Storing sterilised bottles

[PL2021]

Hey everyone,

I'm a new mummy and just getting into a routine with my little one. I'm just after some advice on storing my sterilised bottles. Currently I put them through the steriliser and once they are finished, I shake out any excess water, assemble and then place them in the fridge (without drying). Firstly I hope this is the correct thing to do?

Secondly, I am starting to run out of room in my fridge haha! So I was wondering how else I can store them? Can I place them in the cupboard instead of the fridge? But I feel that would be the wrong thing to do as they stay moist inside which doesn't seem right to me? And surely drying them defeats the object of sterilising?

It's really pickling my brain haha! Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Just leave them in the steriliser until you need them and don't worry if they're damp.

I used to put them in the cupboard

I just assembled them wet and stored in a box on the counter beside the formula

I’d leave them in the steriliser. With DS I worried they wouldn’t be sterile anymore (despite being in the steam steriliser) so with DD I bought a Milton water steriliser then they stayed actually in the sterile stuff until I needed them. No idea if that was actually better or not but it made me feel better.

I take them out of the steam sterilizer, assemble them then leave them on the side until I need them. It has never caused me any problems doing it that way. When I worked on the neonatal ward we used to give the mums who were pumping a microwave sterilizer bag to sterilize their bit in. The sterile items were then placed in a lidded box by their bedside not in the fridge. Unused items were re-sterilized after 24 hours.

I also assemble mine and leave them on the side until needed - or I leave them in the steriliser and just take one out at a time.

Leave them in the steriliser

Assemble and leave on side here too but we have the mam bottles that just go in the microwave without needing a steriliser so we obviously want to use the microwave for other things too. Never heard of putting them in the fridge, where did that come from?

I either leave them in the steriliser or assemble them and keep them on the worktop. The reason why you sterilise bottles is to make absolutely sure that there is no milk residue or bacteria left on the bottle from the previous feed. The bottle doesn't have to be sterile for the feed.

Thanks everyone. I'm not able to leave them in the steriliser as we are using that quite often to sterilise my breast pump.

I read online somewhere to store them in the fridge, I can't remember exactly where. It would be much easier for me to store them in the cupboard, I just feel weird putting them away when they are still wet inside from sterilising. I think I'm just being paranoid!

The water they are wet with is sterile water. And it will evaporate anyway unless you screw the teat on. It would be really quite tricky for bacteria to get a foothold.