How long do you sterilize water and bottles for your baby??

[marylou]

Hi Everyone,

I am in the process of weaning my little man off the boob and onto the bottle...and just wondered how long I need to sterilize bottles, nipples, etc and also use boiling water for??

My sister said that once he is sticking everything into his mouth....(which is NOW)...you can stop....just use hot soapy water and air dry and use tap water for his bottles........

Can anyone tell me what they have done please??

My little guy is 5 months old now.

Thanks,
ML 

[Hunter & Sithia's mom]

Hi there:

I sterilized both water and bottle stuff for 2-4 minutes.  It has to be at a full rolling boil the whole time though .... not just a simmer


HTH

[momofnewbaby]

Not sure whether you are asking how long to boil his bottles, while sterlizing, or how long (in terms of age) you should be boiling them for.

I will try to answer both questions.

My dh did some research and found out that you should boil the bottles for 15 minutes for effectively killing the germs, while sterlizing.

In terms of age, your sister is right; You can stop once they start putting things in their mouth. Some people even pop the bottles in the dishwasher. In our case, we just decided to sterlize for the first year of our dd's life, because she is more prone to infections.

HTH.

Sumita

[Mariek]

Hi Marylou

We sterilised our DDs bottle until she was about 11/12 months old. After that they just put them in the dishwasher on the hottest cycle.

The main problem the bottles and teats in comparison to the things they pick up and shove in their mouths off the floor is that the milk that gets lodged in the nooks and crankiest provides a happy little home for bacteria. If you're going to stop sterilising and just use the dishwasher or hot water then make sure you give them a good scrub with your bottle brush to get into all the corners (not that teat's have corners because they're not square, but you know what I mean ),

HTH

love