Sterilising bottles?

silja

OK this might be a stupid question but why and for how long do baby's bottles need to be sterilised? Obviously they need to be washed carefully but I don't really understand the sterilising, considering babies will put anything and everything in their mouths, so whether a bottle teeth is sterile hardly matters...

Shelli

I was told one year, but I too am baffled as to why.

Nevyn

Because of the high nutrient content of the feed used in the bottles.
It is a prime breeding medium for all sorts of bacteria and it takes quiet the while for a child's immune system to develop and as their stomach don't have high volume off stomach acid due to their smalls size it is possible for something that was on or in the bottle to continue to grow in the feed in their stomach.

When the children are bigger they have a better developed immune system and a greater volume of stomach acid.

You can chose a non chemical way to sterilise the bottles, such as steaming or boiling them as regular cleaning won't do it.

Kildrought

When mine were little I used the dishwasher on a high setting by the time they were 8/9 months...though I never fed artificial milk so I don't know if that makes any difference.

silja

Thaedydal: So how long do you need to sterilise?

Been discussing it with DH this evening and even though I hope th breastfeed fully for a few weeks or months, we'll get a steriliser anyway- we do not have a dishwasher so it just makes sense, especially with twins.

embee

silja wrote:

Thaedydal: So how long do you need to sterilise?

Been discussing it with DH this evening and even though I hope th breastfeed fully for a few weeks or months, we'll get a steriliser anyway- we do not have a dishwasher so it just makes sense, especially with twins.

Silja - sterilising for the first year is recommended by the WHO. A babies immune system needs at least 12 months after birth to mature enough.

crosstownk

We sterilised for one year on our first as it was recommended by all our healthcare providers. We are also keeping to that with our second and thankfully there are only 3 months left. It's extra hassle, but worth it.

Both of them had no sickness (bar the odd cold), so based on that I'm happy enough to continue sterilising. We use the steam method for sterilising.

On the other hand, an infant of 6/7/8 months will probably crawl everywhere putting everything into his/her gob - most of which won't be sterilised.

embee

crosstownk wrote:

On the other hand, an infant of 6/7/8 months will probably crawl everywhere putting everything into his/her gob - most of which won't be sterilised.

That has nothing to do with why you need to keep sterilising bottles until 12 months old. Infant formula or breastmilk in a bottle is a highly nutritious food, especially to bacteria. Infant formula is not sterile, even though it is packed in a drum and foil sealed. If a bottle has not been sterilised correctly, any colonies left on the inside of the bottle will multiply rapidly once warm water and formula powder are added. This is not the same as a child picking up a plastic toy that has been sitting on the floor and putting the toy in its mouth - the surface of a plastic toy is a vastly inferior surface for bacteria to multiply than in a bottle of warm milk, where bacteria numbers can double every 20 minutes. This is also why you should throw any milk that baby hasn't drunk within an hour of preparing the bottle away.

nesf

silja wrote:

Thaedydal: So how long do you need to sterilise?

A year is recommended. Strictly you could argue that it isn't absolutely necessary but it's best to play safe with these kinds of things. Sterilising dummies and teething rings isn't a bad idea either, wet surfaces are the enemy bacteria wise.

A steam steriliser is handy but pricey.



On the subject of bottles, we found the Avent ones good. I've heard good things about the Tommie Tippie ones too.

Nevyn

http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/items/research_detail.asp?item=468

World Health organization (WHO) Guidelines for the safe preparation, storage and handling of powdered infant formula



Powdered infant formula (PIF) has been associated with serious illness and death in infants due to infections with Enterobacter sakazakii.
During the production process, PIF can become contaminated with harmful bacteria such as Enterobacter sakazakii and Salmonella enterica.
This is because, using current manufacturing technology, it is not feasible to produce sterile PIF. The WHO was requested to develop guidelines for the safe preparation, storage and handling of PIF and these were based on research evidence presented at two international expert meetings.
These guidelines are considered to be a generic document that will provide guidance and support for countries and governments. However, they can also provide useful information for infant feeding specialists and those caring for new mothers, who may require additional background information into the recent change in recommendations for the making up of PIF.

