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Why I'm still sterilising at 19 months

By 19:47:00

You may have seen the other day that I posted that we'd broken our cold water steriliser. We took it with us to Center Parcs but when we unloaded the car on arrival it fell out when we opened the boot and cracked when it hit the pavement but you might be wondering why I still sterilise considering CK is 19 months. Well actually we have a few reasons.




We've always used cold water sterilising with the Milton method since CK was born. Even during the early days in hospital when he was readmitted to hospital due to weightloss and went on formula for the first time, his bottles were sterilised in a large cold water bucket. When we returned home we used a steriliser which my mum and dad passed onto me which they bought from Boots in the 1980s and used for both myself and my sister.




We continued to use the original steriliser for the first 19 months, and after seeing the Milton tablets in the shops I decided to go for those over the supermarket ones as the price difference seemed fairly minimal between own brand and Milton. The steriliser was so easy to use too - the water was changed daily whilst cooking the dinner and a tablet tossed in along with bottles, teat's, dummies and on one occasion even a toothbrush!

Of course then the steriliser got broken and we had to decide whether to take the opportunity to stop sterilising altogether or to replace the steriliser and carry on. We decided to go ahead and replace the steriliser.


So why buy a new steriliser?

1. Habit - we have gotten into the habit of washing the bottles and automatically putting them in the steriliser

2. Laziness and lack of space - If we don't put them in the steriliser where will we keep them and also it's easier to carry on using the steriliser.

3. Not wanting to change routine - CK still has 1 bottle a day at bedtime and drinks out of cups the remainder of the day. We only sterilise the bottles and don't want to stop giving him bottles at night time as it helps send him off to sleep.

4. Cleanliness - Bottles are harder to clean, there are crevices, nooks and crannies on bottles where bacteria can grow if milk residue is not removed, but by sterilising these this ensures the bottles are clean.

5. If we have more babies in the future we will probably use bottles with them whether they are on formula or breastfed, so it made sense to go ahead and just replace the steriliser.


Milton Cold Water Steriliser

When looking at options for replacing our steriliser there did not seem to be many cold water options and a few I looked at also came with bottles which we didn't need. Then I saw the Milton Cold Water steriliser advertised at a competitive price, and also as we used their tablets it seemed like a sensible idea to buy their steriliser as well so I went ahead and bought it.




So that's why we're still sterilising, how long did you sterilise for? Let me know in the comments below.

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8 comments

  1. Don't see any harm in sterilising still at all! Whatever works for Mama and your routine! Plus as you say, it keeps everything clean! #marvmondays

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    1. Exactly - I never have to worry about bottles not being clean. Thanks for stopping by 😀

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  2. We still sterilise his Mam milk bottles as much out of habit than anything and he has just turned 2! No harm done! #MarvMondays

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  3. We did it until we stopped using bottles, it takes no time at all to do and you know they are clean X #marvmondays

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    1. Good to know I'm not alone on this - I think we plan to continue until the night bottle is dropped but we're not at that point yet. Thanks for the comments

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  4. We stopped sterilising at 1 year old but there are so many points I agree with, and almost kept going. In particular, the force of habit and just having no-where to store all the bottles and parts! I don't see the harm in doing it, as the milk can get stuck in all the little nooks of the bottle parts so better to be on the safe side x #marvmondays

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  5. I never appreciated how much stuff a young child needed or how many parts these bottles have - at least the steraliser keeps everything together and I don't have to go hunting for bottle seals or teats in the right size. Thanks for popping in x

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  6. I can't remember how long we sterilised for, but I think it was quite a bit longer than the recommended year - like you, we were in the habit, and why not be cleaner and not risk them getting poorly but he was fine when we finally did stop. Thanks for linking up to #MarvMondays. Kaye xo

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