Sterilizing Baby Bottles

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Your baby’s body is delicate inside and out so it is important to keep their environment as clean as possible. Some of the most common items that need to be cleaned regularly are spoons, Sippy cups, pacifiers, and baby feeding bottles. Not to mention, babies are always find a way to put other things in their mouth. But let’s focus on bottles and pacifiers.

A common trend I’ve noticed lately is cleaning a baby pacifier or nipple in your own mouth after it has fallen on the floor. This is not an effective sterilization technique and can lead to a lot of different problems. Not only are you exposing your baby to the germs from the floor, but also all of the germs and bacteria from your mouth. So it is always best to have extra sterilized rubber nipples and pacifiers on hand.

If you are using a breast pump or formula, most likely you will be storing the milk in a bottle. This becomes especially important to have sterilized bottles. Even while stored in the fridge, harmful bacteria can grow at an alarming rate. So it is best to sterilize your baby bottle and store milk or formula soon after.

Here is a breakdown of common sterilizing techniques:

Microwave - Technology can definitely be used to your advantage. Check to make sure that you have microwave safe baby bottles. You should wash them really good, rinse, and put in the microwave for about 90 seconds or so. This is a great solution for busy parents.

Tablets - You can buy tablets and solutions that are used to dissolved in to water. You then submerge your baby bottle and wait the recommended time. Usually this process takes close to an hour. But you need to be careful and to get all of the air bubbles out of the bottle. Those tiny bubbles you see are air pockets that will allow the bacteria to survive. This is a great way to sterilize a baby bottle if the power has gone out or you don’t have any other means to do so. Never use dirty bottles.

Boiling Water - 60 years ago boiling water to sterilize baby bottles was the way to go. It involves boiling a large pot of water, putting the cleaned items in for 10 minutes, removing from the pot, and then capping. When removing the piece from the boiling water, be sure to use a clean pair of tongs. Your hands contain a lot of bacteria no matter how good you clean them. It’s important not to dry clean with a towel as it can contain bacteria and other nasties.

Sterilization Units - And finally we have sterilization units. These are dome shaped devices that sterilize by steam. Most of them today use the microwave as a means of heat. In less than 5 minutes you can be ready to feed your baby.

* Make sure that you really clean everything well. There are a lot of hidden areas that are prone to build up of formula and milk. One of these areas is the screw section of a screw cap bottle top. *

Check with your pediatrician to see when the full sterilizing process can shortened. Once your baby's body has gained the capacity to handle germs, it may be as simple as rinsing their bottle with clean water. But you don’t want to take any chances!

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