Sterilizing baby bottles

Hello all.  It's been a LONG time since I posted but have been hanging around a bit lately.  I'm in Brighton and due 22 February with my second baby.  First one is 5 years old and born in USA so finding out all these things done differently in UK this time around.  For better or worse!  Big question about sterilizing.  (First of all, I plan to breastfeed but probably not solely so I need to sort out this bottle business.) I never sterilized for my firstborn, in the USA.  I researched it at the time and remember finding it was not recommended or necessary to sterilize at all. 

However, everyone in the UK seems to sterilize their bottles.  And I can't find any info contradicting that.  Why is it different?  Surely the UK water supply is up to USA standards.  I'd be very grateful for any info or personal experiences. 

While you are at it, what is the deal with putting a newborn in the front seat?  That is a new one to me too.  I have an airbag in my car so I can't do it anyway, but I just can't believe all these babies I see riding in the front over here. 

Well, thanks in advance for any light you can shed.  -Emily

Hi Emily, congrats on your pregnancy, you must be excited!  I didn't know sterilising bottles wasn't usual in the US so can't answer that question I'm afraid.  Perhaps we are more paranoid about germs over here! It is a bit tedious to do but I use a sterilising solution - you just leave the bottles in it for 30 minutes.

As for the car seats - different seats come with different instructions about how to fit them in the car. We have a Graco autobaby that goes in the back, to one side but there are others that go in the front of the car or in the middle at the back. some are rear facing and some are forward facing. So if you want one that goes in the back, you should be able to get one easily enough.

They don't sterlise the bottles in the US?  Really?  Wow!  I never had a baby there, so I just thought e/one sterilised.  We bought an Advent microwave steriliser and that thing is worth it's weight in gold! 

I've seen babies in car seats in front here.  It's not s/thing I'm comfortable with, though, so we just always put her in the back in the middle.  We bought both our car seats here in Britain, so they work all over the car.

Congrats on your expected arrival! 

I had a baby in the states nearly 17 years ago and while we sterilised at the newborn stage, we didn't sterilise after that.  I was a bit shocked this go around to find that everyone sterilised their bottles, but that's what I did.  We used a steam steriliser.

Thank you for your quick replies. 

I did find a Graco autobaby carseat to fit in the back seat which seems like a good one and actually was the only one to fit in the backseat of our little Polo. 

I know a few people who sterilized in the USA (this was 5 years ago but seems to be the same still from a quick search) but it was definitely not the norm to sterilize baby bottles.  Just wash with hot water and soap.  I am leaning toward the microwave one here but would rather not bother with it all if not necessary.  Just wondering if it's a UK habit or necessary because of the germs in the water are more/different than USA.... 

Thanks again for your input.  I'll keep checking in.

-Emily

I have two sons, one raised in the US with no sterilized bottles and the second is a baby, raised here in the UK, no sterilized bottles either.  They are both very healthy.  I just never sterilized their items, a very good clean though.  I think it is what you want to do.  

Hi,

I checked this one with my sister back home (she's a neonatal ICU nurse) and what we've come up with is that using a dishwasher they see as adequate sterilization as the detergent is mainly bleach and the temp is so high.  My experience is that most UK homes don't use dishwashers (which may be wrong, as I don't know most brits!) hence the sterilizers.  I'm not an expert on this though, as my daughter flat out refused to take a bottle until she was over a year old, the little rat!

I didn't sterilize.  I couldn't understand any justification for it if the bottles and teats were washed in very hot water.  I asked my friend who is a NHS Direct nurse and she was of the opinion it was just to be safe but she didn't sterilize either.

If you are comfortable with not sterilizing since your daughter didn't suffer any bad effects from it then don't bother.  I think it is more of a personal choice than any specific reason.

I didnt sterilize bottles with any of my babies. Two were born in the USA and two were born in the UK. However I have a friend here that still sterilizes her baby's bottles even though all day long the kids is sucking on carpet and licking god knows what off the floor   

I only put my kids in the front seat if I have to but I always make sure the airbags are turned off.

I have a friend here that still sterilizes her baby's bottles even though all day long the kids is sucking on carpet and licking god knows what off the floor   

Kids, aren't they funny...lol

Well I was wondering, once Ethan starts on solids (later this week I expect) should I be sterilising his bowls and spoons etc? and if not why am Ii still sterilising the bottles?! I daren't ask the baby clinic about it, I am sure to be noted as a bad mother.

I would do an initial sterilisation of stuff I bought from the store, but after that, I never sterilised them.

 Well Rhiannon has been on solids for a while and I dont sterilize the spoons and bowls she eats from not after I did it the first time it gets washed right along with everything else and she's happy enough. And yeah I think youre right about not asking the baby clinic about it because of the ordeal we went through about sterilizing bottles which no one in my husband's family bothered to tell us about, I was totally in the dark about it and with my son in the US  I had always boiled the bottles and stuff to keep them clean and it wasnt good enough for the midwife who came for a health visit here right after the baby was born. And needless to say we had some lively conversations.   lol

We sterilised everything until she was able to pick stuff up off the floor herself and put it in her mouth.  After that there just didn't seem much point.  We lay a plastic shower liner under her highchair to catch e/thing she throws off, and s/times after a meal she'll go over there and nibble if we don't shake it out straight after we eat.  Eeeewwww.

Who needs a pet when we have children?  lol