It's essential to properly wash and sterilise the feeding equipment when you're bottle feeding. You'll need to clean and sterilise each bottle, teat and screw cap after every feed. It's important that you continue sterilising everything until your baby is 12 months' old.
Sanitizing is particularly important when your baby is younger than 2 months, was born prematurely, or has a weakened immune system. Daily sanitizing of feeding items may not be necessary for older, healthy babies, if those items are cleaned carefully after each use.
That being said, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states sterilizing feeding items can be done at least once a day. There are several recommended ways to sterilize bottles including using boiling water, microwavable bottle sterilizers or electric steam sterilizers.
You cannot completely remove any traces of harmful bacteria in your baby bottles, especially without proper sterilization. Harmful microorganisms like E. coli, salmonella, and other disease-producing viruses and bacteria may infect your infants.
You can leave sterilised items in the steriliser or pan until you need them but the majority of manufacturers advise using or re-sterilising after 24 hours.
Drip dry. Many parents leave freshly sterilized baby bottles to dry on a specially designed rack, or a regular dish drying rack. Although, we're not against this bottle drying method, the process can be time consuming and your drying rack will also have to be sterilized often. Towel dry – Not Recommended.
At least once a day, you'll need to sterilise your pumping parts after washing them. You'll also need to do this if your breast pump equipment is brand new or hasn't been used for a while. Sterilising means that the equipment has been thoroughly cleaned of germs and bacteria.
You can put your baby's feeding equipment in the dishwasher to clean it if you prefer. Putting feeding equipment through the dishwasher will clean it but it does not sterilise it. Make sure bottles, lids and teats are facing downwards.
Until Baby is one year old, you need to sterilise any bottles, teats and dummies to stop germs from making Baby sick. There are three ways to sterilise: boiling, sterilising chemicals, and steam sterilising.
It's recommended that you wait until your baby is at least 12 months old before you phase out sterilising. It's important to keep using your steriliser until they're one year old to protect them from illnesses like sickness and diarrhoea caused by bacteria that can form in lingering breastmilk or formula.
Disassemble the parts of the bottle and place it in a large pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the parts. Make sure there are no air bubbles inside Boil the water, then keep it boiling for 5 minutes Let the water cool and carefully remove the bottle parts Place the parts on a clean dry mat or dish towel .
If you use a microwave or electric steam steriliser, you can store baby bottles inside for up to 24 hours if the lid remains closed. You can also keep sterile bottles in a sealed container in the fridge to help avoid any germs or bacteria.
Try sterilizing your baby's pacifiers – as well as toys, feeding accessories, and anything else that spends time in their mouth – at least once per month. It's also a good idea to have a rotation of clean pacifiers to cycle through so your baby doesn't use the same ones over and over.
All feeding equipment designed for babies, plus dummies too, can go in the dishwasher once your baby's 6 months or older – but check that they're labeled as dishwasher-safe.
As long as they're not broken or warped, bottles are fine to reuse. You'll just need to buy some new teats.
6 Sterilizing water for healthy term infants has historically been recommended until infants are four months of age. By four months infants are commonly putting many non-sterilized objects in their mouths. Therefore four months has been chosen as the age for discontinuing the sterilization of water.
Until your baby is 12 months old, you need to sterilise your bottles and dummies. There are a number of different ways you can do this. You could boil them, use a chemical steriliser, or use steam such as an electric bottle steriliser or a microwave steriliser.
Water that hasn't been boiled can also contain bacteria. Formula therefore needs to be made up with water hot enough to kill the bacteria, which is at least 70 degrees C. This means boiling the kettle and leaving it to cool for no longer than 30 minutes, so that it remains at a temperature of at least 70 degrees C.
Once your baby has started to eat solid foods (from around 6 months) you can offer them sips of water from a cup or beaker with meals. Drinking water for babies over 6 months does not need to be boiled first. Fully breastfed babies do not need any water until they've started eating solid foods.
Submerge the freshly washed bottles in the water upside down, making sure there aren't any air bubbles at the bottom. Bring the water to a boil. Boil the bottles for five minutes (check manufacturer guidelines for variations). Turn the heat off and remove the bottles using tongs.
Feeding equipment needs to be sterilised for infants less than 12 months of age. Boiling is the preferred method. If you use electrical, steaming, or chemical sterilisation, follow the manufacturer's instructions. Step 1: Separate teats, cuffs and bottles then rinse in cold water.
Washing bottles and pumping parts kills some germs and eliminates the visible buildup from breast milk or baby formula, but bottles need more than just soap and warm water to ensure they're safe for your baby. Sterilizing baby bottles takes washing a step further to keep your baby safe and healthy.
Wash your pump after every single use.
Fill up a wash basin with soap and hot water. Don't use your sink because it or the drain could be contaminated with bacteria that can expose your pump kit to germs. Instead, use a wash basin that's used exclusively for cleaning your pump, and clean it after every use.
The CDC and most breast pump manufacturers recommend cleaning pump parts thoroughly after every use to help protect babies from germs.
It's important to clean bottle-feeding equipment after every feed. It's best to clean equipment straight after your baby has finished feeding. If you can't clean the bottle and teat straight away, rinse them with clean water. This will make them easier to clean later.