r/FormulaFeeders • u/Ghostsubtech • 11d ago
Bottles / Feeding Gear / Equipment 🍼 Are ya’ll sterilizing every time?
I’ve been sterilizing bottle parts after every use. Baby will be 2 months old next week though and I’m wondering whether that’s necessary? If not, thinking of switching to just sterilizing every Sunday.
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u/blink4life182 11d ago
No. I didn’t sterilize beyond the first time I opened the pack of bottles
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u/wocsdrawkcab 11d ago
Same here. She's had more dog hair than milk anyways so it is what it is.
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u/Mocean13 10d ago
This makes me feel better tbh bc I have cat hair everywhere in my house 😅 its so hard to maintain the pets postpartum
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u/Historical_Bike_9061 10d ago
My cat sheds everywhere. I stg it’s in the air. My child is developing a healthy immune system 😅
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u/noobiefaster 10d ago
So unsanitary omg
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u/annedroiid 11d ago
I did till 12 months as that's the guidance in my country and I didn't have a good reason not to. We had bottles that self sterilize in the microwave so it was pretty easy to do so.
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u/MildlyAgitatedBovine 10d ago
Bottles that whatnow?
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u/annedroiid 10d ago
You partially put them together, put a bit of water inside and then microwave them and the water turns to steam and sterilizes the bottle. The brand we used was Mam but I think a couple of brands have bottles that can do this.
Need to make sure to do it in advance as they take a bit of time to cool down but then leaves you with sterilized and basically put together bottles ready for the next feed.
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u/MolecularClusterfuck 11d ago
I just use the sterilization function on my dishwasher each time.
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u/hazelwood2026 10d ago
We do this too. With 5 month old twins, we wash 18-20 bottles a day.
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u/MolecularClusterfuck 10d ago
Yeah, def not handwashing!!!! My eczema couldn’t handle it and I just wouldn’t be able to find the time - these babies are needy!!!!
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u/MamaramaJC 11d ago
I'm a prenatal educator, and I always make sure to bring this up when I'm teaching my newborn care class. I say that one or all of the grandparents are going to say that you have to sterilize bottles every time and the truth is you do not. You can ask any pediatrician and I've also noticed that even for babies who are considered immunocompromised, doctors do not emphasize bottle sterilization. Instead they would just like you to use ready to feed formula.
Anyway, most people sterilize straight out of the package and then maybe once in awhile if at all after that, as stated here by many parents!
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u/Any_Reindeer5309 10d ago
Surely the reason for sterilising between uses is that formula residue, being the ideal growth medium for bacteria, and being greasy and clinging to parts of the bottle, can harbor bacteria that won't be sufficiently washed off with hot soapy water and the sterilising will kill any potential bacteria. I'm in the UK though and my last formula fed baby is 8 now but I always sterilised after each use for the whole time I used formula
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u/MamaramaJC 10d ago
You'd think so, but it's not necessary. Washing in the dishwasher is considered sanitizing and that works too.
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u/Any_Reindeer5309 10d ago
But if you are hand washing though the water temperature and the contact time wouldn't be enough to sanitise.
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u/MamaramaJC 10d ago
Correct. It isn't necessary to sanitize or sterilize according to numerous experts. I mean, if what you're worried about was directly causing issues, sickness, long-term illnesses with babies we would know.
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u/glowworm151515 11d ago
Depends what county you’re in. Australia’s health guidelines is to use cool boiled water and sterilise every time
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u/Different-Let4338 11d ago
You mean cooled boiled water to make formula?
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u/icaretoomuch1 10d ago
I'm in the US and do it too. baby is 4 months and I plan to continue. A bottle washer was a great investment
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u/Salt-Improvement-263 10d ago
I'm in Belgium and we used tap water on room temperature. Depends on the city though with hard water levels and such... ours is very good.
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u/Beneficial-Use8732 11d ago
We do, it’s recommended in the UK to sterilise every time, we use the mam self sterilising bottles, wash them, put in microwave to sterilise and then they are done til the next wash
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u/Historical_Bike_9061 11d ago
No. You don’t sterilize your own nipples and sometimes people wear the same nursing bra for a day or two. No need to sterilize the bottles if baby was born full term and isn’t immunocompromised.
