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Do you need to sterilise baby bottles? What the NHS says, and what we did

The NHS website says it is important to sterilise all your baby's feeding equipment, including bottles and teats, until they are at least 12 months old, to protect against infections, in particular diarrhoea and vomiting.[1]

By Tom, a dad of two in Kent. Published 3 October 2026. NHS pages last checked 3 October 2026.

How this page works. Every health fact here comes from the NHS website and links to the page it came from, with that page's review date. The "In our house" box is our own experience. Nothing here is advice. For advice, go to the NHS page, your health visitor, or your GP.

Before sterilising: cleaning

The NHS page says to do this before sterilising:[1]

  • Clean bottles, teats, and other feeding equipment in hot, soapy water as soon as possible after feeds.[1]
  • Use a clean bottle brush that you only use for bottles, and a small teat brush for the inside of teats. You can also turn teats inside out and wash them in hot soapy water.[1]
  • Do not use salt to clean teats. The NHS says this can be dangerous for your baby.[1]
  • Rinse all the equipment in clean, cold running water before sterilising.[1]
  • The dishwasher cleans feeding equipment but does not sterilise it, the NHS says. Bottles, lids, and teats should face downwards, and you may prefer to wash teats separately by hand.[1]

The three methods the NHS lists

For each method, the NHS page gives these points:[1]

Cold water sterilising solution

  • Follow the manufacturer's instructions.[1]
  • Leave the equipment in the solution for at least 30 minutes, and change the solution every 24 hours.[1]
  • Make sure no air bubbles are trapped in the bottles or teats. The steriliser should have a floating cover or a plunger to keep everything under the solution.[1]

Steam sterilising (electric steriliser or microwave)

  • Follow the manufacturer's instructions, because there are several different types of steriliser.[1]

Boiling

  • Check the items are safe to boil, then boil them in a large pan of water for at least 10 minutes, making sure they all stay under the surface.[1]
  • Set a timer so you do not forget to turn the heat off.[1]
  • Teats tend to get damaged faster with this method, so check teats and bottles regularly for tears, cracks, or damage.[1]

After sterilising

After sterilising, the NHS page says:[1]

  • It is best to leave bottles and teats in the steriliser or pan until you need them.[1]
  • If you do take them out, put the teats and lids on the bottles straight away.[1]
  • Wash and dry your hands before handling sterilised equipment, or better still use sterile tongs.[1]
  • Assemble the bottles on a clean, disinfected surface or the upturned lid of the steriliser.[1]

In our house

We used a Tommee Tippee UV steriliser for our bottles, and we kept sterilising until each of our children turned one. We also sterilised our children's dummies, either in the UV steriliser or in the microwave. Our MAM dummies can be sterilised in their box in the microwave. We tried to limit how much our children had them: they were comforters and occasionally pacifiers, never just for when they were bored. That last part is our opinion, not advice. The NHS page lists three methods: cold water solution, steam, and boiling. A UV steriliser is not one of the three it lists. We are sharing what we used, not recommending it, and the NHS page is the place to check methods.

If you are worried

This page is a summary of NHS information plus our own experience. It is not medical advice. The NHS has a page on diarrhoea and vomiting, and you can speak to your health visitor or GP, or use NHS 111.

Sources

  1. NHS website: Sterilising baby bottles. Page last reviewed 24 February 2023; next review due 24 February 2026 (that date has passed); page last updated by the NHS on 9 March 2023. I checked it on 3 October 2026.

The NHS lists a next review date that has passed for: Sterilising baby bottles. The page may have been updated since, so check the live page.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This page summarises NHS website content in our own words, and an adaptation may not carry the NHS's formal clinical approval. Tiny Tummies is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NHS.

About the author

I am Tom, a dad of two in Kent. When I wrote this, our children were 3 years 9 months and 16 months old. I am not a clinician, and nothing here is medical advice. I also built Tiny Tummies, a baby feeding tracker. I use AI tools to help draft these pages. Every health fact is checked against the NHS page it links to, and the "In our house" boxes are what my wife and I actually did.