All soothers/pacifiers as well as bottles uses for breast milk and the parts of pumps for breast milk should be sterilised.

A dishwasher is not good enough for doing this.

You are either looking at a cold water steriliser with the likes of milton
or a steam one or a mircowave one.

RIRI

We sterilized for the first 12 months as recommended by WHO - it can be a bit of a hassle tbh, many people I know just used the dishwasher after 8 or 9 months.

We used the avent microwave sterilizer which I found great especially for travelling & you can put soothers & all the breast pump paraphanelia in too, 8 mins (iircc) in the microwave & done. It was bought as a gift so I'm not sure of the cost.
HTH

loismustdie

it works to just sterilize them with boiling water for ten minutes too. i never bought a sterilizer as i breastfed for 6 months and now we just do it this way, and even then when i expressed. it's way quicker and you don't need as many bottles. i found dr brown's bottles brilliant, they have a resivoir and tube to prevent colic. we used to throw them in dishwasher every so often but found it shrunk the lids somehow?

Shelli

I have the Avent steam steriliser and find it great, the bottles are good too, but I find the Tomee Tippee ones better. The avent electric pump is fantastic for expressing.

LegacyUser

My son was 3 weeks out of Hospital when he got a tummy bug....have to say its no fun....so IMHO err on the side of caution and sterilise for the first year.

Babs only holds onto mums immune antibodies for about 5-6 months so its when babs hits 6 months that they will be exposed to a full range of illneses.

littlebug

You can also buy steriliser bottles in mothercare. When you've washed the bottle you put some water in the lid, put the teat and ring in and then the bottle itself, popped closed so it's sealed then put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes (correct times written on the side of the bottle- it depends how many you're sterilising at once). I thought these were very handy- no need for a steriliser. It was great for travelling as long as you knew there was a microwave wherever you were going.

themadchef

i have 4 kids under 3yrs so i consider myself to be the queen of bottles at the mo. i have twins 5mts old and use a big pot with a steaming level, (it was on offer a few years ago in super value) but any big pot will do and you dont need the steaming level, as long as you put the lid on. very simple wash the masses of bottles, little bit of water in the bottom , on the gas, boil for around 5 mins (to be sure to be sure!) and bobs your uncle, no fidgety bits just a pot with lid, sooo easy as so uncomplicated!

as for what age to stop, once my older ones went on solid food (6mts) instead of boiling the bottles i just washed as usual, put in the pot top side up this time and filled them with boiling water from the kettle. that was it, till 9 mts i stopped. my kids have never been ill (any of them) never had an antibiotic etc, and i think only one has ever seen the doc apart from usual jabs, so i guess ive been lucky or it works!, best of luck

Davidth88

It's interesting the Americans don't sterilise at all. An American friend of mine was given a steriliser and her reaction was ' what is that for ? '

We used the microwave ones , great and simple ...... but for gods sake don't open the thing until its really cooled down unless you like getting scalded.


I think we sterilsed for the first year.

Ayla

Davidth88 wrote:

It's interesting the Americans don't sterilise at all. An American friend of mine was given a steriliser and her reaction was ' what is that for ?

Gotta say, that's a new one to me (I'm American). Everyone I knew growing up breastfed, but even so I knew of sterilizers. I'd imagine that just about anyone who uses formula/bottles knows of sterilizers. Maybe your friend was new to the baby scene?

Davidth88

Guessed you were American by the use of the 'z' ..... sorry couldn't help it

She was indeed a new Mom, however her mother was also bermused, as were her friends.

Maybe it's a regional thing ( she was from CA ) ?

We were all surprised by her reaction , indeed I saw her about 1 year later and she said she never used it, and was advised my someone not to bother.

Ayla

Davidth88 wrote:

Guessed you were American by the use of the 'z' ..... sorry couldn't help it

Ah, those spellings got me again. After almost three years they still catch me up sometimes...if y'all would just spell things right....

