Breastfed - bottle sterilisation

[Pemsy]

Hi

I'm breastfeeding and it's going really well. Apperntly I was awful at transitioning to bottle so my mum encouraged me to get my daughter used to one asap.

My mw said to wait until 3 weeks. I'm only going to try once a week till she is older then once a day.

I am currently starting to expressed but confused by the bottle steriliser.

I sterilised 4 bottles and the leaflets said they are sterile for 24hours in the container with the lid in place.

I thought a bottle would stay sterile?

I have bought lids so some of the bottles will stay in the fridge for 5 days surely that will be sterile still.
Does anyone know what they mean by the whole 24hours thing?x

 

[candymycandy]

I'm not sure on the science behind it but the bottles will lose their sterility after 24 hours. So if you only intend to use one bottle a week at mo I'd just sterilise it as you need it. I think you can take it out of the steriliser and if you leave the cap on it will stay sterile for that same period. The not opening lid thing is a bit ambiguous annoyingly, but as long as the cap is on and the teat doesn't come into contact with anything you should be fine for 24hrs. Maybe contact The manufacturer for some clarification? X

 

[BunnyN]

I think the problem is that its hard to make anything truely sterile. Just one bacteria left over or that gets in is enough for them to start growing again. Having said that I think the need for serile bottles is a bit exagerated. Really a clean bottle should be just fine especially if you are not storing milk in it. You also dont have to be quite as careful with breastmilk as formula because it has natural anibodies and doesnt spoil as easily. Plenty of people dont sterilise bottles for breastmilk. Obviously use common sense. A bottle that wasnt cleaned well then left in the fridge with new milk in it could become a danger. It can be quite hard to get a milk bottle perfectly clean, especially when its been left to sit around for a bit. Sterilising gives extra peace of mind but you could probably relax the rules a bit.

 

[CARNAT22]

Maybe get a microwave steriliser (keep in microwave) and then just sterilise when you need a bottle?

X

 

[Pemsy]

I just don't understand though, if I express within the 24hours and put it directly in the fridge I should have 6 days before the needing to use the milk but does that mean the bottle is bad?

Should only store milk in bags? The bottles are supposed to be fine, I even have the lids to go with them x

 

[candymycandy]

Yes as I understand it the bottles are no good after 24 hours, hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong. If I were you I'd store in bags rather than keep it in a bottle if you're not going to use it straight away. So as i say I'd just sterilise on an ad hoc basis since you're only doing 1 a week at this stage. Give your HV a call maybe? Chances are it would be safe enough post 24hrs and different people have different ideas/standards when it comes to sterilisation but we are quite strict so this is just what I'd do.
are you using a microwave steriliser im presuming?

 

[Firsttimemumx]

You could use bags but these are expensive. I used to store breast milk in sterilised bottles for up to 5 days in the fridge and use the same bottle to feed my daughter when I needed and she was never unwell or anything from it. If it’s sterile then breast milk is put into it which I was told is also sterile and it’s then kept in a sealed bottle unopened until feeding i can’t see why it wouldn’t be. Especially when you can buy ready made formula in bottles and they’re kept there on shelves in shops etc for so long and formula is apparently not sterile then I can’t see the issue x

 

[Firsttimemumx]

I used to store in the medela bottles with lids which id then swap for the medela calma teat for feeding by the way x

 

[TORino]

Store the milk in bags in the freezer if you're worried about it. X