Should I Sterilise Bottles Before My Baby Arrives?

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There isn’t just buying the cot and pram that matters when baby arrives but much more like ‘what do I need to pack in my hospital bag” or “when do I sterilise my bottles for when my baby arrives?’ There are so many questions you will have as new parents and the last one may be the hardest to understand.

We found a bargain deal on a microwave steriliser and bottle set in the earlier weeks of our pregnancy and thought worst-case scenario we don’t use it ever and sell it. In the best-case scenario we have it, need it and we have saved over 50% on RRP prices. But when it got closer to the end of our pregnancy and I was making lists on what needed doing, what things needed sorting before the baby arrived and what I could do to prepare I found myself researching ALOT about when I should sterilise my bottles.

I was planning on breastfeeding and really trying before heading onto formula or expressing at the most, but I still wanted to make sure that we had the bottles cleaned and ready to go if we needed them. But something I discovered was sterilised bottles only last 24 hours after being sterilised! (I probably shouldn’t be shocked) but I was.

So that led me on the confusing yellow brick road of research to see when it was best to sterilise my bottles and what I needed to know to enable safety to our newborn baby.

Bottles should be sterilised before use with a newborn baby, even if they are bought brand new. Anything that is sterilised will only stay sterile for 24 hours so sterilising too far in advance would be redundant and would still require sterilising again when the item is needed.

In this article, I am going to talk about when you should ideally be sterilising your bottles along with some hints and tips to help you feel more organised and prepared especially when it comes to sterilisers, bottles and even dummies.

How Long Do Sterilised Bottles Last?

Sterilised bottles will only last 24 hours after the sterilising process has taken place. After this, they will not be classed as sterilised and not advised to use, especially with newborn babies.

This will mean that any bottles sterilised and placed in a bag or cupboard in your home would need to be sterilised again before using with your baby.

Should I Sterilise My Bottles Before My Baby Arrives?

I couldn’t quite find a definitive answer on whether you should sterilise bottles before your baby arrives or not. This is mainly a personal preference as to whether you wish to or not.

We personally did the week before I was due so everything was already out and untapped and ready to go and we had a chance to make sure the steriliser worked, we could work it and there weren’t any hiccups as that is the last thing you want when you are tired and freshly home with a newborn.

Some advice from other parents I found were things like they did a pre-sterilising for the steriliser alone to make sure that was free from any remaining chemicals from manufacturing along with the bottles and dummies. One parent even said they did this a few times in preparation.

Hints & Tips For Sterilising Bottles, Dummies & Breast Pumps

There are so many different things you need to think about, plan and remember so finding some helpful tips and tricks might just help you feel more organised and less frantic especially before the baby arrives.

Practice Using Your Steriliser

Whether you have a microwave steriliser, an old fashioned pan and boiling or an electronic steriliser you might want to practice using it before your baby arrives. Even if you plan to breastfeed it is great to get used to using the equipment that may become second nature to you soon enough.

Especially if you are using an electric steriliser as these may take a little more setting up, practice to work out the system and just getting used to another appliance on your worktops.

Place Your Bottles Next To Your Steriliser

Something we did weeks in advance of our baby’s due date was get everything set and ready, whether we thought we would need it straight away or not. As I said before we were planning on breastfeeding but that doesn’t just happen because you want it to so we (Cora mainly, she has all the best ideas) decided to unpackaged our steriliser, bottles and any associated equipment.

That way when we came home from the hospital neither of us had to stress about it and we could get back and know it was ready and waiting for us. We also created a basket next to our microwave (as we were using a microwave steriliser) which held all the tools, bottles, lids and teats along with dummies and anything else that required sterilising.

Think about creating a similar station so everything is together and ready when you need it. Move over the coffee station, the sterilising station has moved into the kitchen (though you might still need that coffee one!)