Wow really? So no-one over in the US sterilises bottles etc? xx

i hdnt heard this? do you have any links ?

I am a student nurse so the discussion was going on between the neontal team I worked with. I will try and find some for you
xx

I follow guidelines too. Have found them to work just fine for us. I am not a doctor and I don't feel that I know better than they do. Have done plenty reading and research and happy to follow what they advise. Not sure that we as parents always know best, sometimes there are experts who have a better idea from a medical point of view than we do.

i'm imagining it's because of the babies gut flora being different in formula fed infants?

to clarify the PP who mentioned jars from 4 months... that is supposed to be changing,we are one of only a few countries who allow baby food to be labelled from 4 months...
there is actually a 'voluntary' law where food companies can choose not to label from 4 months, not suprisingly noone does as there's far too much money in baby food!
in a lot of other countries it is against the law for baby food to beaimed at any babies younger than 6 months...politics eh!

If it means you baby could die or be seriously or slightly injured if you do not follow then obviously I think you should, but some guidelines are just minor and mere recommendations not serious.

Yeah mostly none of us do! It's only recommended by doctors for preemies or babies with compromised immune systems. Thats what my doctor said when I asked because I kept reading about it on this site and thought I was doing something majorly wrong! (I've never even heard of sterilizing except for BnB) I know that some people do sterilize just for their own peace of mind but not because a doctor told them to... It's pretty crazy isn't it seeing such a huge difference? For me I was sooo surprised when I came on here and read about people being told it's okay or even better to co-sleep, because here my doctor would absolutely DIE if I told him I was co-sleeping (I'm not) It just goes to show some guidelines must be wrong, I mean if practically an entire country is co-sleeping it must not be dangerous! Same with not sterilizing. I mean if you think about it... how much stuff is actually sterile that a baby puts in his mouth? His hands/feet/toys/blankets/pacifiers, etc. Of everything my son puts in his mouth daily I don't think having a completely sterile bottle would make much of a difference honestly! x

Yes something along those lines hun. I am just doing an essay the moment so my mind is mush when I have full brain function I will PM you
xx

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justagirlxx Quote: Originally Posted by snapex Quote: Originally Posted by Justagirlxx Well here's another thing to think about... for instance UK Guidelines and US Guidelines are COMPLETELY different. In the US it is highly unrecommended to co-sleep. In the UK it is highly recommended. In the US we are told sterilizing bottles is not necessary. In the UK you guys spend all day sterilizing bottles! It's so confusing and who is to say which government is right and which is wrong? couldn't agree more with you on that I dont know how you make up your bottles but on the program Teen Mum i heard one girl say to her mum to make up the bottle with i think it was 3oz of water but one 1 and a half spoons of the powder. now i'm sure i must be hearing wrong, only i thought i heard it more than once. So could you clear it up for me? haha because its safe to say that i got a little angry when i heard it [if i heard right that is lol ] Yes that is how you would make up 3 ounces here! Lol. But the reason is because our "scoops" are 2 ounce scoops! (I heard yours are one ounce scoops right?) So 3 ounces would be 1 and a half scoops!! Don't worry she wasn't mixing in too little or anything!! Also we pre-make formula and can leave it in the fridge for 24 hours, we don't sterilize bottles we just use our dish washers, things like that that people in the UK would probably be shocked to see, but our doctors actually say its fine! x

This is the prime reason that people don’t fallow the guidelines. They should be the same everywhere if you ask me.
& when my nephew was born 6 years ago you used to be able to make up the bottles of milk and leave them for 7 hours into the fridge and just take them out and heat them as you went along. This was back when it was ok for you to warm up the bottle in the microwave.

Here we are told to sterilize everything until they are like a year old and we can make up the bottles of water and leave them in the fridge for 24 hours but that about it.

I'm not saying that the English way is better because I’ve only ever known this way but I think to stop confusion and arguments every place should have the same guidelines. Don’t you?

They are thinking of recommending formula until 2 years old too (where I am from anyways) Nurse advised me of it the other day. I agree too, for some children as some are such picky eaters and do not get what they need from food and cows milk IMO but I don't think it is needed for all children until two years old. Then again, if they say you should breastfeed until 2, why not formula?

Here we are told to boil/sterilize things until 6 months old... but in hospital I was told to wash my pump parts in hot soapy water and air dry. It's different everywhere and from doctor to doctor, nurse to nurse.