Bottle Sterilizer? - is it worth it?

Jackie012007 wrote: I'm really freaked out since Carly og the thrush - I am so careful about boiling her nipples and pacis but apparently that is not enough. I'm thinking about getting a bottle sterilizer - are they any better? Anyone have any experience with one? I use mostly AVENT bottles so I thought of getting the AVENT microwave one - do you think it's worth it?

Before, I would boil the nipples and pacis on the stove and then let them cool... I thought that would be enough?

Twelve Volt Man replied: An excellent question. I've been wondering the same thing. Admittedly, we've been somewhat bad about regularly sanitizing the bottles for our one month-old. After reading a bit here about thrush (I still don't fully understand it), I got our sanitizer down from storage. We've been using it for a few days now. I read some reviews online, and found that some people still preferred to just boil the bottles. To me, it's easier to wash the bottles, then just throw them in the sanitizer and let it do its thing.

kimberley replied: this prolly isn't much help since my kids didn't use bottle til they were much older but i just boiled them. i am a true believer that if we over-sanitize a babies world, they will never develop the antibodies needed to fight off worse bacteria or infections. i was a little obsessive with my second son that everything had to be sterile clean and he is the one with acute eczema, severe allergies and asthma. just food for thought

TANNER'S MOM replied: I was told the dishwasher was hot enough to santize them. That's what I did, I just used the old fashion dishwasher and it worked for me. I think Brit only had thrush once and the boys never had it.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Logan was bottlefed since day 2. And other than boiling new bottles/nipples/pacis, I never boiled or sterilized any of his. He never got thrush, either.

Mommy2Isabella replied: PHEW... until Kelly's post, I was starting to think I was a horrible mother.

I have only sterilized Bellas bottles and paci's ONCE. Because she got strep, and we washed all of her toys and everything. She hasn't been sick other than the strep and that was a freak incident, she gets ear infections but I had them and horrible allergies, that I believe I have passed on ...

However we had the Avent sterilizer when she was first born and the person whom we gave it to, LOVES IT!

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: LOL, glad to help.

luvmykids replied:
Same here, I just used the dishwasher and no problems. They even make little baskets to hold the nips/pacis.

redplaydoh replied: We bought the Avent sterilizer... wasn't cheap. But I used it daily in the first few months then figured out I was creating more work for myself when I was already sleep deprived. We realized our dishwasher on the sanitizing cycle did the same thing so I got rid of the Avent thing and my kids were just fine. I wish I'd have saved the money on buying it and used it for something more practical.

lovemy2 replied: Olivia's bottles/nips I sterlized once and then used the dishwasher from time to time on them and same with Dylan's - neither has ever had thrush....

Jackie012007 replied: I don't have a dishwasher, otherwise i would totally do that! I'm still debating the sterilizer thing, and comparing prices - man they are not cheap!!!!!

Thanks for all the info though!

CantWait replied: With Robbie I sanitized almost all the time, with Anthony though, because it was so rare when we tried to give him a bottle I didn't sanitize it. I'm with Kimberley on this one. Really soap and water should be more then enough.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:




Yep, I always just used the dishwasher and put everything in a little cage. Or just hand washed.

I personally would never put anything plastic in a microwave. I'm afraid of the whole leaching (sp?) issue.

I also agree with Kimberely about over-sanitizing. It could just be from other factors, but my kids never had thrush and I never boiled bottles.

Mommyof3 replied: I LOVED my Avent Microwave sterilizer! It was so fast and I would just unload the bottles from the dishwasher, pop three in at a time and by the time I got done, they would be done. It was not as expensive as others and it was worth it's weight in gold!!!

moped replied: I used those microwave bags - I bought them at walmart but can't remember hte brand....

Boo&BugsMom replied: I don't sterilize because we use the Playtex bottles with the liners. I boiled the nipples once before we used them and wash the bottles and nipples with a bottle brush. We don't have a dishwasher either.

luvmykids replied:
I forgot about those, the hospital gave me samples. They were pretty handy.

boyohboyohboy replied: Jackie I always use the avent microwave sterilizer with Jakob. I used to worry that my dishwasher just didnt get hot enough. it was easy to just boil the stuff then throw it in the container and into the microwave for 5 mins. then let it sit and cool. it wasnt that much of an extra step.
also what soap do you wash her stuff in, might she be reacting to the soap? I know you have to becareful not to use the antimicroabel stuff on kids stuff.
is this what you have?

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?p...rentPage=search

this is what we used for $30.

redchief replied: I honestly don't see where a bottle sanitizer is going to make a great difference. Let's not forget what oral thrush is. Oral thrush is a temporary yeast fungal infection of the mouth. Candida (yeast organism) occurs normally in a large percentage of the population. Normally runaway growth (what causes the infection) is kept in check by other organisms in balance in the mouth (yes, the mouth is home to lots of little organisms ). Candida blooms often occur during and shortly after antibiotic treatment for other infections which often kill off the organisms that keep the yeast population under control, then the child gets thrush. The same thing often happens in women when they get vaginal yeast infections (same organism, different home).

So, boiling nipples will kill off any living fungus on the baby's nipples (though Candida doesn't do well outside of warm, wet places anyway), and make sure that other nasties are killed too, but boiling the bottles won't do much unless you put the bottle into service immediately. Considering our immune systems are designed to allow us to live in our dirty little world, that seems an unnecessary exercise in futility.

PrairieMom replied:
blooms? thats a way nicer way to think of thrush. I will try that the next time mine comes back.
"oh! my mouth is blooming again! "