Hellobee Boards

Before use and I used to do it weekly, old school, boiling water in a big pot!

They go in the dishwasher every night, is that sterilizing? If not, never lol. I did boil them before use though !

@photojane: @char54: haha, same here.

Never! Just hand wash with soap and hot water.

I boiled them before use... although I have to admit that the most recent pack I opened, I just didn't see the point of boiling so I just hand washed them with the rest. I don't sterilize my own nipples which are much more bacteria ridden than the bottles, I'm sure.

Not sure if I voted right? I put never. But we did sterilize before first use. There's no need to sterilize them on a regular basis unless you're dealing with health issues (like a preemie) that could lead to a compromised immune system.

We sterilized them at first use and then just washed them with soap and hot water after that.

Okay, I feel like a neurotic mummy now!!

I wash them in the dishwasher every evening and then, when they're washed, I put all five bottles in the steam steriliser. Once sterilised, they go in the fridge to minimise germ growth until they are used the following day.

LO is 8 months. Am I overdoing it?

i washed with soap and water everyday, but did not sterilize (boiling, steam bag, etc.). read somewhere that sterilizing was more important when the quality of tap water was a concern. i have taken that and run with it.

oh, i have used the microwave steam bags, but on travel when it was easier to do that than soap/water.

Almost never. I boiled everything before using them, then I boil sterilized a few times early on, when I thought about it. I usually just soak in hot soapy water then hand wash and air dry. This goes for pump parts and bottles. But, we don't use bottles or the pump all that often.

Like @shellio: said, my breasts aren't sterile, so I think regular hot water and soap is fine.

I probably would sterilize after an illness, like after our recent stomach bug, but we didn't use any bottles during that time anyway.

We washed and sterilized after every use, usually at night. We had the Phillips Advent 4-in-1 sterilizer which made it very easy to sterilize everything.

We never sterilized. Just boiled in hot water before first use.

We sterilized before first use. With bottles, I would sterilize once a week in an Avent microwave steamer. I still use my Medela sterilizing bags for pacis, toothbrush, and other stuff at 19 months old.

We had a sterilizer that also functioned as our "holder" for the bottles, so we sterilized after every use.

@LovelyPlum: yeah, I just run it once with the soap and then once without when it's the bottles. Probably overkill, but I replace that for boiling water haha makes me not feel as 'guilty'

We boiled them before first use & I have done it again maybe 4 or 5 times since? LO is 5 months old & we have been using bottles from day one. Otherwise we just hand wash with dish soap & a bottle brush.