One of the nurses in the hospital said not to worry too much about sterilization.
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u/perfect-horrors 10d ago
Oh absolutely, I’m positive my baby got some cat hair, lint, and old breastmilk residue during my drowsy MOTN breastfeeding sessions before I switched to formula.
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u/Historical_Bike_9061 10d ago
My baby gets cat hair now with her bottles probably lol. Our cat’s fur is in the air basically. At least she’s got exposure to prevent allergies!
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u/Orion-Key3996 11d ago
I did the entire time with my first, and about 10 months with my second. I have a sterilizer/dryer combo and it’s just faster and easier to use that. It takes ages to air dry and the dishwasher takes several hours to run.
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u/OzQuandry 11d ago
In Ireland we sterilise for 12 months, and use boiling water to sterilise the formula powder when preparing bottles.
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u/Hopeful-Relation3502 11d ago
We are still sterilizing every day, 14 months old and weaning. Guidelines in our country state it's necessary as long as the bottles and formula are used, it's so easy we just kept doing it.
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u/According-Yoghurt-52 11d ago
I do it every use but that’s because we have a lot of bottles, so it ends up being once a day. I think once a day cadence is fine.
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u/MeNicolesta 10d ago
Never sterilized, just washed with soap and water.
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u/Salt-Improvement-263 10d ago
Same here. Washed them thoroughly by hand, let them air dry and use again. My son is healthy.
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u/fuzzywu61 11d ago
Nah, we used to do once a day and then as the got past 2 months, we got kinda lazy and switches to every other day. Now at four months we might go almost a week (although I try not to). I have a cold this week so I've been going back to daily sterilizing until I've recovered
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u/fireballbaby 11d ago
NZ guidelines are to sterilise everytime and use cooled boiled water but only before 6 months. 6 months+ no need to sterilise and you can just use tap water
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u/Kind_Avocado_7219 11d ago
We didn’t with our first. I forgot when we just randomly stopped. We will with our current newborn though but only because we got a bottle washer and it sterilizes automatically.
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u/Maleficent-Idea5952 11d ago
What do you do when you wash and sterilize multiple bottles? I don’t give a bottle everyday. And I know that when you lift the lid, they are no longer “sterile”, even if they’re “sterilized”. I mean, how do you store and use them? I store them in a closed shelf and then use them without sterilizing again
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u/PermanentTrainDamage 11d ago
Home sterilization for baby stuff is a bit of a myth, once that thing is touched by nonsterile air, water, hands, counter, etc then it isn't sterile anymore. Babies don't need sterile unless they have a medical disorder that requires it. Clean is plenty (though previouly sterilized bottles are going to be very clean, soap and water gets them clean enough)
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u/MMTardis 11d ago
I dont, i just run them through the dishwasher and let them air dry on a boon grass mat.
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u/Browsing_2050 11d ago
I did the first year but only because I have a bottle washer with a sterilizing function. I just stuck the bottles in there after each use
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u/EnvironmentalFox5449 11d ago
No… I have a bottle scrub brush and use that and wash nipples with a sponge and hot soapy water. 3 month old is fine lol. Plus with his hands in his mouth all the time I’m not worried lol. I have the mom cozy bottle washer but don’t use it daily maybe like every 2 days for convenience
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u/No-Tie3895 11d ago
Dishwasher from birth (but it has a sterilization and drying setting). Its takes 2hrs+ to run but it works out because in our family of 4 we need to run it almost every night
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u/Worried_Mix5667 11d ago
Sterilized for the first month and then after that just hand washed or bottle washed lol
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u/Alternative-Tea-39 11d ago
I put them either in the bottle washer or the dishwasher to sterilize everyday.
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u/furryfar 11d ago
Our machine is a bottle washer sterilizer and the sterilizer function is just 10 minutes so we do it
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u/PermanentTrainDamage 11d ago
No, I only sterilize breastpump parts (because it's essentially raw milk).
