Do I need a steriliser?

[minniecat2406]

Baby due in four weeks and I'm still confused about sterilisers. I'm planning to EBF but obviously expressing as well. Do I need a steriliser or can you just rinse the bottles and pump out? Thank you

No you should sterilise the pump and bottles still. You don't actually need a steriliser, you can use a pan of boiling water for ten mins or Milton sterilising tabs and a large container, but a steriliser is so much easier. They don't have to be expensive either - I've picked one up in a charity shop before.

Baby's dummies and bottles do need to be sterilised (but Medela ones specifically state you shouldn't use any bleach or sterilising products).
Follow the instructions of whatever your bottles say.
I sterilise my bottles and dummies in a Milton's solution in a big tupperware container.
No need for anything fancy.

If you're planning on ebf I wouldn't bother. We brought a big electric tommee tippy one and then dd totally refused a bottle. We used to for months trying to get her to take one with no success and it just went in the loft. Total waste of money.
I'd either go with Milton or a microwave bag until you know you're definitely going to use bottles.

You also might not be able to express or just not want to. I found it really uncomfortable and didn't want anyone else feeding her anyway as it just screwed my my supply.

I had to argue with my aunt that I didn't need or want a huge steriliser, we use Milton or I have boiled stuff but it gets all limescale-y.

Also we got avent bottles at first which were fine but then DD stopped taking a bottle and now I've discovered she'll take a MAM bottle so I've got one of those now with can be sterilised one it's own in the microwave. Hopefully she'll go back to taking the avent ones when she needs bigger bottles.

Don't go mad buying bottles just get a couple and see how it goes.

No - some Milton fluid and a Tupperware will do the trick.

Thanks ladies! This is all such a mine field x

For you Milton will be fine. I stopped breast feeding at 5 months so had to buy one of those huge steraliser machines as you go through so many bottles and it’s bloody horrible. Gets full of limescale, turns the bottles an odd colour and even with daily cleaning smelt like damp socks 🤢

I also need to know this information. Thanks for everyone's response!

Mam bottles self-sterilise in the microwave. Tommy Tippee do a “travel steriliser” which is basically a plastic tub that fits one bottle and goes in the microwave. If you are expressing you could start with one if these as you will only need to sterilise one or two bottles a day.

DS is a year this coming week and I don't have a steriliser. He was EBF, and I now express at work although he doesn't take a bottle at nursery anymore so I'm essentially just storing BM for the apocalypse and so I can get an extra break from work.
In France they don't really sterilise anything, so although I sterilise my stuff (boiling water) most days, I don't freak out if I forget/don't have time. It always gets washed in hot water. I have a tiny kitchen too so that does factor a little, although if I was FF I obviously would have got one.

Used to sterilise stuff in a big Tupperware with sterilising tablets. He’s pretty much 6 months now and I just wash well with very hot soapy water. He only ever has breast milk (and tbh doesn’t really take a bottle anyway) so I’m less concerned about to growing bacteria and he’s at the stage where he licks literally everything and is eating pretty much anything he has the opportunity to. Obsessively sterilising seems futile.

It doesn’t matter what else they lick or chew on, it’s irrelevant to whether a bottle is clean enough or not. The bacteria in milk multiplies scarily quickly. You don’t ever need to sterilise anything, washing it thoroughly is perfectly fine. However, you can’t guarantee your partner or anyone else washing them up has been thorough enough and when you are tired it’s easy not to be yourself, so it’s just easier to sterilise all bottles.

I ebf with my DS.

He got colic.

Only Colief helped whih involved me expressing a bit into a bottle, administering the drops, feeding him the bottle and then switching to the boob.

Get a steriliser. They're amazing. You can get little sterilising bags for dummies and spoons.

Tommy tippee sterliser was great for us too. Did about 8 bottles in one go.

If you are expressing then you only need to wash things in hot soapy water. This is advised by the NHS.

If you get MAM dummies they can be sterilised by putting them inside their cases in the microwave for a couple of minutes. You can get a Milton dummy steriliser for our and about.

Philips Avent microwave steriliser is cheap quick and easy to clean- most brands should fit in it.

@minniecat2406 Argh! No! God don't listen to the advice above from jackshouse

You absolutely must sterilize and that is on the NHS website.

I have the link here: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/expressing-storing-breast-milk/

If you scroll down to the section on Expressing milk by hand, it says to use a sterilized bottle and to wash your hands with warm, soapy water. It also says your equipment should be sterilized if you express with a pump.

We just boil bottles and the pump parts that need it, in a big pan of water, bro g to boil, leave for 5 mins then fish them out the leave to dry, very simple if only using bottles infrequently. If you end up using a few bottles a day then cold water sterilizing looks much easier.

You can get away with washing the pump parts in hit soapy water between expressing sessions, but it needs sterilized every 24 hours.

I never bothered. I ebf to begin with and later expressed using a hand pump. Bottles, trays and the pump were washed in a little basket in the dishwasher. Dummies too.

I know it's anecdata but we never had any bother with bugs for any of my 3 dc. HV raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Midwife in hospital had recommended it.

I always washed them in the dishwasher, after a good scrub in the sink. Stopped once they started picking things off the floor and putting them in their mouths, at around 6 months.