sterilizing? what? why? is this just modern scaremongering?

[muddle78]

hi im pregnant and keep hearing/ reading about the need to sterilise everything eh? surely if i bf then i dont need to sterilise anything? and if im wrong, what do i need to sterilize? and why, surely in the past (as in our ancestors) mothers didn't serilize did they? help im so ignorant!

Well, you can't sterilise your boobs!

If you use things like a dummy, which they put in their mouth, then those things ought to be sterilised. And if you ever want to give baby water (which you probably wn't as most bf mums just ffer breast if baby seems thirsty), then you'd need to use boiked cooled water, from a spoon or bottle which was sterilised.

Our ancestors all bf exclusively, and did't have dummies, so the issue never came up...

I bf dd and I didn't sterilise anything - ever. I do think it's a bit hysterical - like so much hygeine-mania these days.

Dd started using a beaker at about 6-7 months which went in the dishwasher with everything else.

You're absolutely right, you won't need to sterilise anything for normal breastfeeding. If you use nipple shields, or express milk with a breastpump to feed in a bottle, you will.
You still don't need to buy any special kit though - you can boil things for 6 minutes in a perfectly ordinary saucepan, like our mothers used to do!

stems from the 40s & 50s ideas of 'scientific cleanliness'

if things have been dishwashed, or washed in hot water and air dried there's no need to sterilise even if you use bottles

good thread here

I've never sterilized anything for my 2 exclusively bf children, just put bottles and breast pump paraphernalia through dishwasher, was assured by hv this was okay.

Sterilizing only really concerns ff equipment, powder is unsterile and can cause gastric illness.

many thanks for your informative replies! i now have nore reason to invest in a dishwasher!