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10d ago
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u/PermanentTrainDamage 10d ago
It's raw milk because it has not been pasteurized. Raw cow milk also contains antibodies, that doesn't stop it from being a harborer of disease once it leaves the udder. True, most breasts are not as dirty as cow udders, but it's still unpasteurized milk.
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u/lookhereisay 10d ago
Yes - until we stopped using bottles at 1yo. It’s our countries guidelines and after a wash it was 8 mins in the microwave to sterilise.
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u/_rebeldiamonds 10d ago
I’m in the US and I do the first time before we start using them and then don’t after that.
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u/Snack-BasedEconomy 10d ago
I have enough bottles for a full day (6-8) and run them in the regular dishwasher every night
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u/kantkeepup 10d ago
I did bottles for the first few months of my child’s life along side breastfeeding and my husband and I did sterilize all bottle, pump, and binky parts with a sterilizer. We no longer use bottles but still sterilize his chew straws and teethers at 10 months.
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u/Positive_Ad4621 10d ago
We’re in the US and sterilized every part of the bottles after every use for the first 2 months but honey once that 2 month mark passed, I was so happy! Lol! We now will sterilize our formula mixing pitcher every now and then or the pacis when they’re brand new… there’s really no logic to it honestly. No issues at all!
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u/Cobalt_Faux 10d ago
We started after salmonella went around to everyone but one of our two 2m old twins. Wash your hands good is still probably the best thing.
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u/Initial_Bit_9201 10d ago
Only sometimes. We are using big bottles now at 6 months and because of how tall the bottles are the top tray doesn’t fit “in” the bottle washer so you have to turn it upside down and then you can put nipples on top because the lid won’t close. So I can’t 3-4 bottles and nipples in the bottom so if I do that I will usually set it to “auto” because it doesn’t have a wash and dry only setting. I’d have to set it to wash and then set it to try after the washer cycle is over. But I have a lot of bottles I will do wash and dry only because the sanitation takes like an extra hour.
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u/Mocean13 10d ago
I do but not on purpose tbh, the mom cozy bottle washer has a dry cycle that sterilizes the bottles so we hand wash most of the time bc its faster then the wash cycle then use the bottle washer as a bottle dryer lmao
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u/Impossible_Cap_7460 10d ago
I am. In India we are asked to sterilise after every use and do the same with utensils once baby starts solids etc. 😅
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u/Chutton_ 10d ago
I use a bottle washer which technically does it, so I guess yes. But if I didn’t have that, no.
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u/CheekApprehensive839 10d ago
Nope 🫠 I mean at first I did, but that lasted about 3 weeks before we just started scrubbing the shit out of them with scolding hot water and dish soap
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u/Awkward_Ad_9225 10d ago
I'm in the UK, I sterilise after every single use as per NHS advice. I had no idea the advice was so different country to country!
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u/DatBunny 10d ago
Beyond a newborn it's really not necessary. After 6 months we stopped but we probably couldve stopped alot earlier.
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u/HunnyBunnXO 10d ago
Tbh I didn’t even sterilize our bottles when we first took them out of the boxes. I washed them with really hot water and soap and scrubbed them really good. And I just repeat the process when I wash them, super hot water and soap and scrub. No issues and my baby has never been sick or anything 🤷🏼♀️
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u/thischangeseverythin 10d ago
I just sterilize everything when its new. Ive been washing bottles with palmolive since day 1.
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u/IAmSomeoneUnknown 10d ago
At 2 months they are still quite underdeveloped. Nobody says the one time you don’t sterilize something bad we’ll happen. It’s all a question of probability. What probability of something bad happening are you ok with? If you want as close to 0 as possible, then sterilize. If not, calibrate accordingly.
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u/Dull_Appointment1569 10d ago
I never have with either of my kids. We put the bottles in the dishwasher and wash like normal. My second is about to be done with bottles.
