing with anymore stuff in my kitchen such as a liquid stereliser.

But strictly speaking you should and i guess you could use a casserole dish and sterelising tablets if you don't have a liquid sterliser

Oops, sorry, just read that and it sounds a bit harsh! Didn't mean to.

The answer is, I never did - just wash it in hot soapy water to make sure it's as clean as possible. It'll be fine.

I never sterilised spoons, bowls or any other feeding equipment except bottles.

In fact, in my paranoia with ds1, I DID try to sterilise an ice cube tray in the steam steriliser and it melted!!! Never bothered again!

well i've got one of those rubbery cube trays and this had gone really wierd and out of shape in the dishwasher. I had the tray for DS but not the dishwasher!

I do try and sterilise as much as I can but I guess the foods going to be heated again so this will get rid of any nasties.

I'm sure the real issue with sterilising is just bottles that you make milk up in and then store for 24 hours.

I'm pretty sure KATG said they don't sterilise anything at all in the US.

The only thing I've ever sterilised is bottles and that's only till about 8 months or so.

Well I will probably do as Fran1 suggestes and just pour boiling water over it. I expect my half-melted tray will be worse for her health anyway so will just stick top plain old plastic ones.

Agree with Skate - I don't and didn't sterlise any cooking and storage utensils with dd1 or now with ds1 (nearly 5 months). And I also remember a thread somewhere where someone said they don't sterilise anything at all in US. I don't know about your baby but from about 3 months onwards mine has been licking and gumming everything in sight including old dirty carpets and toys and (so far!) he is fine.

was abit paranoid and stuck the ice trays in the steamer! I think I stopped around 1 year. I am pretty sure you don't have to though, although I would wash them in the dishwasher.

I didn't bother, DS was putting toys and wotnot in his mouth by then and I didn't see the point.

Skate's right. In the US, where they are super-paranoid about germs etc. they don't sterilise bottles even. My daughter was a preemie and from day 1 nothing was sterilised.

So the answer is... NO!

Kate, is that because everyone has dishwashers, though?

Message withdrawn

Well we didn't have a dishwasher in the apartment we lived in when DD1 was first born. We used to wash her bottles by hand.

Oh, OK, was just curious and thinking maybe it was to do with standard of living in the US!

No, I think it's to do with the fact that sterilising is unecessary.

There is an awful lot of poverty in the US and certainly having a dishwasher is not a given.

You only really need to sterilise equipment used for milk. Also, if you are weaning after 6-months, there isn't really any need to sterilise at all.

Anecdotal, but when I lived in the US, it seemed to be accepted that a baby will have repeated ear and gut infections etc. (as if these are the same as the common cold). I wouldn't be surprised if this was due to lack of bottle feeding hygiene. No personal experience...

Supposedly more likely becoz of the particular mix of germs in the poplation... Ameri'scot. Brfeeding rates r lower there, too. & genetics r supposed 2 b a factor w/ ear infex -- short Etruscan tubes?

aren't they called Eustachian tubes? Etruscan tubes sound like a lovely idea though!

NO .. NO ... NO

You really don't need to .

nah never sterilised anyhting