Bottle sterilising

Its more for the formula germs than then putting things in their mouth i did it till my son stopped formula x

@Lisa ahh didn’t even think of this!🤦🏼‍♀️ yess obviously thankyou I was just thinking she eats the tv remote so surely 😂

6 months. Got nothing to do with the formula. Only thing that stops germs in formula is using boiling water when making them xx

I know its so annoying as everything goes in the mouth lol and its also nothing to do with hot water in the formula its also to make sure their totally sterile even after being washed first hope that helps x

@Katie , that's what I've been told by everyone outside the UK! The sterilised bottle killing the bacteria seems to be something that exists exclusively here for some reason. Every non-UK pediatrician (I asked in Greece and also had friends ask in other countries, incl Germany, Spain, France, Poland, Norway and Bulgaria) said that it's just a matter of being able to clean bottles properly. 🤷 Just to be clear, I am just passing on what I've been told here.

I only sterilise the bottles that’s had milk in. If she’s had water in bottles I don’t sterilise it I just got told it was to make sure that all the milk particles were gone but if they’re being washed properly I suppose you shouldn’t have any🤷🏻‍♀️

In the UK the guidance is to sterilise for as long as you're using formula, or until 12 months (because they assume you will switch to cows milk at 1 year old). The theory is that it's making sure there is no surviving bacteria or pathogens after washing with hot soapy water, as it can be left behind in milk residue that you may not see after washing. It's not about them needing everything that goes in their mouth to be sterile.

My HV said there was no need to sterilise after 6 months (Wales, UK), but we didn't for a week and found the bottles were smelling a bit weird. We went back to cold water sterilising and still do at 9.5mo.

@Charley , can I please ask why that is a concern only in the UK? I am genuinely asking, as it does not seem to be an issue anywhere else. (I am re-reading my comment and I hope it does not sound confrontational cause I promise this is not my intention ☺️)

It is for the formula, so for as long as you are using formula you should sterilise.

I stopped at 2.5 mo I believe. but I use breastmilk in bottles and know little about formula

@Mantha it's not confrontational don't worry 😊 It's not that it's only a concern in the UK, it's just what different organisations decide to advise based on research. But there is a lot of research to cherry pick from, and the NHS don't update their guidance very often. They say it takes 14 years for practise in the nhs to change based on new evidence, so we're probably working on knowledge that is now outdated.

@Charley I'm just afraid of how it might look, because it's easy to misunderstand someone's tone when it's in writing ☺️ Thank you for your response. This actually makes so much sense! Especially if it takes about 14 years (🤯) for practises to change in the NHS, that would explain why the guidelines are so different to other countries. It probably just takes less time for the other countries to update their stuff. Again, thank you, cause it all seems a bit clearer now! ☺️