Sterilizing baby bottles

...  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

But boiling does sterilise them! That is what I was doing when Ethan first started bottle feeding, it's what my mum told me to do! and all the baby books say you can sterilise by boiling. Well once he gets onto eating solids as a good proportion of his meal i'll just starting cleaning his bottles in the dishwasher with everything else, sterilising is such a pain in the bum!

 Well that's what I argued with the midwife as well Britwife but she said if I didnt do it ''the English way'' and she used those words, then she would report us to who I dont know and needless to say we had a nasty argument and nothing else happened, and now that Rhiannon has been eating solidas for the past couple months Ive not bothered with sterilizing her bowls and such and I also havent asked the baby clinic about anything either. She eats, she poops, she's happy. Cant ask for anything more than that. lol 

Well that's what I argued with the midwife as well Britwife but she said if I didnt do it ''the English way'' and she used those words, then she would report us to who I dont know and needless to say we had a nasty argument and nothing else happened, and now that Rhiannon has been eating solidas for the past couple months Ive not bothered with sterilizing her bowls and such and I also havent asked the baby clinic about anything either. She eats, she poops, she's happy. Cant ask for anything more than that. lol 

I think I'd find a new surgery w/a different health visitor.  We had one who was too laissez-faire.  Unless you were mega-rich, she didn't care.  So we changed surgeries and got a new health visitor. 

Well that's what I argued with the midwife as well Britwife but she said if I didnt do it ''the English way'' and she used those words, then she would report us to who I dont know and needless to say we had a nasty argument and nothing else happened, and now that Rhiannon has been eating solidas for the past couple months Ive not bothered with sterilizing her bowls and such and I also havent asked the baby clinic about anything either. She eats, she poops, she's happy. Cant ask for anything more than that. lol 

the midwife is the one who should be reported!

the midwife is the one who should be reported!

What the heck, did she expect you to buy an autoclave or something??    

Well that's what I argued with the midwife as well Britwife but she said if I didnt do it ''the English way'' and she used those words, then she would report us to who I dont know and needless to say we had a nasty argument and nothing else happened, and now that Rhiannon has been eating solidas for the past couple months Ive not bothered with sterilizing her bowls and such and I also havent asked the baby clinic about anything either. She eats, she poops, she's happy. Cant ask for anything more than that. lol 

How very unhelpful and silly of the Midwife.  I can not see any abuse issues with not sterilizing "the English Way".  I did not sterilize my 16 month old bottles, perhaps that is another reason my MIL dislike me......hmmmm

I think some midwives etc have gone overboard on the whole child neglect thing because of a few scandals in the last few years where some children slipped through the net.  Now they are all paranoid about being sued or losing their jobs if they miss anything.   You have to take a lot of what they say with a pinch of salt. As someone said to me, back in prehistoric times, babies probably ate mud and survived. 

I know this is going a little off topic but speaking of midwives. I think you just need to let them know your needs while youre pregnant but more importantly let them know its your body and youre the boss. Dont let them bully you. Its your baby! I remember we got a brand new health visitor and she actually tried to tell me Im not holding Jack correctly when feeding. I asked how many kids she has and she told me none. I said " I have four. Im pretty certain I know what Im doing " I never saw her again

 :DThat's a funny story, Pebbles!

ROFL, Peebles.

babies probably ate mud and survived. 

Not to mention those of us poor souls who had to survive older siblings 

once Ethan starts on solids (later this week I expect) should I be sterilising his bowls and spoons etc?

my goodness, is it that time already?!

i just wash Calvin's bowls and spoons off with very hot water, but i dont sterilise them.

I never sterilised Philips bols and spoons either, I didn't know I was supposed to. Oh well, he's alive and healthy! We stopped sterilising his bottles when he was putting everything and anything in his mouth anyway. Plus part of the germ problem comes with cheating and cooling etc of the bottles, and since we've always given him everything at room temperature and never bothered with heating or refrigerating, it wasn't as big an issue.

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to sterilizing is that you can do more harm to the kid than good.  We NEED to have germs introduced to our systems at an early age, or our bodies will never build up a defence against them.  My folks had/have six daughters.  They washed everything, but didn't "sterilize" everything.  We ate dirt.  We played with the cats/dogs/misc animals, we ate from the dog's dish and Lord knows what else.  Each and every one of us are healthy to this day (the baby is now in her early 20s). 

My neices and newphews (14 of them) are all healthy and happy as well.

A friend of mine grew up in a virtual "bubble" and is sick--alergic to everything, asthma, can't eat certain foods...IMO, had she had some dirt in her life growning up, she'd be fine now.

A friend of mine grew up in a virtual "bubble" and is sick--alergic to everything, asthma, can't eat certain foods...IMO, had she had some dirt in her life growning up, she'd be fine now.

LOL, dirt, it is the way to go.  I had a friend who was raised just like you stated, she is still an unwell person.