Nevyn

Well I would suggest that anyone who has further questions if the World Health Organisation statement was not enough for ye to talk to your gp, locla health/baby nurse or the persons running your prenatal classes.

Ireland has a temperate moist climate and we have a lot of fungus and bacteria growth which happens at quiet the rate compared to other countries.

barryfitz

Babs is 11 months now and weve been using the Microwave steriliser. We found it great and never really a pain to use. The washing of the bottles is the pain , but sterilising just means you pop them in the container after a rinse, hit the button and away you go. We will soon stop using it as she'l be the year in no time. All the books seem to indicate that a year is adequate time to sterilise so thats enough for me. As for bottles, weve used tomee tipee and Avent and never had a problem with wind. I think that was babs' doing though, straighten her up and she would bellow like a fog horn straight away, god bless her.

Kernel32

Ayla wrote:

Gotta say, that's a new one to me (I'm American). Everyone I knew growing up breastfed, but even so I knew of sterilizers. I'd imagine that just about anyone who uses formula/bottles knows of sterilizers. Maybe your friend was new to the baby scene?

My wife breastfed but she also pumped a bit. We were told you don't need to sterilize bottles from breastfed milk and we didn't. Just a wash in nice hot water. But I do think you are supposed to sterilize formula bottle. Formula feeding seems like so much trouble compared to breast feeding.

Ayla

Kernel32 wrote:

Formula feeding seems like so much trouble compared to breast feeding.

Yikes, that comment could open a whole can of worms. :eek:

Interesting, though, that you experienced breastmilk bottles may not require the same sterilisation. If you think about it, if breastmilk has the same bacteria as formula (and thus the bottles require the same sterilisation), shouldn't we sterilise our breasts after feeds? Any woman who's breastfed knows there's always residue left on the nipple...add body heat and the inevitable sweating, and it's heaven for bacteria. Yet we don't sterilise our boobies...hmmm?

nesf

Kernel32 wrote:

Formula feeding seems like so much trouble compared to breast feeding.

They both have their advantages and disadvantages.

squire1

Thaedydal wrote:

Well I would suggest that anyone who has further questions if the World Health Organisation statement was not enough for ye to talk to your gp, locla health/baby nurse or the persons running your prenatal classes.

I did actually ask a G.P.s opinion on this and she said she did not see any reason to steralise bottles after the first six months. He claim was that you are just protecting them from bugs that they are going to get eventually anyway. I didn't take her advice and continued steralising until 12 months but I have ofter wondered how sound her advice was. The consensus in this thread is that is wasn't very sound after all.

The G.P was South African but based in Ireland if that makes any difference, not that it should.

nesf

squire1 wrote:

I did actually ask a G.P.s opinion on this and she said she did not see any reason to steralise bottles after the first six months. He claim was that you are just protecting them from bugs that they are going to get eventually anyway. I didn't take her advice and continued steralising until 12 months but I have ofter wondered how sound her advice was. The consensus in this thread is that is wasn't very sound after all.

The G.P was South African but based in Ireland if that makes any difference, not that it should.

My GP put it that it was the first six months that you need to be paranoid about regarding sterilising stuff. She didn't recommend not sterilising or anything, only that the importance of it wanes slowly over the final months of the child's first year.

Hody

Shelli wrote: »

I have the Avent steam steriliser and find it great, the bottles are good too, but I find the Tomee Tippee ones better. The avent electric pump is fantastic for expressing.

Yeah Avent seriliser is great indeed, the Tomee Tippee bottles are better because they are anti-colic while the avent ones have no such thing build in. Where did you get the electronic avent pump?!

Nevyn

Chemists often have them.

barryfitz

Hody wrote: »

Yeah Avent seriliser is great indeed, the Tomee Tippee bottles are better because they are anti-colic while the avent ones have no such thing build in. Where did you get the electronic avent pump?!

Avent have the valves in the teat to help prevent colic aswell.

Hody

Are you sure?! There are obvious valves in the Tomee ones, but the avent ones (that came with the steriliser) does not appear to have anything like that...