Sterilising

Did you thought to buy MAM’s bottle? They can be sterilize in the microwave. I suggest to sterilize until the LO is 12 months old, better safe than sorry

You sterilise for as long as you use formula x

A year old. When she switched to milk Look at Milton cold water sterilising tablets. You literally just need a big tub to fill with water.

Until they no longer have formula

@Kallie that’s because you aren’t in the UK. Due to our formula we have to sterilise 🤷🏼‍♀️

I stopped around 1 year old!

You need to sterilise for as long as you use formula. It's the bacteria in formula that can be left behind in residue in the bottles.

In the UK it's recommend to sterilise till 12 months old with formula so that's what we did ...and when we switched to cows milk over 1year old then you only have to rinse hot soapy water for 5mins..then rinse again and then left to air-dry ..

Thank you everyone!

@Scarlett how long do they need to sit in the cold Milton water?

@Talor 15 minutes. You can reuse the solution as many times as you want for 24 hours too

6 months I stopped

@Talor yeh I would just leave them in there until they needed to be used. Also if you use the mam bottles you can sterilise them in the microwave

@Lauryn I'm curious though, what is different about US formula to ours then? Is it not made from cows milk? Is it manufactured differently to make it sterile?

@Rebecca it’s not the formula it’s just they have different guidelines to UK. They just get told that washing them is enough where we’re told that isn’t enough and we need to sterilise to eliminate all germs

@Rebecca I have absolutely no idea tbf. I tried to read up on it previously and I believe the cdc do recommend sterilising but other health authorities say you don’t need to because their water (in some states) is chlorinated. Whereas in Europe we are told we do need to sterilise. I don’t think there is actually any difference in the formula but I gave up reading 😂

I used the microwave sterilization bags and they were able to fit the pump and all the parts and were convenient

How long do you have to sterilise for if you’re using breastmilk in bottles?

@Sisi amount of time depends on the sterilisation method but you don’t need to if you aren’t using formula once baby is past newborn x

I have a tommee tippe steriliser (from my first born) and the big bottles and teats I have now which aren't tommee tippee don't all fit in so I sterilise the bottles first then the teats separately. Il be doing this until age 1 when I stop using bottles x

@Sisi I don't sterilise my bottles because they are solely used for breastmilk. My breast pump instructions say to wash in hot soapy water, no mention of sterilising

@Charley oh breast pumps it does say to wash in hot soapy water but you only have to sterilise those aleast once a day and just wash between uses or get pump wipes ...but bottles and teats should be sterilised after every use and milk gunk can build up , if the baby was born early and is a premie sterilising is very important as they need things to be really clean ...if there was no complications it's okay to not sterilise after every use ..if you just used the bottle and test you can reuse it again ,but you shouldn't leave a bottle out for more than 15/20mins otherwise you would have to go through the process of washing and sterlisling again xx Breast milk can last longer than formula when it's sitting out Formula shouldnt be left for more than 15 mins when baby has already touched it Breast milk lasts about half an hour before it start to go bad. Both breast milk and formula should really be sterlised,unless it somewhat impossible...I have boiled pumps part and bottles and teats together too for 5mins

@Holly no my breast pump specifically states only to sterilise first use when it is removed from the box. I have done my own research and spoken to lactation consultants, many of whom say there is no need to sterilise items that are only ever used for breastmilk. My baby was born heavy and had no issues, we introduced a bottle around 5 weeks. I've done my own risk assessment and research and am happy with hot soapy water. Have you got a link to data showing the 15 minute and 30 minutes time limits that you've stated? As this shorter than NHS guidance

@Holly baby can drink a bottle of formula for up to 1 hour once they have started it or it will last for 2 hours once made if they haven’t touched it. If it was 15 mins I would be making my girl a bottle constantly because she can take 45 minutes to finish a bottle 😂

@Charley and it's funny because I was always told the opposite,to always sterlise especially if there's was breast milk in it ...even more so for formula.

@Lauryn that's crazy lol 😂😂 I know the advice we get sometimes sounds very silly I thought it was odd lol 😂

@Holly yeah it can also hugely vary which isn’t particularly helpful 😅 Unfortunately a lot of health visitors and gp’s etc don’t stay up to date with new developments 🤦🏼‍♀️

@Charley okay good for you ,you win what do you want a cookie? Everyone has there own ways of doing things ,and I don't just parent based of things online , experiences matter I didn't even have their internet till 3 years ago ...and okay cool that works for you ...you sound like a person that loves to correct people alot so sorry for bothering you 😂🙏 I'm new here ,you don't need to completely dismiss what I just said tho ...only your way is the best 👍gotcha