How to Clean My Babies Pacifier

Medela makes these great steam sterilizing bags that you can microwave - they are good for bottles, breast pump parts, and pacifiers. You can get them at Target and they are very inexpensive. You can also sterilize pacifiers in boiling water.

Running the pacifier through the dishwasher is sufficient.
No need to boil, etc. Boiling diminishes the life of the pacifier I have found. Water collects in the nipple with boiling. Best is to have more then one pacifier. This way you will have one handy when the other is in the dishwasher. Also if one gets lost (and we have lost plenty) it won't be a stressful situation.

This must be your first baby!! Soap and water always worked for us. On your second baby, rinsing it with water, wiping it on your jeans, and sticking back in the baby's mouth will be routine!

I wash in hot water daily, then dishwasher or microwave sterilizer once a week...

With vinegar, or in the dishwasher. I use a sink full of hot water and one cup vinegar to clean plastic toys. I do the same with paci's.

How about boiling it for 5 minutes in water? That is how I've always cleaned bottles, nipples, etc.

I would be afraid to bleach it, just because chemicals are so harsh, but you can always boil it like you would to clean a bottle. Also, those microwave bins that sterilize bottles and nipples, etc.,- you can toss the pacifiers in that and after 4 minutes(2 in the microwave, 2 to steam outside of the microwave), ta-dah! Otherwise, after a few months, you should probably get new ones if they are really funky.
Hope this helps!
-E. Mc

Bleach is not good for human consumption in any amount, I recommend just regular dish soap and hot water. Bleach affects the nervous system, I try not to use the sprays that "clean" the house either. Going green books explain in detail the dangers of ammonia and bleach and other chemicals. I am not a total greenie, but I do try to be careful with chemicals and my kids.

I would avoid bleach. Soapy water and/or the dishwasher work great! Why boil separately and make extra work when the dishwasher can do it for you! FYI, with the second child you won't have time to be as careful about the "sterilizing" of everything and you'll find the kids will be just fine! LOL

NEVER use bleach on pacifiers as it can leach into the plastic and harm your baby!!!!!! You also have to be careful about what soaps you use. Eco-friendly ones are the best is you feel you need to use soap. I use a couple of methods to sterilize pacifiers. If the pacifier fell on the ground or something to that degree, then I will sterilize it either in my nursery steam sanitizer (you can get it at Babies R' Us) or in the microwave using the Medela brand steam bags. Both work great! If the pacifier has just been used a lot, then rinsing it in hot water at the end of each day is fine. I would then do a sterilization after four or five days of use. Good old boiling water also works just fine. Just drop the pacifier in boiling water for 2 minutes. Another quick clean method is to use Dapple brand toy wipes. These are good for on the go cleaning. Hope this helps!

Dear M.,
Just a little soap and hot water will do the trick. And, don't let the bleach thing scare you. You would never want to use it full strength, for one thing, it will break down the rubber end and it will fall apart faster, but there is nothing at all wrong with putting a drop or two in the wash water. Fill up your sink and add a teaspoon of bleach to clean toys and pacifiers, then just rinse really well in hot water. It's such a low concentration that it won't harm anything and rinses off easily. Rubbing alcohol is also a great sterilizer. Dab with a cotton ball before washing in hot soapy water and rinse well.

Hi M.,
I have never heard of using bleach on a pacifier. Don't do it. Just boil it for a quick minute or two, and be sure to let it cool off before using it.

Just boil it in hot water for a couple mins. That will sterilize it.

Personally I would not clean it with bleach water. You can just boil water in a pot and submerge the pacifier for a few minutes.

Quite honestly, the best thing to use to clean almost anything is warm/hot soapy water followed by a good rinse.

When my kids were babies, I used to clean the pacifiers by boiling them in hot water for about a minute. I would take tongs and dunk them 10 seconds at a time, doing this 6-8 times, in a pot of boiling water. Just be sure to watch them because you don't want them to soften and lose their shape.

Soap and water...that is what you use on your forks and spoons and cups. Those go in your mouth just like a pacifier.

Hi there M....I am both a Mom and a Grandma....My daughter is 23 and my son is 21...my grandaughter is 11 months...and the cutest little ball of energy you have ever seen...I found that putting the pacifiers in the dishwasher is a very good way to clean and sanitize them. They even have special baskets you can put the pacifiers and nipples for the bottles in...I used this trick when my kids were babies and my daughter has used the same technique for her little girl....Yes I have heard about the bleach...You can also add a tablespoon of bleach to the dishwasher and it helps during the cold and flu season too...hope this helps....I wouldn't use the bleach on the babies bottles or pacifiers though.

The nurses at the hospital told me to wash them in hot, soapy water or to put them in the upper area of the dishwasher. I don't think the bleach water is necessary. I also got pacifier cleaning pads as a gift from a friend - it is food-grade material on a cleaning pad. I'm sure they have them at Babies-R-Us, etc.

Boil it!!! LOL - I would not put something in my childs mouth that had been in bleach.....

Hello M.: I have 5 children, have raised several foster children and the grandmother of some real cuties. Almost all have used pacifiers. I am concerned that someone would suggest bleach as it can be harmful to children and their tender mouths,&taste buds.
Honestly this is the first time I have ever heard of using bleach on a pacifer or anything else that goes in a childs mouth. I have always heated water not to boiling but close and then after using soap and water,rinse then let them sit in the heated water until it cools.
My daughter in law said her pedi doctor told her to just put them in the dishwasher along with the bottle nipples.
At some point you will be more relaxed about these things. I am grateful that you contacted Mama Source, this is a great resource for you to use. Good Luck, Nana G

I clean my baby's pacifier the way the packaging directed. Good old dishsoap and water. After rinsing it off I stick it in the bottle sanitizer with her bottles and it's as good as new. Hope this helps.

Hi M.!

I used to boil my pacifiers and bottle nipples every few days. Although they "turn" a slightly different color, they are sterilized.

Later, I put them in one of those dishwasher "baskets" and threw everything in there to be cleaned when i ran the dishwasher.

My kids "survived" so I guess it worked! :o)

~N. :O)