Should You Sterilize Your Baby’s Bottles?
In most cases, it is probably not necessary to sterilize your babies bottles. Water supplies in the U.S. are very safe and there is often very little risk for contamination with something that would cause your baby harm. Unless you suspect your water supply to have contaminated bacteria it is as safe for your baby as it is for you.
Years ago, when water supplies were not reliably clean and safe, it made sense to boil the water before use to kill any harmful bacteria. Today however, sterilizing bottles, pacifiers, and water is mostly unnecessary.
Active cleaning with soap and warm water will usually get rid of almost all germs and bacteria. Once on the bottle, the nipple begins to pick up all the germs in the environment, so a “sterile” nipple and bottle is very difficult to maintain anyway.
If you do decide that you want to sterilize bottles for your baby, there are many products on the market that make this easy. For example, you can buy bags which work in a microwave. Simply add a small amount of water along with the bottles and nipples and microwave for several minutes. This is convenient and fast for mothers.
Filed under: Child Health
