Some parents wonder if it is absolutely necessary to sterilize a bottle before giving it to their baby. To be sure, many choose to sterilize bottles until their child is four months old to avoid any risk of milk contamination. Sometimes, at the risk of spending a lot of money on a top-of-the-line sterilizer!
But is it really necessary to go to so much trouble? 🍼
Medical-Grade Silicone: An Easy-to-Clean Material
Thanks to its wide shape, your innovative BibRond easily allows your hand and a cleaning tool to reach inside. There’s no need to scrub for hours! To avoid the formation of a film of dried milk at the bottom of your bottle, you can rinse it with cold water after each feeding.
Note that this is not absolutely necessary, and your bottle will not be harder to clean later if you forget. 😊
However, make sure that it is perfectly clean before giving it to your child for their next meal.
Your silicone bottle has the advantage of keeping its appearance and texture even after multiple washes, unlike some materials that may turn opaque.
Sterilizing Bottles: A Task That Can Take a Back Seat!
Sterilizing bottles is not considered mandatory by pediatricians. And even if it were, of course it’s not possible to monitor every household or sterilize before every baby meal…
You can simply wash your little one’s bottle by hand or put it in the dishwasher.
Don’t forget any tricky spots!
Let your bottle dry in a clean, well-ventilated place by standing it upright so that the water can evaporate. This will prevent condensation from forming inside, which would be trapped and could foster the development of bacteria.
Note that if you do decide to sterilize your bottle, this does NOT exempt you from cleaning your child’s feeding equipment beforehand. A bottle must always be clean before being sterilized.
Washing Hands: The Essential Step Before Giving Baby a Bottle of Milk
Actually, before every meal for that matter!
Even if we do it ten times a day, do we really wash our hands properly? 🤔
The method:
- Wash your hands with Marseille soap for 3 minutes.
- Wash all the way up to your wrists.
- Don’t forget the insides of your fingers or the backs of your hands.
- Rinse with lukewarm water.
- Avoid having nails that are too long, as they trap more dirt.
- Dry off with a clean, dry towel.
In general, before preparing your child’s food—even for older kids—you should always practice hand hygiene. Just as you would for yourself before eating.
No need to keep rubbing your hands with hand sanitizer all the time 😊
What If You Still Want to Sterilize Baby’s Bottles?
If you still want to sterilize your bottles made of medical-grade silicone, here is how to do it:
Sterilizing Your Bottle the Old-Fashioned Way!
1. Prepare a pot of boiling water
Start by heating a pot of water and wait until it’s boiling. Do not hold your child in your arms or in a carrier when handling the hot pot.
Turn the pot handle toward the inside of your stove to avoid bumping it and spilling the water on yourself or your child.
2. Submerge the accessories of your silicone bottle
After taking them apart, carefully—and always being careful not to burn yourself—place the accessories of your bottle (ring, inner ring, cap, container) in the boiling water. Let them soak for 10 minutes.
Only put the physiological nipple in for the last five minutes of the process. Being more delicate, it should not stay immersed for too long in order not to risk damaging its quality.
3. Take the disassembled bottle out of the water
Finally, remove each part of your bottle one by one and let them cool down without drying them, so you don’t reintroduce bacteria!
Using a Sterilizer
If the previous method seems tedious, you can sterilize your bottle using an electric sterilizer ! In that case, simply fill the bottom of the device’s basin with water and place the bottle and its components inside.
The machine will take care of sterilizing your bottles. The steam produced inside allows the sterilization process to take place. This solution, though more expensive, is also much safer… The risk of burning yourself is almost nonexistent. Just be careful when removing the device from your microwave.
Cold Sterilization of Your Silicone Bottle
This method, very different from the other two, does not involve heating water but rather adding sterilizing tablets to destroy all forms of bacterial life on the surface of your bottle.
You can easily find these tablets at supermarkets or online.
Let the bottles soak in the solution for the amount of time indicated on the packaging (between 15 and 30 minutes). No rinsing required, just let the silicone bottle air dry. There are no known health risks for your children according to manufacturers of these products.
And You, Which Team Are You?
Are you team sterilize everything or team no stress?
No matter what you decide to do. The main thing is to always clean and air dry your silicone bottle before giving it to your baby.
If you ever had doubts, you now know that sterilization isn’t essential.
One less task means more time to cuddle baby! 👶
