Specialist criticism; bottle feeding [S. Worthen

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The box was labeled "Duplicate SF Criticism". That's a very specific area of study indeed.

Someone I met at lunch today claims that US practice with respect to baby bottles doesn't involve sterilizing them. True/False?

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There are 14 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

As far as I remember (and keep in mind it was long ago and in another country, etc.) there wasn't really any sterilization involved, just a good scrubbing in hot water.

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I think it varies with practitioner.

I used to feel that anything very hot water and soap wouldn't take care of probably bolstered the immune system. The baby books I read seemed to indicate that actual sterilization might be going overboard.

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True. You sterilize them once, when you first bring them home. But not every time you use them.

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In my experience false, for two reasons.

1) The bottle of choice for the families I've sat for has been the playtex one where you use a new liner for each serving of milk/formula.

2) Dishwashers are hot enough that they sterilize bottles.

I can't speak for people who use different bottles and/or don't have dishwashers.

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Seconding the dishwasher. The next step up from that seems like an autoclave, and I don't know anyone who's got one.

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It'll be the lack of dishwashers as standard kitchen equipment then which is why sterilization on a daily or weekly basis is the norm here.

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Only for the first child. And only for the first month. After that, you realize that it isn't necessary and you are too busy trying to find a few moments to sleep.

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We had a little container that held all of the bottle bits when you put them in the dish washer. It was the helicopter parents who had a special machine for doing essentially the same thing.

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We have a specialist container for the microwave, a steam sterilizer. Unlike many UK households, we at least have a dishwasher - but it's a small one. Presumably I could have found a container for it, but the microwave one is really convenient given our kitchen constraints.

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Not true from my very limited experience helping care for the extremely small. I remember that new bottles were sterilized, along with any nipples, and then liners or hot water/soap were used, thereafter.

edited, as I forgot a clarifying word

Edited Date: 2012-10-16 07:40 am (UTC)

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Whereas we're sterilizing on a nearly daily basis (not just on first purchasing) since it's what we're "supposed" to do - but then, as I realized from the above thread, dishwashers largely take the place of sterilizers in the US. Here, they're not standard-issue since the average kitchen size is smaller.

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*nods* That's... yes, completely sensible, should have remembered that (comparative kitchen sizes.)

Further time to think reminds me that nipples were more frequently sterilized than bottles, usually via boiling water. I don't think too many of the new parents I knew, growing up, could afford a sterilizer.

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The advice when my two were babies was to Sterilise for the first 6 months and then we used our dishwasher. Although advice seems to change regularly as far as babies/children are concerned!

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I'd say false given how many of my doctor relatives have said "Do you have a sterilizer for bottles?!?!?"

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S. Worthen | Weblog

Specialist criticism; bottle feeding

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