Cleaning baby bottles: This is how it works
If you feed your baby with the bottle, it is very important that you clean it well after every meal so that no germs can settle in and cause infections in your baby. In this article you will find out how to clean bottles properly and how best to sterilize them.
Why sterilize the vial for cleaning?
Babies are particularly susceptible to bacteria, germs and other pathogens in their first months of life. If you do not breastfeed your baby, but feed it with the bottle, it is therefore particularly important that you always clean this and the accessories thoroughly to prevent bacteria from forming. You should also sterilize the utensils once a day for the first six months. Even if sterilization seems superfluous to you, it still plays an important role in relieving your baby’s immature immune system and thus preventing mild to severe gastrointestinal infections with side effects such as (emetic) diarrhea or dehydration impede. We have put together the most important information on the hygienic cleaning of bottles for you here. Some good sterilizersyou can also find it here.
Since cleaning and sterilizing bottles takes some time and they are therefore not immediately ready for use again, it is best to have at least one more bottle at home than your child eats every day. This way you can save time by cleaning all bottles at the same time once a day, and still always have a clean bottle available. You can find out how many bottles your child needs every day in the article “ How often a bottle? “.
Cleaning baby bottles: Rinse thoroughly first
Before you sterilize the bottles by sterilizing them, they must of course be clean and free of milk residues. This not only applies to the bottle itself, but also to the teat and the bottle ring that closes the bottle. To prevent milk from drying in cracks or hard-to-reach places, which would make cleaning much more difficult later, it is best to rinse all accessories thoroughly with running water immediately after each use. Also make sure that the suction hole is clean and not clogged.
You can then clean everything with a bottle brush, e.g. with the 2-part silicone brush from Kochblume,advertisementClean carefully with normal washing-up liquid . Special bottle brushes are practical for this, which can be bought in drugstores, for example, and which are shaped in such a way that you can easily reach all places inside the bottle. The bristles of such brushes are usually made of soft material, such as rubber or foam, so that the bottle does not get scratched when cleaning. Many bottle brushes also consist of a large, long brush for the inside of the bottle and a small brush intended for cleaning the teat. Some manufacturers of bottle systems and teats also offer the right brushes for their products, which should make handling even easier.
After cleaning with washing-up liquid, it is important that you rinse the bottles and teats thoroughly again with running water. When all the soap residue has been removed , you can start sterilizing the bottles.
Sterilize daily for the first six months
There are different ways to sterilize the bottles for your baby. In addition to the classic method of boiling, you can also sterilize the bottles by so-called vaporization with hot steam or special chemical solutions.
The question often arises as to whether bottles can be sterilized in the dishwasher. However, this is not the case. Firstly, the programs are often not hot enough, since germs and bacteria are only killed above 70°C . And even if a program is selected where the temperature is high enough, other things are also cleaned in the dishwasher, which is why the hygiene your baby needs in the first months of life is not sufficient.
Boil bottles to clean
The classic method of sterilizing bottles and accessories is to boil everything in a large pot of water. To do this, teats and bottles should be placed in boiling water for at least three minutes , since all bacteria and germs will only have been reliably killed off after this time. It is important that you only use the pot in which you boil the bottles for this purpose, so that no foreign germs can settle there and the bottles can be cleaned really hygienically.
Attention: Plastic bottles usually cannot be boiled in boiling water, as they could melt on the hot bottom of the pot.
Before you use a teat for the bottle for the first time, it should be thoroughly boiled for at least ten minutes to remove any harmful substances it may contain. You can find out what else you can look out for with the teat in the article “ Latex or silicone: the right teat for the bottle ”.
Electric vaporizer
The vaporizer is an electrical device that sterilizes bottles and accessories with the help of hot steam. The bottles, five to six at a time on most models, are simply placed upside down on special holders inside the device. Most devices also have a hanging or clip-on basket in which teats and bottle rings can be placed. The vaporiser is then closed with a lid and the water in a tank is electrically heated until it evaporates. After about 10 to 15 minutes in the hot steam , the bottles and accessories are sterile.
Using a vaporiser – our favorite: the OMORC 5-in-1 steriliser that we found on Amazon –advertisement is usually more practical than boiling bottles, since not much water has to be heated in the pot first. This type of sterilization can also be used for all commercially available bottles, regardless of whether they are made of glass or plastic. However, an electric vaporizer takes up a lot of space and is not cheap to buy.
Sterilize in the microwave
You can also use the microwave to sterilize the bottles with hot steam. For this you need a special microwave vaporizer or alternatively microwave sterilization bags, such as the bags from MAXSTRENGTH.advertisementThis looks like a kind of bowl into which a small amount of water is filled. After you put the bottles and teats in, the bowl is closed with a special lid and heated in the microwave for a short time . The resulting water vapor reliably kills germs in the bottles. The advantage of this form of vaporizer is that it is relatively inexpensive, takes up less space than an electrical device and is therefore easier to transport or store away. However, not all bottles are suitable for the microwave, which is why you should inform yourself beforehand.
There are now certain bottle systems that sterilize themselves in the microwave. The principle is similar to that of the microwave vaporizer. The bottles have a special bottom cap that can be filled with some water for sterilization. The suction cup is also fastened in the floor part. Then the bottle is heated in the microwave for about 90 seconds and sterilized by the resulting steam.
Cold water sterilization
For cold sterilization you need special tablets or a liquid – our tip: the Nuby All Natural sterilization bath (found at Amazon) ,advertisementwhich you dissolve in a bowl of boiled water. The bowl should be large enough and have a lid so that nothing falls into it during sterilization.
When the tablets or the special liquid have completely dissolved, place the parts to be sterilized in the bowl so that everything is completely covered with water. Also make sure there are no air bubbles in the vials as this would prevent reliable killing of germs. Then close the container with the lid. After about 30 minutes, the bottles and teats should be sterile. Then rinse thoroughly again with boiled water. You can simply dispose of the solution in the sink after sterilization, it is prepared anew every day.
Don’t worry: Even if the solution is very effective against bacteria and germs, it is completely harmless to humans.
No matter how you sterilize the bottles for your baby: so that the effort is not in vain, you should dry them well afterwards and store them clean. In baby stores there are often special boxes in which you can store sterilized bottles. Alternatively, you can place them upside down on a clean tea towel or simply leave them in the sterilizer.
When to stop sterilizing?
As soon as your baby becomes mobile and starts putting everything he can get his hands on in his mouth, bottles no longer necessarily need to be sterilized. From about the sixth month it is therefore sufficient to clean the bottles thoroughly with washing-up liquid. You can also put them in the dishwasher. However, washing-up liquid is often more aggressive than hand washing-up liquid, which can damage the surface of plastic bottles over time.
Teats and pacifiers should continue to be occasionally boiled or otherwise sterilized after the sixth month.