It is essential to take the utmost care while noting what enters your baby’s mouth since the mouth is the main entry point to their sensitive body. Sterilization can help kill any microbes that may potentially make your baby sick and cleanse thoroughly clean by feeding equipment. Harmful microbes can get deposited on the surfaces of bowls, bottles, teethers, and feeders. If these viruses and bacteria enter the baby’s body, it can lead to diarrhea and vomiting. Hence, the power of sterilizing the products that your baby uses to feed or chew on is highly underrated.
Today, we’ll talk about ways to sterilize your baby products since the water that runs in home taps may be contaminated. To eliminate these disease-causing microbes, the following steps are highly recommended.
How Often Does One Sterilize Baby Feeding Equipment?
You need to sterilize baby feeding products after cleaning them well every day. If possible, clean these baby feeding products more than once a day to kill any virus and bacteria that grow on the surfaces. It also helps to have multiple utensils and spare bottles for feeding while the others are being sterilized.
The Process of Sterilizing Baby Feeding Products
- Boiling: First, wash the utensils, bottle nipples, lids, and teethers with clean water and soap. Make sure to rinse them well. Next, put them in a big-sized saucepan filled with water so that all the gear can be immersed. Also, make sure there is no place for air bubbles in the pan. Once the water starts to heat, let it boil for five minutes. That will kill all harmful germs. Then, switch off the heat and let the water cool down normally.
- Steam sterilizer: Several brands make steam sterilizers for baby products. Just like boiling, the steam uses heat to kill harmful bacteria and viruses. All you need to do is clean the equipment with dish soap and hot water. Then place them in the sterilizer, making sure to put the container opening downwards to give maximum steam exposure. Follow the instructions in the user manual and let the products get sterilized to kill germs. Once done, the machine turns off by itself.
- Microwave: You can use your microwave to sterilize your child’s feeding products because it works on the same logic of heat. However, make sure that the inside of the microwave is speckless and extremely clean. Fill half of the utensils and bottles with water. Add water and submerge the teethers, nipples, rings, and other little tools in a different glass bowl. Spin them in the microwave for a minute and a half. All done!
When a child is born, their store of antibodies can be limited to those passed on from the mom in the last trimester of pregnancy. This shield fades within the first few months of birth. Hence, doing your best to protect them from contracting any virus and bacteria from their baby feeding gear is essential. We hope this blog helps you sterilize as you find it convenient!