Bottle sterilising

[Gemini]

When our children were babies I'm sure we will all have used Milton to sterilise bottles and dummies etc. Everything was soaked in a Milton solution for hours.
I hated that smell. To the generation before us it probably seemed wonderful, easier than boiling everything on the stove.

By the time my GD came along, steam sterilisers had come into being. Wash everything, arrange it in the steriliser, and a few minutes in the microwave and it was all done. Then a few years later there were steam sterilising bags, which took one bottle, and maybe a dummy or two. Ideal for travelling or taking to Grandma's.

My DD3, has had to give up breastfeeding and has bottles to sterilise. Now there are feeding bottles which you sterilise by putting the water into the bottle! You wash all the parts then put it all back together in a certain way, with some water in the bottle. Into the microwave and it sterilises it all like that! Likewise the dummy can be sterilised in the plastic dummy case with some water.

We have come a long way since Milton!

[Daisy]

We certainly have. I didn't mind the smell of Milton, but it took a layer of skin off my hands! It was like wallpaper being stripped.

[Lizzie48]

When GD1 was born they had to sterilise the bottles, then, with GD2 the nurses told them just to wash them with warm water and let her immune system do the rest, it worked, as a baby GD1 often a runny nose etc, GD2 never had that.

[Oma]

I so remember those sterilise bags if you didn’t get the bottles etc in right they were murder to close ,
M&C have this little pod device for Fins dummy stick it in press a button and a few minutes later the dummy is sterilised.

Bit of a faff on if you ask me ,
I remember pouring a bit boiling water on my children's and grandchildren's dummies , never harmed them.

Bottles were a different story , I remember bottle brushes and Milton I hated the smell too ,
But if you didn’t clean the bottles thoroughly you could smell the stale milk,
My sister would just rinse her childrens bottles under a running tap I hated that ,
Mind you they never had a cold and had stomachs of steel 😁

[Daisy]

The debate about protect versus let them build up immunity is interesting. I still don't know what is best.

[Gemini]

Oh yes, I remember the bottle brushes Oma!

I was an obsessive bottle washer and steriliser. I would never have dared go down the building immunity route!
I sterilised everything until they were a year old, which looking back was probably a bit much.
I remember DD2 seeing me sterilising GD's things at 7 months. She said 'I don't know why you are still doing that mum, as we aren't!'

[Nanto2girls]

I boiled ours until they were about a year old.
There are quite a few that believe in building up immunity,but i'm not 100% sure about it.

[Daisy]

I sterilised everything for DS1 for as long as he used bottles. I never had anything to sterilise with DS2. He weaned straight onto a cup at 8 months - wouldn't have a bottle at all, and never had a dummy. It was very easy.

But, like Nanto, I was never confident about building immunity.