# Bacteria and sterlilizing baby bottles
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacteria-and-sterlilizing-baby-bottles/550058
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 12, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacteria-and-sterlilizing-baby-bottles/550058 "2010-08-12T17:10:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacteria-and-sterlilizing-baby-bottles/550058/21 "2010-08-14T00:28:56Z")
Yeah, OK, we’re all on the “let’s not go overboard with the sterilization” bandwagon, with which I generally agree. But keep in mind it takes a month or two for your baby’s immune system to really kick in. Save the “let’s toughen him up” mentality for a little while, and just play it safe for the first bit of life.
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### Author:  [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacteria-and-sterlilizing-baby-bottles/550058/22 "2010-08-14T00:40:26Z")
My mom said that when my oldest brother was born, their first, they sterilized everything he touched. They stopped when he was six months old and just tossed everything in the dishwasher. When my youngest sister was born, their seventh and last, they threw everything in the dishwasher, but only blew off the obvious dog hair on her pacifier before popping it back in her mouth when she was six months old.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacteria-and-sterlilizing-baby-bottles/550058/23 "2010-08-14T01:39:17Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#):
>
> You’ll find as the baby gets older the amount of time you feel like spending to sterilize bottles drops significantly.
>
> Toward the end we were (almost) saying, “Yeah. . . that looks clean enough. . .”
It is sort of a joke between myself and the mother of my 6 goddaughters..
first child - you sterilize everything they come into contact with
second child - they drop the pacifier, you wash it with soap and water
third child you rinse it off
fourth child you wipe it off on your jeans
5th child you hand it back to them
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