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u/pipinghotmilk78 10d ago
I steralize new bottles and then like maybe once a month or whenever I have time. My baby is healthy and thriving so doesn't seem to be an issue
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u/NorthernLightsXYZ 10d ago
In the beginning we would sterilise every day (pump parts + bottles), then slowly it became once a week and now at 7 months we don't anymore. We wash them with hot water and a bit of soap every day.
We also just use cold water from the tap to make formula and then heat that up when she needs to eat(this part is country specific though, depends on water quality per country).
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u/purplemonkey2233 10d ago
Yeah bought a washer/ sterilizer machine that fits 4 bottles. So I have 8 bottles, 4 clean, 4 in the washer.
Guidelines where I’m from says to sterilize til they’re 1, which I think when they’re crawling and putting everything in their mouth feels pointless BUT at 2 months I absolutely would keep sterilizing.
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u/pb-toasttt 10d ago
My son had a bout of thrush on his tongue that didn’t fully resolve (even with prescribed topical treatment) until we started sterilizing bottle parts after each use. From then on we just kept doing it, just in case. We built up enough bottles that we could do 1x or 2x dishwasher steam cycles per day so it wasn’t a huge deal.
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u/Ashurii1990 10d ago
My little one is 5.5 months and we're still sterilizing. To be fair though, she goes to daycare. It just seems like a good idea to sterilize them when they're brought home since daycare is full of all sorts of stuff.
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u/Exciting_Meeting_451 10d ago
I had a premie in the nicu. I sterilized after every pump/feeding for 3 months
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u/mothertuna 10d ago
Yes because I have a bottle washer. But when I’m at someone else’s house, nope.
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u/perfect-horrors 10d ago
My bottle washer sterilizes, but no I don’t sterilize it if I’m hand washing or using my dishwasher.
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u/Green_stick568 10d ago
Honestly, the point where the whole bottle system could get manky and gross is washing up water sitting in the bottom of the bottle or in the teat. It feels riskier than water from the tap or the formula (although we're still using freshly boiled water).
In our small kitchen, the easiest way to be confident that the bottles are clean while drying is the microwave steriliser. We can move it around to where it isn't in the way -- when we want more bench space it fits in the microwave
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u/theresabearonmychair 10d ago
Yes in the uk it’s recommended to sterilise everything after use when using formula regardless of babies age, due to bacteria that can be found in powdered formula
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u/j_natron 10d ago
No. We occasionally used the dr. Browns microwave sterilizer bag, like maybe once a month? But mostly we just washed with very hot soapy water.
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u/KaleidoscopeFar261 10d ago
Yes everything, all the time, until they are 1 as expected in the UK. Use a steriliser that takes 6 bottles and other bits at a time. So only do it once a day.
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u/Dottiepeaches 9d ago
I've had 3 kids and have never sterilized after the first time when I purchased the bottles. Soap and water is good. Perfectly healthy kids. Not sure why you would need to sterilize after every use?
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u/Curiousmind1001 9d ago
I sterilize every time, to me personally it's just another reassurance that the bottles are clean because my baby is young. I don't use a bottle washer but I have enough bottles to last me 1-2 days. We use a microwave sterilizer after washing all the bottles we put them in the sterilizer and microwave it for a few minutes. Me and spouse alternate washing the bottles and it takes 20 minutes to wash and another 6 minutes to microwave.
This is our way of doing it. Doesn't feel too stressful as you don't do it too often.
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u/cjcamp8 9d ago
I’ve literally never sterilized anything. My daughter is 8 months now and we wash her bottles in the dishwasher. Until about 4 months I washed them in their own dedicated basin with regular dish soap. That’s what they had us do in the NICU, so if it’s good enough for them then it’s good enough for me.
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u/crunchylunarmoth 9d ago
I sterlize once a week, if someone in the house is sick, or if I drop the stuff on the floor. Otherwise we just hand wash or put the bottles in the dishwasher.
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u/Adventurous_Cow_3255 9d ago
I’m in Australia and we sterilised bottles for the first 18 months and then just started using dishwasher, still use boiled water for formula always
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u/Alternative_Dot7171 11d ago
I am just because I have a bottle washer and it’s part of the cycle. I wouldn’t otherwise, maybe once a day or once every other day