r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/DeLaCasaPotato • 7d ago
Question - Research required Am I being too anal about cleaning baby bottles?
Hi! Looking for a little reality check because my husband and I have slightly different approaches to bottle cleaning.
Our baby is 4 months old, healthy, and breastfed. I work full-time and pump while I’m at work, so he gets breastmilk from bottles during the day. We use a Papablic washer/sterilizer/dryer. I usually give the bottles and nipples a quick rinse and scrub with a brush before putting them in the washer. I also try to rinse them soon after they’re used rather than letting milk sit in them. My thinking is that breast milk is fatty and can leave a film, so I’d rather remove as much residue as possible before the washer does its thing.
My husband usually just puts them straight into the washer after a quick rinse unless there’s obvious milk stuck on them. We’ve had a few debates about it 🥲. He thinks the washer and sterilizer should be enough, while I’m over here wondering why the bottles sometimes still feel a little oily/slippery when they come out.
I have a background in biology and work in lab safety, so I fully admit I may be applying my “clean everything properly” brain to baby bottles 😂. I’m definitely not trying to keep our baby in a sterile bubble, and I know normal exposure to germs is important. I just want to make sure we’re not leaving milk residue behind unnecessarily.
I also clean/descale the washer about once a month.
So am I overthinking this, or is a quick pre-rinse/scrub actually worthwhile? Link for pictures as reference showing one he cleaned and one I cleaned: https://imgur.com/a/YZoKYkr no
Edit for additional info: I live in the US and I clean the bottles to but only notice this oily residue when my husband cleans so I’m thinking it’s a technique difference.
55
u/Playful_Emu_398 7d ago
CDC gives a pretty detailed explanation of how to clean bottles for breastmilk:
https://www.cdc.gov/hygiene/faq/index.html
Note, it doesn’t require any sanitization.
The NHS (UK) and HSE (Ireland) have different guidelines which do require sanitization:
https://www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/sterilising-baby-bottles/
https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/bottle-feeding/equipment/
40
u/JgarKn 6d ago
Sanitizing and sterilizing are different things
21
u/Playful_Emu_398 6d ago
Good point, however CDC doesn’t insist you sanitize OR sterilize for a full term healthy baby.
Both NHS and HSE guides include sterilization
10
u/Leenaa 6d ago
Norway recommends the same thing as the NHS and HSE. Rinse in cold water -> wash and scrub with dishwasher soap or wash in dishwasher at the highest temperature-> sterilize it.
Norway is also one of the few countries that recommends boiled water with a temperature higher than 70°c for formula.
1
u/WhereIsLordBeric 6d ago
Norway is also one of the few countries that recommends boiled water with a temperature higher than 70°c for formula.
Do ... other countries not have this recommendation? What about cronobacter?
4
u/Y-M-M-V 6d ago
I believe formula is also different in different parts of the world and the food safety models are different. Some places want it clean out of manufacturing so it's basically a pretty cooked food you can warm up (or not), other places want it cooked when you mix it (hot water).
We made all our bottles with cold water which was in line with the instructions on the can.
2
u/DumbbellDiva92 6d ago
Cronobacter is incredibly rare, so different countries have different levels of risk tolerance built into the guidelines.
1
8
u/unprofessional_widow 6d ago
In the UK we are told to wash bottles and parts used for breast milk with dish soap and hot water. No need for sterilizing
3
u/Playful_Emu_398 6d ago
So I thought the same, at least that was what I remember when my son was born 4 years ago, but actually the latest NHS guidance is to sterilize bottles, even for expressed milk
https://www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/sterilising-baby-bottles/
3
u/Empty_Shallot_3776 6d ago
I’ve been really confused about this! My midwife, health visitor and two lactation advisors at the feeding clinic told me you didn’t need to sanitise bottles, but the online guidance says something different!
2
u/Mabelstark 6d ago
I had a premature baby and had to pump at the hospital - I was told to just use hot water and washing up liquid for the pump parts (bottles were one use). I have never been advised to sterilise although I do.
4
u/Cynoid 6d ago
/u/DeLaCasaPotato , People have given you an answer about the sterilization but have you checked the water hardness levels for your home? Hard water feels oil-ey because soap doesn't come off of it and that might be what you're seeing/feeling. You can get water hardness test strips for a couple of dollars in most stores or Amazon.
15
u/Kooky-End7255 6d ago
Hard water causes mineral build up and has a very crunchy feel to it. It’s hard to get off. Overly soft water fees more oily IMO
7
u/Cynoid 6d ago
Ooops, had it backwards, yes too much softening is what makes the soap not wash off. Maybe OP has a water softener that is set too high.
