How long should I sterilise baby bottles?

We were trying to sterilise the entire world

At first, ‘keep things clean’ somehow became ‘everything near the baby must be sterilised’. That is an exhausting standard and not what the guidance means.

The focus is feeding equipment: bottles, teats and the pump parts that need sterilising. Toys, muslins and the whole house are a different question.

Washing comes before sterilising

Steam does not magically remove dried milk. Rinsing straight after a feed, washing properly with a bottle brush, then sterilising saved far more effort than attacking yesterday’s bottle the next morning.

UK guidance says to sterilise bottles and teats until at least twelve months. We stopped at six months and washed them thoroughly instead, because Ari was moving around and putting everything in her mouth anyway. That was our choice, not the UK recommendation.

Formula preparation is a separate safety job

Powdered formula is not sterile. Current guidance uses fresh water that is still at least 70°C when mixed with standard formula, then cools the made bottle before feeding.

Ari was premature, so when NICU instructions were stricter than general advice, their rules won. If your baby was born early or has an immune concern, ask rather than assuming the standard version applies.