Sterilizer Question - Do bottles come out dry or wet?

[Elizasmom]

I am debating whether to pump into bottles or bags when I return to work. If I decide to pump into bottles, I'll want them to be sterile and I don't want to have to air dry them - since bacteria would get inside. Here's my question - with sterilizers do the bottles and nipples come out wet or with condensation or are they hot and dry? Perhaps it depends on the sterilizer?? Can anyone suggest a good one that leaves bottles dry?

[sdbc]

As far as I know, they all rely on steam, and they all come out wet. If you didn't want to air dry them, you could just pump into them wet.

Just for your own peace of mind, though, it really isn't necessary to sterilize the bottles. Just get them really clean. You cannot protect your little one from bacteria all together. Just wait until s/he is crawling all over the floor, then putting her hands in her mouth. You just do the best you can.

[Emmas Mom]

I agree w/PP, we didn't find them necessary either. That being said I went through two of them before I realized it. They both left everything wet. Sorry I can't even remember the two (I think one was the Avent one??), both were from BRU though. After the initial boiling we just used the dishwasher or hot, soapy dishwater.

[ellies mom]

You may want to consider bags because the sterilizer I looked at (Avent) said the bottles only remained sterile for three hours. I decided it wasn't really worth it.

[californiamom]

I believe this is perfectly normal: no sterilizer will keep the bottles or pump parts sterilized forever, only for a few hours and if you keep it closed because of airborne germs and bacteria.

I have the Avent sterilizer and really like it.

Ana

[bigsis]

The bottles come out wet. I used to be so anal about it and air-dry the bottles and used to dry it until there was not one drop of water before pumping into them. I now know I wasted sooooo much time and energy doing that. So 10 months of doing that and I just started pumping into clean, but wet bottles.

If you can pump into bags, I say go for it! Less bottles to clean. I just didn't know that was possible. I could have saved even more time. Please post how you're able to do that. Hopefully I can do it with the next baby. :) HTH!

[Elizasmom]

I never did sterilize my daughter's bottles - just used the dishwasher. However, for storing milk over several months I think I would want to pump into something more clean and dry. Based on what you have all told me, I think I'll just stick with bags.

To answer the question about pumping into bags - I used bags with an attached wire closure (Bailey Medical sells them). The wire closures will bend securely around the "horns" of the Medela Pump in Style, and then you just pump right into the bags. It was very easy and convenient. I believe someone using disposable liners could use the Bailey bags instead rather than transfering milk, which is what I intend to do this time. These bags are expensive compared to bottle liners because they are much thicker and suitable for freezing milk long-term. In theory, you could attach any bag to the Medela with wire bag ties, but you'd have to worry about them slipping off. Medela also sells their own brand of bags, but the wire is not attached. You have to thread the wire through some holes first - what a pain! Playtex also sells a kit that enables pumping directly into their drop-in liners.