Sterilising baby stuff - when to stop?

kit

jellyhead wrote:

i can't believe i didn't think of that!! i'm so glad i read this, you're a star! i've been panicking about taking bottles out with us, keeping them cold etc but of course i can just take a bottle of cooled water at room temp then add the powder, so much easier!! we're going to alton towers tomorrow, baby will be a week old then and i've been and bought steri-bottles and cartons of formula - doh!

I've been doing this for about 2 months now. I started doing it just for going out but now I do it at home all the time. Its great not having to worry about warming the bottle up (baby Kit does not like milk from the fridge).
Make sure you shake it well tho - its harder to get the powder to dissolve in room temp water.

Thank you all for your help and advice..... feel free to keep your advice coming...... I'm all ears!

telly-addict

jellyhead wrote:

i can't believe i didn't think of that!! i'm so glad i read this, you're a star! i've been panicking about taking bottles out with us, keeping them cold etc but of course i can just take a bottle of cooled water at room temp then add the powder, so much easier!! we're going to alton towers tomorrow, baby will be a week old then and i've been and bought steri-bottles and cartons of formula - doh!

as for sterilising, i would still sterilise bottle teats i think, milk is more of a breeding ground for bacteria than other stuff.

Only passing on a tip which we got and found really helpful! You are brave going to Alton Towers already!

We found the ready made cartons handy too - expensive to use all the time but ideal if you don't know when and how much milk you will need. Then all you need to take out is empty sterilised bottles.

To guarantee being able to warm milk we used a Thermos flask that had a special lid that fitted an Avent bottle perfectly. About £10 from John Lewis - although we managed to get through about 3 of them as we kept breaking the flask! We never relied on being able to warm a bottle when we were out.

Savvy_Sue

It's an awfully long time ago, but I don't think I EVER sterilised a bowl or spoon once I was weaning, but I was scrupulous about any ice cube trays I used because they can be so fiddly to get really clean. So I think I used to spend hours scrubbing them and then sterilise them - and as I wasn't using bottles this was an extra job! I do agree about continuing to sterilise bottles and teats though, partly because the teats are fiddly, and partly because milk can breed bacteria so easily.

But my granny and mum always used to say "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die", so I never panicked too much about using Dettox left right and centre - I know some mums were spraying it over the high chair after ever use, and I only did it once a week or so.

As for water, my eldest never touched it as a baby, really nothing except from me until he was using a trainer cup. And I wasn't giving him any milk until he was a year old either, which freaked the HV, but she agreed I could use a calcium supplement. (We had health reasons for this which I won't go into.)

I also used fennel drinks, not sure he was that enamoured of the taste, but check the sugar content of whatever you are giving. Dilute, dilute, dilute!

3 fit and strapping teens now!

HappySad

Hi Kit,

I have not yet read the other treads so i might be giving advice that has already been given. Anyway.....

I stearlised everything (except the icecubes tray.. because they melted when I tried it out) until my son was 1year old. Some people stop when their child is 6months because they see their child everyday putting all sorts into their mouth and think well if he/she is putting XYZ in his/her mouth then why bother sterilising.


Boiling water up to 12months old then you can give them just ordinary tape water. Also if you go abroad and you can't use their tape water.. give your child Evan water...(I think you have to still boil this until 12month old). From 12months you will not be making up any bottles because your child will be moving onto cows milk. You can gradually mix formula milk and cows milk for a few weeks then increase the concentration of cows milk until he/she is drinking just cows milk.

Lentils. I use the orange small slit kind. (don't ask me what they are called). Simmer in boiled water for 10mins which has garlic & curry powder.... My son loved it.. (I use the word LOVED,..he is now a fussy eater and won't eat a whole load of stuff that he used to love eating.. but that is another story)

HappySad

jellyhead

hmmm, just found out the powder doesn't always mix so well at room temp, the teat just got clogged and he got no milk out of it, if i'd only got that one teat with me he'd have stayed hungry :-( probably my own fault for not shaking it enough though, i'll try harder on the next one!

alton towers wasn't my idea lol! my mum's coming with us to help with roo and if it's raining or windy i'm staying at home with him instead. my 9 year old wants to go but can go with my husband if i stay home.