Sterilising bottles and/or pumps on holiday

Milton tablets in a folding washing up bowl?

We’ve gone with a hotel complex that has apartments and will take microwave sterilising bags

We use mam bottles that can be sterilised in microwave. Otherwise I use Milton tablets/liquid.

Mam bottles in microwave it’s so easy. We’re away at the moment and I’ve had no issues x

We go away this week. No microwave for my Mam bottles so I've just bought a fold up washing up bowl and taking Milton tablets for sterilising 😊

Milton is pretty easy. You can take a collapsible 5L bucket. But if you're using the bottles for only breastmilk you don't need to sterilise anyway

@Charley why wouldn’t you have to sterilise for breast milk?? Never heard this. You’re sterilising the container not the milk itself, you have to sterilise dummies and they’re not doing any feeding.

Milton tablets and a collapsible bucket @April there’s still a lot of misinformation given about sterilisation. It is actually to kill off bacteria that’s in formula so it is safe to just use soap and water on pumping equipment and bottles used for breast milk although best practice would still be to sterilise once a day

@April because it's the bacteria in formula that you're sterilising the bottles for. Not the feeding implement itself. Breast milk has anti microbial properties as well. You don't have to sterilise dummies. Cleaning them is a good idea frequently. You don't sterilise boobs before latching a baby!

Thanks everyone - Milton tablets and a folding bowl it is! @Charley interesting about not sterilising breast milk stuff, I have been doing that since the start and had no idea I didn’t have too 😂

I think opinions on sterilising differs by country and by type of milk..yes breast milk contains antibodies etc but it is still a good idea to sterilise bottles and pumps etc for old residual milk etc. Some people don’t sterilise pumps after each use and just wash them after each time and sterilise once a day instead but until your baby is at least 6 months old (maybe even 12) advice by nhs england is to sterilise all feeding equipment/bottles. USA and france are different I think. Why there’s different advice I’ve no idea - I’ll just follow the advice in the country I’m in 😂

Milton tablets and a Tupperware with a lid

@Ceri-Ann @Charley but that’s why you have to use boiling water on the formula to sterilise it…sterilising the bottle would make no difference 🤷🏼‍♀️ either way I’d sterilise for breast milk, that stuff is liquid gold and I’m not risking it for the sake of a few minutes in the microwave x

@April the bacteria can regrow when it cools which is why you shouldn’t use a bottle over 2 hours old. formula particles can be left behind when bottles are washed which is why they need sterilising. If it was to kill general bacteria every to and busy part a baby could touch would need sterilising as everything goes in their mouth once they have that coordination

@Lauren my pump instructions are to wash with soap and water....no sterilising

@April how would you be risking the milk? I'm not sure I follow the logic. Formula can contain a very specific bacteria that can regrow and be left behind in residue in the bottles. That same bacteria isn't naturally present in breastmilk.

I recently just came back from travelling abroad. I took Milton tablets, sterilising wipes for the plane and also a Milton to go container which I used to sterilise bottles and pump parts on the plane. I filled up the container with the drinking water fountains before boarding the plane. The cabin crew were extra helpful in getting anything I needed for the baby and myself as well. Once abroad at the air BnB I just picked up a large container and cold water sterilised.

@Charley really? No sterilising at all? Which pump is that out of interest ?

@Lauren sterilise once when first getting it out of the box. After that none. Lansinoh hands free in bra pump