Bottles - Sterilization Q's

ConversationFear

So - I guess I'm a little out of touch on the current standards of bottle sterilization. As I had always heard, you were supposed to sterilize baby's bottles relatively often, until about 6 months of age.

Then came all of the issues with boiling/heating plastic, so DH and I bought BPA free bottles - but plastic, not glass. Now I've heard you can't even sterilize those from some people - that you CAN from others - and still others are telling me that their doctors told them not to even bother sterilizing at all beyond the first use anymore. Now I'm just confused.

What did you all do (or do you plan on doing?)

bumpuser10199668

We were gifted the Avent sterilizer and it seems pretty cool. We will probably do it every once in awhile, but not be crazy about it.

conradraging

I honestly don't really care about the sterilization, but I heard running them on the sterilizing cycle of your dishwasher is fine.

amom2four

I sterilized before using and occasionally afterwards but definitely not every use. If you put them in the dishwasher, that should be sufficient.

chardonnay24

We sterilized them before using but then just washed them in the dishwasher.

Jenner37

zoeyy said:

Before the first use we ran them through the dishwasher. Occasionally I would run them through again but I never sterilized before each use.

This is what we did.

mrsdanielleM2010

This confusion, along with my general distrust of "the man" is why we are using glass

MrsLaLaBug

zoeyy said:

Before the first use we ran them through the dishwasher. Occasionally I would run them through again but I never sterilized before each use.

This exactly. Ain't nobody got time for that.

SingleMom31

chardonnay24 said:

We sterilized them before using but then just washed them in the dishwasher.

This is what we did too.

nstark2908

We run everything through the dishwasher. We have a container that holds nipples and caps for the dishwasher. That's the only sterilization we ever did.

mrsdanielleM2010

I feel also like I might use sterilizing the bottles as a way to get out of washing them... should I save that for FFFC?

jg1011

Mom2four97355 said:

I sterilized before using and occasionally afterwards but definitely not every use. If you put them in the dishwasher, that should be sufficient.

This exactly for us. Same for pacifiers.

brittneyandadam

I'm getting glass bottles...and the sterilizing bags that you pop into the microwave

https://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/medela-reg-quick-clean-5-count-microwave-cleaning-bags/1014990534?skuId=14990534&registryId=10827978

Marchie1214

I used my microwave steamer bags.  I would throw the nipples in after washing them.  It only took like 3 minutes to clean them and I normally was sterilizing pump parts too.  I used drop in liners, so I never worried about the bottles. 

amom2four

sparklegrump said:

Dishwasher. This poor kid better be happy her bottles are even clean. 

Absolutely this! And who has used the Dr. Browns bottles? They work but those are evil little bastards to clean. We scrubbed and put in the dishwasher and I still found mold in the valves.

fernane

Mom2four97355 said:

Dishwasher. This poor kid better be happy her bottles are even clean. 

Absolutely this! And who has used the Dr. Browns bottles? They work but those are evil little bastards to clean. We scrubbed and put in the dishwasher and I still found mold in the valves.

We had a 2 week foster placement who came with a Dr. Brown bottle and it made me wonder who in the world would buy those things..it didn't come with the cleaning brush and I had nothing small enough to reach through the straw part or through all the filter things. It was such a PITA I couldn't ever imagine using them again, especially not on a regular basis. I'm so happy that bottle is leaving today!

ConversationFear

Mom2four97355 said:

Dishwasher. This poor kid better be happy her bottles are even clean. 

Absolutely this! And who has used the Dr. Browns bottles? They work but those are evil little bastards to clean. We scrubbed and put in the dishwasher and I still found mold in the valves.

Yeah - we didn't opt for those. The kids I used to care for had Dr. Brown stuff and that shit sucked to clean. Of course they could launch those puppies down the staircase and they still wouldn't pop open or leak...We went with the Avent brand. As far as the dishwasher, we don't have one, so it looks like we will have to boil the first time around. I think my friend might have a microwave sterlizer - maybe I could borrow that from her instead?

Thanks everyone for all of your responses! You've all been very helpful!

conradraging

Mom2four97355 said:

sparklegrump said:

Dishwasher. This poor kid better be happy her bottles are even clean. 

Absolutely this! And who has used the Dr. Browns bottles? They work but those are evil little bastards to clean. We scrubbed and put in the dishwasher and I still found mold in the valves.

Unfortunately for my sister, they were all her son would take. Of course she then bought me some. I plan on trying tommee tippee first though, and using the dr browns only if necessary.

amom2four

conradraging said:

Mom2four97355 said:

sparklegrump said:

Dishwasher. This poor kid better be happy her bottles are even clean. 

Absolutely this! And who has used the Dr. Browns bottles? They work but those are evil little bastards to clean. We scrubbed and put in the dishwasher and I still found mold in the valves.

Unfortunately for my sister, they were all her son would take. Of course she then bought me some. I plan on trying tommee tippee first though, and using the dr browns only if necessary.

I had a terrible time with dr browns bottles leaking. No idea why. My cousin has used Tommie tippee bottles with her twins and now her new lo and she really likes them and actually said they are easier than browns to clean. I have no idea what bottles we will be using but I am going to wait until the month after he's born to figure that out.

teenybean

Our Pedi says Hot water and soap is all you need. I have a friend who is a water microbiologist and he agreed that "sterilization" is a hold over from when water quality was still questionable in certain parts of the country and when formula was newly available. Not to mention nothing at home is really "sterile" either.
We've only ever hand washed with soap and water, no dishwasher with our first 2 until now no room for extra appliances.