Bottle feeding: an introduction
Most mothers offer a bottle feed to their baby at some time. Even those who breast feed may use bottles and teats for expressed milk.Bottles and teats must be scrupulously clean. It is best to reserve a bottle brush solely for the use of cleaning baby's bottles, and the teat should be turned inside out when it is washed to make sure it is clean. Then they should be sterilised thoroughly. There are several methods of achieving this such as the chemical method (immersing the equipment in water which has been chemically treated by tablet or liquid), the electric method (with a steam steriliser) or the microwave method (using a special steriliser). All these methods work well as long as the instructions are followed. For instance, do not sterilise bottles in the microwave without a special steriliser, as there may be cold spots that are not properly sterile. Make sure you store sterilising liquids, powders and tablets away from children.
