Bottle Cleaning and Sterilizing

Jul 14
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

To the Point

Bottle Washers & Sterilizers: Efficiency & Peace of Mind

· Time & Resource Savings: Specialized countertop bottle washers and sterilizers drastically reduce cleaning time. They also save on water compared to running a standard dishwasher for small, frequent loads of bottles or letting dirty bottles pile up. I used the Baby Brezza Bottle Sterilizer and Dryer.

· Sanitization Comfort: While the AAP notes dishwashers with a heated dry cycle are sufficient, standalone sterilizers offer rapid steaming and drying. Giving you access to your bottles relatively quickly. This is especially helpful for peace of mind in regards to your child’s health and lowering your overall cleaning burden.

· Official Guidelines: The American Society of Pediatrics does not expressly recommend daily sterilization for standard glass bottles and breastfeeding equipment in the US due to low water contamination. However, sterilization is recommended for the first use out of the package, if water quality is poor, or if a child is immunocompromised. See also How to Sterilize and Warm Baby Bottles Safely - Healthy Children.org for more on ASP recommendations

· Manufacturer Compliance: Always verify and follow the specific cleaning methods recommended by your bottle manufacturer.

Lets Talk

Whether you choose breastfeeding or formula feeding, investing in a dedicated bottle washer and bottle sterilizer is an absolute game-changer. When our first child was born, I spent hours at a time in my kitchen washing and drying bottle. It took a significant amount of time and effort, which I would have rather spent doing…literally anything else! I eventually caved and bought a countertop sterilizer/dryer combo. I DO NOT regret that purchase at all. Knowing that my bottles were cleaned and sanitized for me allowed me to do other dad activities. Like finally finishing the lights in the nursery, or baby proofing the house for when my little one began to walk.

Using sterilizers and washers can drastically cut down on you’re the time you spend daily washing baby bottles/toys/binkies/etc. They can also help reduce the amount of water used by your standard dishwasher. While the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that you can safely wash bottles “.. in a dishwasher that uses heated water and has a hot drying cycle.” doing so can add time to your already busy schedule. You typically won't have a full load of dishes every single time your baby needs a clean bottle anyways. This leaves you with three frustrating choices: running a mostly empty dishwasher (which wastes water), waiting until you accumulate enough household dishes (running the risk of running out of clean bottles), or hand-washing them (solid option but time-consuming).

To shorten the amount of time I spent playing dishwasher, I used the Baby Brezza Bottle Sterilizer and Dryer. There are a lot of great products out there, this is just the one that I used. After a quick hand-wash, I would place the items inside, and the machine would steam-sanitize and dry them quickly and easily. This routine gave us peace of mind because our water comes from a well; while it is generally safe, I wasn't willing to take any chances with a newborn. Living on a farm surrounded by animals meant that keeping things ultra-clean was a top priority for our children. I found it comforting to know that our equipment was sanitized given our environment. Sanitizing also proved beneficial in helping to sooth my wife's postpartum germ anxiety.

Interestingly, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not actually recommend the daily sanitization of glass bottles and breastfeeding equipment, often viewing it as redundant in the United States due to generally low municipal water contamination levels. However, they note that sterilization is highly recommended if you live in an area where water quality is poor, if you have an immunocompromised child, or if you are opening equipment out of the packaging for the very first time. No matter which route you choose, always make sure to check the recommended cleaning method directly from your specific bottle manufacturer.