How to Sterilize Baby Bottles

Keep baby's bottles spotlessly clean.

With new disposable liners and silicone nipples that wash clean for babies, many parents are choosing not to sterilize baby bottles. However, if you live in an area where your water supply is non-chlorinated, your infant's doctor may recommend that you purchase a sterilizer for baby bottles, nipples and implements for the first few months of your child's life.

Instructions

1. Wash the baby bottle and nipple first. As soon as possible after your baby finishes drinking her baby formula, rinse her bottle with warm water or just let it soak. Even though the sterilization process will kill bacteria, it may not remove dried formula from creases in the bottle or nipple.

2. Select the hottest cycle on your dishwasher and choose the drying option. The heat generated during the drying cycle acts as a sterilizer. If yours does not have an upper rack with its own water source just below, choose a different option for cleaning baby bottles.

3. Put the bottles and nipples in the bottom of a deep pot, making an expensive sterilizer and cover them with water. Place a lid on the pot and bring it to a boil. Allow the bottles to simmer for twenty minutes before removing with tongs and draining on a clean towel. If your bottles are glass, place a washcloth underneath them in the pot to prevent breakage.

4. Purchase a stove top sterilizer that uses a rack to hold baby bottles and nipples and proceed to sterilize them as directed in Step 3.

5. Use an electric sterilizer, designed specifically to hold one or more bottles. One of the advantages with this method is the ability to take the sterilizer with you when you travel.

6. Sterilize the baby bottles and nipples in the microwave if you have a sterilizer designed for that purpose. (See Resources.)

Tips & Warnings

• If your doctor recommends sterilizing your baby's bottles, you will also need to sterilize all of the implements you use to prepare her formula.

• Boil the water used to make your baby's formula for five minutes, even if it's bottled water and let it cool to room temperature before preparing her formula.