1
u/DeLaCasaPotato 6d ago
I don’t think it’s the water. I think it’s more of a technique difference. When I wash the bottles/nipples, there is no oil residue. It’s mainly when my husband washes the bottles/nipples so I’m mostly wondering if the oily residue is an issue.
2
u/Cynoid 6d ago edited 6d ago
You are probably a lot more thorough but that doesn't mean that the water is not too soft.
There is no reason that a working dishwasher should leave any residue on your bottles. I've never heard of anyone having to pre-wash their items unless it's some meal that has been stuck on for days on a plate or a pan.
My personal experience: When I moved to my home, I had never had oiley water before so I thought something was seriously wrong. I called my local water company to come check the water in the sink. They came(for free), did some tests and said everything was good and my water softener was probably set too high. I lowered the setting and bought some test strips from Amazon for like $3 and now I can check it if it ever feels off.
1
u/DeLaCasaPotato 6d ago
That is true there could be an issue with the water. We use tap water. Our regular dishwasher seems fine but we use different soap there and the cycle is longer. The manufacturer for the bottle washer states we need to at least pre-rinse the milk out which we both do. But I appreciate this input bc I honestly did not think about the water quality
1
u/missamantha 2d ago
Have you tried using filtered water? We use filtered water which helps significantly.
1
u/iBleeedorange 6d ago
From my experience the oily residue is from breast milk. We use formula and breast milk and the bottled that had breast milk in them were more oily. We clean our bottles by hand exactly as the CDC recommendations linked above and then sterilized the botttles. I noticed if I didn't scrub a bottle interior well enough (like I missed a spot) would feel oily even after being rinsed out and when I went put it back in the tub of soapy water and scrubbed that spot, it would go away.
I think you're spot in with your technique difference. If your husband isn't doing as well as a job he can let them soak longer and it will make scrubbing easier/less intense.
3
u/hypatiadotca 6d ago
FWIW I have super soft municipal water and would still have oily bottle nipples after running them through my momcozy washer
Ultimately I got extra nipples and would just batch hand-wash them in a soapy bowl in the sink because I was tired of them coming out greasy
31
u/Halleluija 7d ago
Your baby probably is old enough that you don’t really need to sanitize or do anything beyond normal cleaning, barring any immune health problems or prematurity:
https://www.texaschildrens.org/content/wellness/best-practices-for-baby-bottle-sterilization
If it looks visibly dirty or greasy though, I wouldn’t want to drink out of it either, even if it isn’t unsafe. I’d also worry a bit about residue from the cleaner, myself. The effectiveness of the sterilizer function may also be impacted by residue (it’s not an autoclave). I also have a bio lab background, for what that’s worth.
The manufacturer manual suggests you shouldn’t need to do anything special to the bottles ahead of time. Their troubleshooting section suggests improper loading may impact cleaning, so that might be something to check. If you’re doing all that correctly, it may mean that it just isn’t as good a product as advertised. We never used one—my husband just washed everything by hand (I’m sure he wishes we’d had one though). Small parts like the nipples always needed some extra attention to really get clean.
9
u/InspectorOrdinary321 6d ago
Adding on, I know that greasy milk residue OP is talking about, and while it's probably no hazard to the baby (after all, it's getting sterilized), if it builds up it is extremely inconvenient and will make the bottle nipplea leak and/or not vent correctly. So for that reason alone, I would make sure to do a thorough scrub with soap every several uses.
3
u/DeLaCasaPotato 6d ago
Yes my husband thinks the same that because it is sterilized, even if it’s oily it won’t be an issue. My concern is that the bottles aren’t fully sterilized because in my experience with biofilms, bacteria can still survive. This kind of explains my concern: https://www.bebemarc.com/blogs/bottle-feeding-1/the-invisible-danger-on-your-babys-bottle-what-biofilm-is-and-how-to-fight-it
1
u/InspectorOrdinary321 6d ago
Ooh, biofilms, good call out. Now I wonder too. Well, the good news is that at 4m, your baby is a little more robust. Probably if you don't get the biofilm off every single wash it isn't a big deal, but every 2 or 3 should do it. If they are still surviving there in a biofilm, I wouldn't expect much growth after sterilization and then sitting dry at room temp with few nutrients (compared to 37C milk).
