Desperately hoping to BF, but do I still need to buy a steriliser?

[TheScenicRoute]

Babies are due in 5 weeks, hoping to Breast feed so haven't even thought about buying a steriliser, but work colleagues are horrified that I haven't got one. When I asked why I would need one they told me for dummies (I'm hoping not to use those as well.... At least at first). If I do have to bottle feed of course I understand I'll need yo buy the whole kit and caboodle, do I really need a steriliser from day one???

Might be useful to sterilise dummies and any breast feeding equipment?

If you are worried buy some milton tablets. You can sterilise in any container- preferably with a lid. Job done and one less worry.

I hadn't thought about breastfeeding equipment. What would that be then? Breast pump?

Do you have a microwave? If so you can use microwave sterilising bags - take up no room and usually cost about £5 for 3 bags, each can be used up to 20 times. I sterilise dummies in there (not very often tbh...) and also the hand pump and bottles etc i use for expressing (a couple of times a week). (Actually you don't really need to sterilise stuff for expressing, just wash thoroughly in hot soapy water and air dry, I then keep it in a big ziplock bag in the fridge until I need it. This is because breast milk is naturally antibacterial, apparently ).
If you find yourself using more bottles, or formula, and the bags are becoming a faff then you can buy a 'proper' steriliser in boots or online with next day delivery.

Sorry meant to add a link to the kind of bags I mean

Just get some Milton tablets :)

You don't need a steriliser.

If you express, then you can put hard plastic items in the dishwasher, and soak the rest in Milton fluid. Or just put it in a big pan and boil.

No point in buying a gadget unless/until you know you'll use it, rather than the other ways to sterilise for occasional use.

If you have the equipment in you wont panic if you struggle. I bought a microwave steriliser, 4 bottles and a pump. I also had a tub of formula 'just in case'. It stopped me from worrying baby would starve. I also expressed and let my partner help with feeds after a few weeks and yy to sterility ng dummies and weaning equipment. Good luck and make sure you ask / get all the support you need.

I wash dummies with washing up liquid and scald for a minute or two in a mug of boiling water. Well sometimes anyway, DD ten months now so I don't worry too much.

In theory you don't need a steriliser if breastfeeding but unless you are planning not to use bottles at all for 12 months it will probably be handy at some point. I used a bowl of Milton solution for a bit but once I switched to formula around 6 months I found my avent microwave steriliser more practical and smelled nicer.

As pp said, 24 hour big supermarkets and Amazon stock these things if you want to wait and see.

I didn't buy one before my baby was born, but got a microwave one from Boots when he was v small - to give me the option of expressing (I'd already had to express in hospital when trying to get BFing going, so was suddenly clued up to it - hadn't planned to beforehand). Baby didn't really take a bottle till he was 5 mo, but we use it a lot now for expressed milk - I'm BFing still alongside solids at 9 mo. Love the microwave one, think I would've hated the chemical-ness of tablets.

I wouldn't worry, you or Dh can easily pick one up if needed. I ended up ff one twin and bf the other and Dh ended up doing an emergency run to boots to pick up bottles, steriliser etc when I came home.

Good luck with the babies, it's an amazing, if knackering, experience .

There's really no point in buying a steriliser unless you've also bought something to sterilise (be it bottles, breast pump, dummies). Milton tablets are readily available in supermarkets, you don't need anything else. Boiling in a pan is fine too if you're caught short.

Whether you want to have an 'emergency' bottle and formula in the house is really down to you - some don't want the temptation when they are trying to EBF, others find it reassuring to have a back-up plan.

I plan to breastfeed and have only bought a cheap steriliser as I plan to pump after a few weeks for when I go back to work.

I didn't, but mine didn't have dummies. After 6 months I only used the dishwasher as it gets hot in there and is good enough for what is needed at that age.

In case of emergency just buy some of those tiny ready made bottles of formula. They sell them in most major supermarkets. I know plenty of people who have their newborn a little bit to stop them screaming until their milk came through in day 3. Won't interfere with your supply provided you put baby on the breast to suckle as much as possible.

I got one before DS was born, it just gathered dust in the kitchen,then a cupboard, then the loft! You can get one easily if you need to - I'm still bf DS at 2, never used a dummy and only ever used Milton to clean the potty ??

Milton tablets or fluid, that's what they do in the maternity hospital for pumps etc.

I breastfed for 14 months but did use Milton in a big plastic tub for breast pump, a spoon to give her infacol etc.

I think it's better not to buy any formula, bottles, expensive steriliser etc. you can get all you need in a supermarket if you need it.

I think the tommee tippee hand pump I bought had a small microwave steriliser in with it? It wasn't expensive and I found having the backup stuff available made me a lot calmer!

I wouldn't buy anything in advance. At most you can get small disposable glass bottles of formula which are pre sterilised I think to use in an emergency whilst dp goes to the shops. In the US they don't even use sterilisers - things just go in the dishwasher.

I mostly breastfed for the first 6 months and used milton fluid, it only takes 15 minutes to sterilise. After 6 months I just used the dishwasher.

There are a few emergency situations in which you might find you need to start breast pumping or ff in a hurry. If you live in the middle of nowhere with little family support then maybe an Avent hand breast pump, couple of bottles, microwave steriliser (or bags) and a couple of cartons of formula might be a handy "just in case" backup, but if you live close to a big supermarket then you'll probably be fine without.

I think if you have a dishwasher you don't really need a steriliser. We didn't have a dishwasher but I was given a microwave steriliser by a friend and used it for the breast pump which has little fiddly bits that are difficult to thoroughly clean by hand. If you aren't planning to pump then you won't need a steriliser just for dummies.

You don't need a steriliser if you're breastfeeding unless you want to start expressing milk. And even then you don't need an actual steriliser. I had to express in hospital with both DC, and the hospital used Milton tablets for sterilising the breast pump bits and any bottles.

A steriliser might be cheaper than Milton tablets if you needed to use a steriliser a lot (would have to check costs of each) but I wouldn't bother spending money on a steriliser unless you actually need one. Plenty of supermarkets have 24 hrs opening now, so it should be easy enough to get bottle feeding stuff quickly if you really needed it.

I would have a couple of bottles, sterlilising fluid and formula in the house in case you have problems with bf. Supermarkets aren't open in the middle of the night!