Sterilising bottles - silly question!

[BabyG&Me]

Hi all

I'm due next Friday and have just been setting up my steriliser and getting to grips with it.

There is something I don't understand tho. When I sterilise my bottles, and take them out do they stay sterile? It says on the box that the bottles stay sterile for 24 hours if the lid is kept closed. If I need one bottle made up and open to take
It out then will I need to resterlise each time?

Sorry for stupid question but first baby!!

 

[OmarsMum]

Hi hun, you can either pre-make bottles & keep them in the fridge or fill them with pre-boiled water & into the fridge. If you want to prepare fresh feeds, once they'r sterilised & you open the cover put them in the freezer to keep them sterile. xx

 

[bathbabe]

if you take the bottles out and make them up (empty) they are sterile for 24hrs. X

 

[xxema&bumpmjx]

if you take the bottles out and make them up (empty) they are sterile for 24hrs. X

this is wht i do i clean his bottles then add cooled boiled water to his bottles then wait for them to be cool enough to go in the fridge then when i need a bottle i warm the water up then add the powder then i have 2 hours for him to take the bottle before i need to through it away hope this help xxx

 

[Kerry.]

I pre-make bottles and keep them in the fridge, but if you open the steriliser and just use one bottle (i.e. if you make them up as you go along) then you will need to re-sterilise the bottles each time/once the lid has been opened.

 

[Wirral_Kitty]

Hi hun, you can either pre-make bottles & keep them in the fridge or fill them with pre-boiled water & into the fridge. If you want to prepare fresh feeds, once they'r sterilised & you open the cover put them in the freezer to keep them sterile. xx

Hi, please dont do this (the part about filling with pre-boiled water) as the water will be cold when u add the formula and will not kill the bacteria present in the non sterile powder formula. It needs to be at least 70 degrees to kill it.

If you are going out, sterilise the amount of bottles you need and assemble them, they should be good for a few hours.

 

[Kerry.]

Hi hun, you can either pre-make bottles & keep them in the fridge or fill them with pre-boiled water & into the fridge. If you want to prepare fresh feeds, once they'r sterilised & you open the cover put them in the freezer to keep them sterile. xx

Hi, please dont do this (the part about filling with pre-boiled water) as the water will be cold when u add the formula and will not kill the bacteria present in the non sterile powder formula. It needs to be at least 70 degrees to kill it.

If you are going out, sterilise the amount of bottles you need and assemble them, they should be good for a few hours.

That's why I always make the formula up with boiling water, and then put them in the fridge once they have cooled enough. I know quite a few people who used pre-boiled water though

 

[PepsiChic]

the easiest way i think is to sterilize the bottles (after washing them in warm soapy water and then rinisng them throughly) then pre-make the bottles and put them in the fridge.

 

[Sarah10]

the easiest way i think is to sterilize the bottles (after washing them in warm soapy water and then rinisng them throughly) then pre-make the bottles and put them in the fridge.

Thats the way i've always done it

 

[x__Hannah__x]

^^ Me too

When Amelia was first born I used to make them up as she needed them but my friend told me about pre-making them and putting them in the fridge. Thank god for that it's a lot less stressful

 

[OmarsMum]

Hi hun, you can either pre-make bottles & keep them in the fridge or fill them with pre-boiled water & into the fridge. If you want to prepare fresh feeds, once they'r sterilised & you open the cover put them in the freezer to keep them sterile. xx

Hi, please dont do this (the part about filling with pre-boiled water) as the water will be cold when u add the formula and will not kill the bacteria present in the non sterile powder formula. It needs to be at least 70 degrees to kill it.

If you are going out, sterilise the amount of bottles you need and assemble them, they should be good for a few hours.

I didnt suggest preparing bottles with cold water. Some formulas cannot be prepared with hot water anyway.

If you top up with 1 oz of hot water & add formula immediately to it, it gets sterile. She can also heat up the bottles with water before adding the formula. Many ladies here add water only to bottles & then when they want to prepare a feed they add some hot water & formula to it to sterilize the powder or re-heat the bottles before adding the powder. Hope this makes sense.

 

[bathbabe]

Hi hun, you can either pre-make bottles & keep them in the fridge or fill them with pre-boiled water & into the fridge. If you want to prepare fresh feeds, once they'r sterilised & you open the cover put them in the freezer to keep them sterile. xx

Hi, please dont do this (the part about filling with pre-boiled water) as the water will be cold when u add the formula and will not kill the bacteria present in the non sterile powder formula. It needs to be at least 70 degrees to kill it.

If you are going out, sterilise the amount of bottles you need and assemble them, they should be good for a few hours.

I didnt suggest preparing bottles with cold water. Some formulas cannot be prepared with hot water anyway.

If you top up with 1 oz of hot water & add formula immediately to it, it gets sterile. She can also heat up the bottles with water before adding the formula. Many ladies here add water only to bottles & then when they want to prepare a feed they add some hot water & formula to it to sterilize the powder or re-heat the bottles before adding the powder. Hope this makes sense.

Surely just adding a little bit of boiling water into cold water will instantly cool the hot water and wont be hot enough to sterilise the milk powder? so you may as well just use the cold water? X

 

[OmarsMum]

U add the powder & poor the hot water over it & it's sterile xx

Anyway, we dont have the hot water guidelines here, & I think it's the same in th US. Omar was on special formula & we were using cold water, he's already 1 year & we never had issues or tummy bugs because of it xx

 

[Rachel_C]

Just wanted to add that bacteria needs both time and warmth to grow. So if you make up bottles in advance it has the time but you put them in the fridge to remove the warmth so that's normally ok (though still not recommended).

If you make up the bottle with cold water, or water that is not as warm as 70 degrees, the bacteria has the warmth but you use the bottle straight away so it doesn't have the time to grow so that's normally ok too.

I know people say that putting the powder in water at 70 degrees will kill the bacteria but the fact is, it doesn't kill all of it, just most of it. If it did kill it all, you could keep the milk indefinitely at whatever temperature because there would never be bacteria in there to grow. At some point, the little bit of bacteria that is left will start to grow again, so neither method gets rid of it all. As long as you're not making it up with cold water AND storing it ready made, you should be fine.

 

[OmarsMum]

Just wanted to add that bacteria needs both time and warmth to grow. So if you make up bottles in advance it has the time but you put them in the fridge to remove the warmth so that's normally ok (though still not recommended).

If you make up the bottle with cold water, or water that is not as warm as 70 degrees, the bacteria has the warmth but you use the bottle straight away so it doesn't have the time to grow so that's normally ok too.

I know people say that putting the powder in water at 70 degrees will kill the bacteria but the fact is, it doesn't kill all of it, just most of it. If it did kill it all, you could keep the milk indefinitely at whatever temperature because there would never be bacteria in there to grow. At some point, the little bit of bacteria that is left will start to grow again, so neither method gets rid of it all. As long as you're not making it up with cold water AND storing it ready made, you should be fine.

Thanks, this is why I dont trust pre-making bottles. Always prepared mine fresh at room temperature & fed them immediately to DS.