Ever wondered how to sterilize a baby bottle, perfectly? It is no breaking news that the feeding bottles and dummies all need to be sterilized regularly (and properly). Many mothers who go for bottlefeeding prefer to wash these baby items with a warm soapy solution, and boil them once a week and that’s about it. Though this technique may surprisingly work for some mothers living in a colder climate, it is never a recommended approach.
Go for any one of the following techniques to sterilize bottles, nipples, bottle caps, nipple rings and pacifiers:
Boiling kills away the bacteria and harmful microscopic organisms, and is the oldest of all techniques - you can call it a classic!
You can create a steam sterilizer the same way. When the water starts to boil, put a metallic rice/pasta drainer on it and put washed bottles on it and cover. Let the baby bottle steam for 5 minutes.
There was a time when we thought tablets could only cure us during ailment; now they are used to prevent our newborn babies against infinite microbes. Sterilizing tablets are easy to use.
Normally, it is safe for you to reuse this liquid for 24 hours. Sterilizing liquids are used in the same manner. Wash the bottle, nipple rings, nipples, caps and dummies using a nice bottle cleaning brush and sterilizing liquid, and there you go! I have used sterilizing liquids for my baby daughter and they helped a lot, specially during travel.
If you frequently travel with your baby, keeping the sterilizing liquid bottle is something I would highly recommend. When my daughter Noya was bottle feeding, we went on a 20-days summer packed scorching trip, and sterilization was never a problem for me. The whole trip went smoothly.
Another option is to let the technology take care of this sterilization process. If you can afford to buy one, get a sterilizing machine that not only saves time, but is also very convenient to use. However, there is a teeny-weeny downside to it as it takes electricity to work which adds to the electricity bill. But then, these machines are specifically designed to sterilize your child’s bottles so you can trust them.
Although this technique is gaining popularity these days, yet, I have never personally tried it for my newborn - as if warming up food in the microwave wasn't enough convenience! We already have a couple of nice sterilizing techniques and involving the microwave for sterilizing your little one's bottles is not something I went for. There are special microwave steamers available in the market that you can use with your microwave to get the bottles sterilized.
If you are a mother who has decided to take up the bottle, which among the above-mentioned sterilization techniques is the one for you?
Here is a quick review:
To sterilize your baby bottle, choose
the sterilization method that you think will work well for you. You can go for more than one techniques - the classical boiling or mechanical technique and keep a sterilizing liquid/ tablet as a backup at home. If still not sure, use
your motherly instincts! They are never wrong, trust me! :)
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