Are we too obsessed with sterilisation?

[Miracle babe]

I'm putting this question forward just for different views as apposed to getting a definitive answer. The reason I'm asking is that my sister in law in the USA was told by her peadiatrician not to sterise ANYTHING She just would make up bottles with boiled water and obviously wash the bottles thoroughly in hot water first and then put them in the fridge. I'm really uncomfortable with this particularly as my twin nephews seem to have had illness after illness and I cant help wondering if there is some connection. However on the other hand are we perhaps too obsessed with sterilising in the UK. When do you think is a good time to stop and do you stop gradually or in one fell swoop. Have to admit to having neglected sterilising dummies from about 6 months. I just use to give it a quick suck and put it back in the dd mouth
On a positive note my daughter has VERY RARELY been ill and certainly hasnt had the usual round of illnessess which my friends kids have.
So what are the general views on sterilisation?

 

[Urchin]

I stopped sterilising about a month ago. I didn't see the point when Brody was chewing on Mason's laces every time I turned my back

I give them a good scrub in hot soapy water and that's it.

 

[Hypnorm]

i stopped sterilising stuff when he was 6 months. i think babies are too sterilie these days, they build up no resistence to germs.
i just shove his bottles through the dishwasher or give them a good clean in hot water - obvioulsy milk goes off if left.
I always made bottles as a nd when i needed them, i never made batches.

after all you can't sterilise your carpet! when they start rolling/crawling

 

[Dee1985]

i sterilise untill LO is 1yr old.
i use cold water steriliser and it keeps bottles looking new and sparkling. so thats my main reason.
dummies get sterilised every week. some times if im runnin late i will just washan old bottle out and reused the same bottle for fresh bottle.
but i dont always use fresh boiled water some times i use water thats been in kettle for 5hr

 

I have been known to suck D's dummy if I'm out and I don't have a clean one. If I'm in someones house I end to wash it under a tap usually.
I'm stopping sterilising his bottles now, he is just over 6 months corrected, has been chewing on my shoes on a number of occasions (must move them higher!) so like Urchin says, what's the point!
I used to be religious about sterilising and scrubbing his bottles when he was born but I am lightening up. Although he has his reflux and sleep apnoea, sterilisign won't affect that at all, and other than then he is rarely ill. So putting the steriliser away for a few months while I can!

 

some times if im runnin late i will just washan old bottle out and reused the same bottle for fresh bottle.
but i dont always use fresh boiled water some times i use water thats been in kettle for 5hr

I do both them things! And about the water, surely it's fine when they get to this age??

 

[Dee1985]

some times if im runnin late i will just washan old bottle out and reused the same bottle for fresh bottle.
but i dont always use fresh boiled water some times i use water thats been in kettle for 5hr

I do both them things! And about the water, surely it's fine when they get to this age??

think its ok when Harley is 4months???
Dior just has tap water now, its soooooo much easier

 

[Layla]

i stopped sterilising stuff when he was 6 months. i think babies are too sterilie these days, they build up no resistence to germs.
i just shove his bottles through the dishwasher or give them a good clean in hot water - obvioulsy milk goes off if left.
I always made bottles as a nd when i needed them, i never made batches.

after all you can't sterilise your carpet! when they start rolling/crawling

i agree with you, i stopped at 6 months too.

xx

 

[cassi]

I will be sterilising but not for the whole time, alot of people put dummies in mouth then give it back to baby but this is even more unhygenic than wiping them on a toilet seat before you give them back to baby as you have more germs in you're mouth than anywhere else !
Not saying i wont do it out of habit though lol cause i probably will sometimes. But dummies will spend a night in a little bowl of milton and water, and he J gets sick then i will chuck the toys he has used that day into milton too so it dosnt keep going round. it only takes 2 minutes

 

[beanie]

i still steralise my breast pump and bottles if making up formula but only because i read that the milk can get stuck in the teat and harbours bacteria. i don't steralise her toys, and her dummies get steralilised once a month. thats it though, her beakers and plates just get washed in hot water, and she now drinks tap water, so much easier.

 

[nicki]

I steralize the bottles every day and his dummy gets done probably twice a week. They have to get some germs to build up their immune system.

 

I will be sterilising but not for the whole time, alot of people put dummies in mouth then give it back to baby but this is even more unhygenic than wiping them on a toilet seat before you give them back to baby as you have more germs in you're mouth than anywhere else !

See, I never understood this. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I kiss Damien and surely that'd be unhygenic aswell? And everytime I have a smooch with DF he and me would get millions of bacteria? I thougt brushing your teeth and using mouthwash would solve the problem? Can understand if you have dog breath then you wouldn't want to suck a babies dummy, but I'd rather suck Damien's dummy than shove it back in his gob after wiping it on the loo seat! The germs on the loo seat are far nastier surely?!

Not arguing with you Cassi, I'm not saying you're wrong either, but it just sounds waaaaaaay over the top

 

[cassi]

Just scientific facts i have read thats all not saying i follow it.. I do it with my neice's dummy all the time lol i guess im just in a habit at the nursery of having to put dummies in milton and toys every day If J dropped his dummy id probably do it too...im in no way a clean freak lol quite the contrary...

 

[kellie80]

I still sterilize bottles but it's mainly out of habit now. I wash them through out the day when shes used them them put the in the steam sterilizer. Then when it's full i turn it on. Don't bother doing anything else. I've stopped doing her dummies cos it was ruining them and i was having to buy new ones all the time. She shoves all sorts in her mouth now anyway, i even caught her licking the floor, so whats the point.

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

i was told by a family friend i could stop sterilizing wen B was 8 months old i decided to double check with HV and she sed to sterilize after each use tilll his a yr
but my arguement was the same as urchins with him crawling and moving around his gonna get germs no matter wot??

 

[cassi]

yeah course nothing wrong with a few germs to build up the immune system

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

so do u think Braydon being 11 months it will be ok to stop??

 

[Vicki83]

yeah course nothing wrong with a few germs to build up the immune system

This is a factor as to why i think kids these days are getting so sick to be honest, as everything is sterilised there's medication for this, anti-bacterial stuff for that, and the kids aren't getting a chance to build up their own immune systems!

 

[Bagpuss17]

I thought you could stop sterilising bottles etc at 6 months, I thought our HV said that but I can't be certain now.

That's what I'm planning on doing at any rate, as soon as our LO is at the stage where he's putting everything in his mouth then we may as well stop sterilising. He needs to build up his immune system.

 

[cassi]

yeah course nothing wrong with a few germs to build up the immune system

This is a factor as to why i think kids these days are getting so sick to be honest, as everything is sterilised there's medication for this, anti-bacterial stuff for that, and the kids aren't getting a chance to build up their own immune systems!

The factor being what i said (let them get a few germs in them) or because of all the sterilising?

Sorry getting confused you quoted me saying that they should be allowed to get a few germs to help their immune system and said it was a factor for them getting so sick. then went on to say it was because everything was sterilised?