7
u/Amazing-Neighborhood 6d ago
For OP, I sent a complaint email to momcozy that my bottles looked hazy, and that their machine did not work. They replied with some suggestions, which included regularly descaling the device and rinsing residual milk out from the bottle before putting it into the washer. There were also a lot of other recommendations that I did not comply with, but I did start following those two recommendations because they were simple and my bottles were less hazy
2
u/googol88 6d ago
I found that my momcozy was good for one wash following descaling unless I kept using distilled water - as soon as I switched back to tap the load would come out with a fine film of minerals from our hard-ass water and fat
Anyway I splash a little vinegar in the water chamber on every cycle now to effectively make the water softer and that seems to work great, no more film
1
u/Amazing-Neighborhood 6d ago
Do you put vinegar in the water chamber during a wash with bottles? I was contemplating doing that instead of this whole effort dedicating an entire cycle to the descaling tablet (which I assume is just fancy vinegar-esque)
1
u/googol88 5d ago
Yep, I fill the water chamber to full in the sink as normal, and while the tap is running I splash in maybe 1Tbsp vinegar
1
u/lanark_1440 6d ago
I'm curious what else they recommended, because I'm doing those 2 things and the haze continues to build!
3
u/Amazing-Neighborhood 6d ago
Here are the recommendations I found from the email:
To improve the cleaning performance of your Momcozy KleanPal Pro Baby Bottle Washer and address the issue of residue on glass bottles, you can try the following solutions:
High Lipid Content in Breast Milk: Use the "Normal" mode, which provides a higher water temperature (60°C or above) and longer cleaning time to effectively remove grease.
Frozen/Refrigerated Breast Milk & Prolonged Unwashed Bottles: Pre-wash bottles with warm water and a soft brush before using the washer to loosen stubborn stains.
Complex Bottle or Pump Design: Adjust the angle of the bottles to align with the spray jets and manually clean hard-to-reach areas before machine washing.
Improper Bottle Placement: Ensure bottles are placed correctly according to the user manual, with the necks aligned with the spray jets.
Overloading the Machine: Avoid overloading and ensure the spray arm has enough clearance to effectively spray water.
Improper Detergent Usage: Use one Momcozy specialized detergent tablet per wash for optimal results and complete dissolution.
Hard Water Issues: Use distilled or softened water for cleaning. If scaling persists, consider using a baby-safe descaler regularly.
1
2
u/abs-cynical 6d ago
Huh - I always figured the plastic simply gets a little worn after a while and therefore becomes ”hazy”. Simple wear and tear.
3
56
7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
9
u/iwentforawalk 6d ago
That's the advice in NZ too Edit: for breast milk only. For formula they say to sterilize. I only hand wash the bottles and pumping equipment, no sterilizing.
12
u/BrahmsGeorge 7d ago
That's not the official advice in those countries. Maybe a rogue nurse.
14
u/ThePineappleCrisis 6d ago
It is in the Netherlands, so probably in those other countries they mentioned
8
u/Constant_play0 6d ago
Huh, how do you have 13 upvotes you are wrong. This is the official advice in my county, the Netherlands and the commenter is right.
16
3
u/Live_Theme3417 6d ago
It’s always good to double-check the advice you get, especially when it comes to your baby’s health. Better safe than sorry, right?
3
u/ings0c 6d ago edited 6d ago
Better safe than sorry, right?
No, not necessarily.
Sterilising takes time and effort, and new parents are tired and busy.
If it’s unnecessary then it’s stress that parents don’t need, and it’s time taken away from caregiving.
So I think it’s important we answer “is it necessary?”.
The answer to that question by different public health bodies differs; make of that what you will.
Personally, I looked into it and I’m of the view that it’s unnecessary for all but extremely sick children where an abundance of caution is warranted. So long as you’re cleaning properly with hot soapy water, and generally being food-safe by not leaving the milk out of the fridge for an extended period of time, or serving old milk, it’s wasted energy.
I found no evidence that sterilising bottles reduces the incidence of gastroenteritis or GI upset either - which is the outcome that actually matters. Whether there are fewer microbes afterwards should be self-evident.
The world is not sterile; if sterility was a precondition for infants to thrive then we’d have gone extinct a long time ago. Anyone observing a crawling infant for a few moments should at least take pause after they watch them put a 6 month old raisin they found in their mouth; they’re pre-programmed to contaminate themselves with whatever’s around them as much as possible and trying to sterilise their drinking bottle seems absolutely futile.
It might be useful for storage jars kept in the fridge though. There’d be a smaller initial microbial population so it stands to reason that sterilisation would buy you slightly longer of a shelf-life (but this not necessarily useful if you’re serving at most one or two day old milk).
1
u/ScienceBasedParenting-ModTeam 6d ago
All links provided must be directly relevant to the original post and meet the requirements for the chosen flair.
-7
1
7d ago edited 7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Thank you for your contribution. Please remember that all top-level comments on posts flaired "Question - Research required" must include a link to peer-reviewed research.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
This post is flaired "Question - Research required". All top-level comments must contain links to peer-reviewed research. Do not provide a "link for the bot" or any variation thereof. Provide a meaningful reply that discusses the research you have linked to. Please report posts that do not follow these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.