:confused: I was wondering if anyone could tell me at what age can I stop sterilizing my son's bottles? Some people have told me that putting them in the dishwasher on a hot rinse cycle is just as effective as using a sterilizer?? Can someone please answer these questions for me?

Thanks a bunch & God Bless!:)

Its around a year old that you stop sterilizing bottles not to sure about the dishwasher it can't get round the rim of the bottles unless you wash them with bottle cleaners as well and using dishwasher cleaning products can't be good for a child

Putting them in the dishwasher is not a good idea. The bottles don't get properly steralized in there and could cause more problems with your little one.

I found this information on another website...the original question was:

"My daughter is four months old. How old does she have to be before I can stop boiling her bottles to sterilize them?"

The Answer:

"The short answer to your question is you can stop now. It is not necessary to sterilize bottles, nipples, or formula.

To understand recommendations on whether to sterilize or not, it is important to realize the history of why sterilization was necessary in the past. In the 17th and 18th century there was a very high mortality rate for infants fed cow's milk. When pasteurization became available, technology allowed for sterile condensed milk to be used for infant feeding. However, during this time, the public water supplies remained largely unmonitored and formula was usually made in batches and left unrefrigerated, Thus, bacterial contamination tended to be a problem. Therefore, it became commonplace to sterilize the water, bottles and nipples. However, by the 1950s, city water supplies became much better monitored and free of bacterial contamination.

Studies were done back in the 1950s, which showed that babies could be safely fed formula made with clean (not sterile) bottles/nipples and tap water. However, by then, sterilization was so commonplace that it was difficult for doctors to stop recommending the practice to their patients, and it was also difficult for grandmothers to stop recommending it to their daughters.

In summary, formula prepared with city-treated tap water in the U.S. is as safe as sterilized formula. United States water from wells, cisterns or other sources should probably be sterilized by boiling for at least 10 minutes, plus one additional minute for every 1,000 feet of your city's elevation. "

Just thought I would pass it along. My son is 4 months old, I usually wash his bottles in the sink, then sterilize them. I use the Dr. Brown's bottle system, and if anyone know's, they are a pain to wash due to the million pieces! I guess I will keep on doing what I'm doing for a while longer...thanks for the posts!! :)

Stop doing it now. Haven't you heard the danger of using those plastic baby bottles.

WHY YES I HAVE... and that's why I have been using glass bottles! :-)

Actually it is only the plastic bottles that contain BPA that are dangerous. The Dr. Brown's bottles are BPA free, otherwise safe to use.;) ANYTHING plastic with BPA in it should be avoided by EVERYONE.

It depends on the age of your baby, definitely sterilise until at least 1 year or possibly 18 months.

Ask the nurse at your baby clinic, they'll know a more accurate age.

I don't recommend a dishwasher because of the water softener you have to use in them.

So in short I would say until the child is 1 year old minimum.

OOooopppsss sorry just noticed the original date of the question sorry...

My infant was a super preemie, born at just shy of 2 pounds and all the lactation specialists, UCSF experts, NICU director, and doulas said DON'T STERILIZE unless you are in a hospital around sick people. Otherwise, just wash in soap and hot water. My daughter is now 11 months and never been sick ONCE, in her lifetime, not even a runny nose, or ear infection, and I haven't sterilized a bottle since she was in the hospital. In actuality, it is not good to sterilize, the experts said, because not sterilizing helps to build up resistance to illness, akin to probiotics! The dishwasher detergent actually can be poison to babies, even adults. It is sort of gross, also has been linked to all sorts of cancers. Most are TOXIC. We use Seventh Generation or Mrs. Meyers non-toxic dishwasher solution for the grownups and wash all my babies items by hand with Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, or Dr. Bronners.