Help - accidentally used unsterilised bottle - feel sick with worry!

[SB1712]

Help!!

I accidentally used an unsterilised bottle to feed my newborn (6 days old) on her earlier feed. It had been cleaned in hot water waiting to go into the steriliser however I thought my partner had left this out on the side as a new bottle to be used.

Should I do anything or ring anyone? I am petrified it will harm her and probably won’t get any sleep tonight with worrying and checking she is okay.
Her bottle was made with the bottle prep machine with powdered hipp organic milk.

Any advice appreciated as feel sick with worry. First time mum so all new to me and don’t know how worried I should be but currently feeling very teary and guilty.

Thank you.

I say she be fine as a once off. They been sterilised every other time and it had been washed in hot water

I wouldn't worry about it. My 1 year old tried to feed my newborn a ham sandwich. Nothing bad happened. Congratulations on your baby!

She will be absolutely fine. The bottle was clean - don't worry. Congrats on your baby :)

She’ll be fine! Sterilising is just a guide, it doesn’t mean a bottle that’s been washed but not sterilised is bad for her.

Do you think I should contact anyone? I have tried to google but it just tells you the reasons why you should sterilise. All of which I know and feel incredibly guilty about. I can’t believe I’ve done it and feeling so upset

Thank you for your replies I really appreciate them

As long as the milk was made properly that is what is important, as it is the milk powder that isn't sterile. Bottle will be fine as it was clean

I wouldn't be calling anyone.

Its done and so far she is fine. And will probably remain so. There's nothing for anyone to do.

Please let it go. Odds are she will remain absolutely fine. There is a very small possibility she will get a tummy upset. If that happens you will deal with it.

Baby will be fine.

My 2 year old stuck a finger she had picked her bum and then her nose with in her 3 week old sisters mouth.

Babies are tough, if they weren't then the human race wouldn't have made it this far.

Sterilised bottles are a really really really modern thing, you probably have living relatives who didn't have sterilised bottles ever.

It will be absolutely fine.

It had been cleaned in hot water - your baby will be absolutely fine. As someone who had bad postnatal anxiety, I do get how consuming these worries can be, but honestly, you can stop worrying about this one right now. The bottle was clean.

Get sleep - you need it! Worries are worse on lack of sleep. And if you find yourself worrying about lots of things like this, talk to your HV becsuse they should be able to get you some extra support. I ended up doing 6 sessions of postnatal anxiety group therapy and it was life-changingly helpful.
xx

Oh OP . It will be fine. I would have thought the same with my first, but subsequent DC survived very, very much worse and I barely turned a hair.

Your baby will be fine you have nothing to worry about. I totally get its your first baby and everything is all new. I have 4 my youngest is 2 I have gave her dummies out the packet when she was new born as I forgot and she was screaming and she was OK. Congrats on baby

Babies are strong and she will be absolutely fine. She's had a properly made feed from a clean bottle.

Please try not to worry about it.

As others have said, if there was an older sibling around, chances are, there would have been finger, food, toys ... All sorts in babies mouth in the first few weeks!

Don’t give it any more headspace OP. I sooo understand the anxieties of first time parenthood but I can assure you that no paediatrician or paediatric nurse would have a moment of concern about this. As pp have said the sterilising is just a guide, and in fact in one highly regarded NICU where I worked they didnt recommend sterilising at all in term babies - just washing their feed equipment in hot soapy water. Please please just enjoy those newborn snuggles and head-sniffs and don’t let this give you any more worry. Your baby will be fine and in a few months time you’ll look back on this memory and smile nostalgically (as you watch your baby with great fistfuls of sand heading towards their mouth!).

Honestly OP don't worry - you don't need to call anyone. If you've washed it in hot water it will be fine as a one off. Congratulations

Oh darling, gosh I can feel your distress. Please, please don’t worry. The bottle has been sterilised hitherto and having been in hot water it should be completely safe.
With such a little one, you would know very quickly indeed in the unlikely event of any sort of problem, you don’t need to watch and wait all night.

Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter, you’ve so much joy to look forward to 💐

Thank you for your kind replies I really appreciate the reassurance. I’ll keep an eye on her nappies just in case but hopefully you’re all right.
If she wasn’t my baby I would probably say the same to someone else, with her being my first and so young your mind can go to worst case scenario.

Thank you again x

@SB1712

Do you think I should contact anyone? I have tried to google but it just tells you the reasons why you should sterilise. All of which I know and feel incredibly guilty about. I can’t believe I’ve done it and feeling so upset

Thank you for your replies I really appreciate them

Absolutely don't ring anyone.

You are going to feel genuine trauma about making a fuss about this in approximately 16 months time when your toddler is licking the crusty bits off the bath taps, eats out of pet bowls and spends half their life with their hand in their nappy and the other half in their mouth.

Don't do it. Stop right now and accept that it is your moral duty as a parent to fuck up in as many ways possible to ensure your child ends up with a good immune system.

How well was the bottle and teat washed?

I've seen many non UK mothers just washing then rinsing in hot water after a few weeks old. They will sterilise once a week and insist this is okay as long as the bottles and teats are washed properly. They say it's important to sterilise everything when they are first bought but because our tap water is so clean then it is fine to not bother sterilising every time.

Relax, they’ll almost certainly be fine. I didn’t clean my nips before plonking them in DCs mouth I also didn’t ever sterilise a bottle when we switched over.

No don't call anyone - this is all really new and they tell you that everything has to be done "just so" when you have a baby but ... Nah. A clean bottle with a freshly made feed is perfect. You're learning about all this as you go. Please don't let this take up any more of your headspace. Your baby is absolutely fine and the fact that you're asking shows youre a great mum.

Oh, OP, it will be fine. Please don't fret. BF mother's don't sterilise their nipples! As long as it had been cleaned in hot water there's nothing to worry about.

Enjoy your first weeks with your delicious new-born.

Op just to add to the chorus of it will b totally fine.

It's very normal to worry about things which, looking back. are clearly minor but at the time seem overwhelming.

I recall ringing the midwife about a tiny red spot (like, a pinprick size) on DS1's chin... not sure what I expected her to say! She was very sweet and reassuring.

Please don't worry about this or similar things. Babies are so tough. I well recall the time DS2 picked up a Haribo from the pavement (!) and ate it. He was fine.