Sterilizing and how often?

heatherallison9310

Question! So my baby boy was in the NICU for about a month and while there the nurses sterilized pretty much everything after only one use, I mean I understand if they hit the floor then it should be sterilized, but they would also sterilize the bottles and nipples after only one use. As opposed to washing with soap and water and re-using a few times before sterilizing. Anyway my question is, is while DS was in the NICU I got used to sterilizing everything after only one use and at home it is starting to get overwhelming... is it ok to re-use bottles or if his paci hits the floor is it ok to just wash and reuse a few times before sterilizing? Or should I keep up the sterilizing (after one use) for awhile longer? If it makes any difference DS was born at 33 weeks, 5 days gestation and he will be 39 weeks tomorrow (corrected) or 1 month 10 days. 

DrRx

Pacifiers I just washed with soap and water if they fell on the floor at my home, but I would giver her a new one if it fell on the floor elsewhere and not re-use it until I sterilized it. 

As far as bottles, I never reused them throughout the day.  I would feed her a bottle and then it would go in the dishwasher.  We ran the dishwasher once a day and it would sterilize them for the next day.  

heatherallison9310

That sounds much more reasonable. The only thing is that we don't have a dishwasher. So what I've been doing is hand-washing the bottles and then using the Medela Sterilizing bags, but just washing the pacifiers if its in my own home is a great plan. DS seriously dropped 3 pacifiers in a matter of 10 minutes... one of those may have been my fault haha

Pips09

I washed bottles with warm soapy water after each use, and would sterilize every so often. Good luck with your baby!

DiFazette

My NICU nurses said upon discharge that there was no need for sterilizing after each use going forward.  I wash in the dishwasher, but not on the sterilize setting.  I use the Medela steam bag weekly with all bottles and parts.

jacque_z

I never sterilized. I hand washed everything.

mylittleladies1229

My girls were born 30w2d and when we took them home we never sterilized anything.  We hand wash all their bottles using a soap specifically for baby items.  We will throw them in the dishwasher every great once in a while...probably two times in the 4 months they have been home.  We never encountered any problems! Two small colds since they have been born and they are 6 months now.

rslhmg

we started out constantly washing in the dishwasher to sanitize, but the water spots it left inside her bottles just made them look dirtier then they started so I stopped and only hand wash. We have used the sanitizing bag one time since she came home, and that was because she caught croup from her brother and I wanted to sanitize everything so she didn't just keep giving it back to herself.

takmjs

Our NICU never sterilized anything, and we were there 7 weeks. They used a lot of disposable things, so if something fell on the floor, they got out a new one. We have never sterilized anything, and we hand-wash our bottles once a day. I rinse them after each use, so the milk doesn't get dried on or anything. My DD is a very healthy girl so far. To start with, we were a lot more picky with cleaning things, but you lighten up after a while.

jcsntms06

We also washed and sterilized my DD's bottles every single time until we got rid of the bottles at 12 months old. As for paci, normally I just rinsed them off if they fell on the floor and then every other day I wash them.

heatherallison9310

Awesome! Thank you for all the advice!! I definitely didn't want to be over doing it so I'm glad to know its not completely necessary to sterilize after every single use!!

Thanks everyone!!  

hugmonkey

We use Medela bottles/pump parts.  During the day, I wash them if I need to reuse them and then sterilize them all once a day since that's what Medela's website says to do. 

jameswing

If you want to sterilize the pacifiers and bottles then always do it in the hot water. If the nipples hit the floor and the floor was dirty I would never suggest to use it again.

Nita14701

I'm a fan of the tommee tippee toy and pacifier wipes for when LO drops her plastic toys or pacifiers. We use the medella steam bags as well to sterilize eveything before going to bed.