How Long to Sterilize Bottles, Etc.

I only sterilized per the instructions of the bottle/nipple/etc before the first use from day one. After that either hand wash in hot soapy water or in the dishwasher.

You mean that I should've started??? :)

I've never done with either of my kids. They're perfectly healthy little fireballs!

This may sound bad but when my daughter was born the only way bottles and parts got washed was in the dishwasher, which sterilized everything for me.. even to this day i still use the dishwasher to wash her sippie cups dishes, etc and she's almost two. I figure if she gets exposed to something it can't hurt her but still in effect sterilizing everything can't hurt either. I guess its just a preference thing!

my pedi. said that i didn't need to as long as i had city water. mom of 7.R.

I never sterilized anything for my kids.

As a chef I had to take the sanitation class offered by the health dept. As a rule if things air dry completely as in no water droplets anywhere most of the food-borne bacteria will have died as it needs moisture to survive. I think your son is at an age where things do not need to be sterilized every time you use them. Maybe twice a week. As long as you wash them well with a clean sponge or bottle brush you should be fine.

I sterilized for about 7 or 8 months.
At first I did it because he was so young and I just couldn't stand the idea of god-knows-what on his bottles and nipples and pump parts (I'm a clean momma who doesn't like unnecessary germs around my little ones). After he was a few months old I stopped sterilizing after being told it wasn't necessary. He came down with thrush and I had to first replace and then sterilize everything after every use to get rid of it (the thrush). After that I continued sterilizing until he was older and less likely to get it again.
(Also, you don't have to own any special sterilizer. Boiling on the stovetop and using a boiled (sterilized) tong to remove the parts works just as well.)

He's 18 months old now and I clean all of his toys with vinegar a couple times a month or after illness, and I sterilize his utensils once a month or so.

Honestly, I never sterilized anything. Just washed them in hot soapy water and rinsed well.

For what its worth, we never sanitized anything. We just put it all in the dishwasher. If we're out and about I handwash without hesitation.

I always used soap and water after the initial sterilization after purchase with both of my boys.

I only sterilized before the first use (bottle, nipples, pump parts) by boiling in water for 2-3 minutes. I didn't even own a sterilizer.

I use the bottle sanitizer still and wash everything. If you think about it the dishwasher sterilizes all our dishes so, yes for a while. You aren't paranoid, you are a great mom. Sterilize to your hearts content it's up to you and you'll know when to change.

I sterilzed once when I bought them and that was it..othwerise I just hand washed and put on a papertowel to dry...if the milk go sour, I put the bottle in the dishwasher.
when we went camping...after washing with the lake water, I boiled bottles and nipples for 1 or 2 mins.

The second you touch the bottle when you put her milk in there, it's no longer sterile. Sooo . . .I'd say by now he is used the germs in your house and that are one you. Maybe after you go out and about you can sterilize them, but I never say any point other when they were brand new and out of the package with who knows whats in there. I admit I did go sterilizing crazy, but now I see no point when you are just at the house all the time.

To be honest, I never understood the need to sterilize anything. Hot soapy water was more than enough.

didn't even read the other responses: 1st child, sterilized for 3 months.
Last child, the dr said "no need to do it at all" !!

I stopped when my girls turned 1 and had all their shots and were drinking regular milk. I have to say I am a neurotic when it comes to cleaning and germs and I heard over and over that I was making my life so complicated by doing this but I didn't care I needed to do it for my sanity.

we never sterilized bottles besides the one time i got them out of the package....

I have one 16-yo, and 1 11-mo, and never sterilized anything but my pump parts and even that I only did about once a month. I always just hand washed everything with warm soapy water and I have 2 extremely healthy boys!

I think this answer will vary depending on how many children you have LOL!! With my first, I sterilized everything until he was a year old. With my second, I only sterilized stuff for about 6 mos...with my third it was like 2 mos. When your little one starts crawling around and eating lint and other "treasures" off the ground (aka 2 month old cherrios that have been hanging out under the couch) sterilizing everything seems a little counter-productive :)

I heard somewhere that you're supposed to sterilize for the first 3 months (though I have no idea where I heard that). We washed them in the dishwasher. I had my hands full with so much else going on, that the idea of hand washing bottles just stressed me out.

It might not be necessary, but I would do it a little longer. It would just make me feel better if I did it until baby was a little older and had a more devoloped immune system.

Good question!

I washed all bottles, etc. from birth in the dishwasher on the hot water/sanitizer setting. I boiled my pump parts when brand new and after they'd been sitting (clean and bagged) for a year, but after that used a steamer bag in a hurry or soaked them overnight in hot soapy water to clean them.