The Ultimate Guide to Baby Bottle Maintenance

If you’re a new parent or just new to bottle feeding, then you have likely been reading up on how to make sure your baby gets the most from each bottle. A key is regular baby bottle care and maintenance.

Clean, sterile bottles will keep your formula or milk contaminant-free, and your baby healthy and happy! Though it may seem daunting at first, baby bottle cleaning and maintenance will soon become second-nature.

After all, you were born to do this – and with helpful products from Baby Brezza, we can do wonders!

Baby Bottle Maintenance: Phase One – Clean Everything

The first and most obvious step is that every part of the bottle needs a good old-fashioned cleaning. Break out the soapsuds and get to work scrubbing the bottle.

If you’re using a traditional bottle, you’ll need to wash the nipple, ring, bottle, and cap. 

Can You Just Rinse Baby Bottles Before Sterilizing?

Just rinsing bottles before you sterilize them is not enough to properly clean them. Give careful attention to scrubbing away old formula or milk from the soft inside of the nipple, or the rings of the bottle where the nipple attaches. You may find it helpful to squeeze soapy water through the nipple for a thorough cleaning.

How Do You Deep Clean Baby Bottles?

A bottlebrush and soap is an effective way to make sure that you’ve cleaned every crevice of a tall bottle.

Without a tool like a bottle brush, or something similar, a dishwasher is how to properly clean baby bottles. First rinse out any residue. Then place each individual section of the bottle into the dishwasher separately (bottle, cap, nipple, rim, etc). Parts will not get cleaned effectively if they’re placed in the dishwasher together, and may build up with bacteria or mold. Finally, run the dishwasher without any other objects to make sure bacteria from dishes or cutlery isn’t transfered to the bottles. After washing your baby bottles, place them into a tool like the Baby Brezza Sterilizer Dryer Advanced to disinfect and dry the bottles completely. This is the best way for a deep clean that also kills 99% of germs.

Alternatively, our new Bottle Washer Pro washes, sterilizes, and dries baby bottles! 20 high-pressure spray jets and baby safe detergent effectively cleans bottles, steam kills 99.9% of germs, and HEPA-filtered hot air dries them completely. 

Do You Need Special Soap for Baby Bottles?

Although some dish soaps can be used to clean baby bottles, it is best to use a safe and gentle baby dish soap that doesn't contain harsh chemicals. This is because most conventional dish soaps are full of harmful ingredients that can leave traces behind on your baby bottles and parts.

Baby Bottle Maintenance: Phase Two – Sanitize

Removing any trace of past feedings is an essential part of baby bottle maintenance, but sanitizing the bottles is important as well. Without the use of a baby bottle sanitizer, you’ll find yourself concerned with keeping the bottles in a sanitized state from cleaning to feeding.

Airborne contaminants can dirty your clean bottles, and some baby bottle maintenance guides even mention using sanitized tongs to handle the sterilized bottles once you’ve finished hand washing them.

​​What Is the Safest Way to Sterilize Baby Bottles?

The best way to ensure that your bottles are effectively sanitized is by using a specialized baby bottle sterilizer. We like to do things the simple way, and no doubt you do too. That’s we developed the One Step Sterilizer Dryer. This easy-to-use machine takes care of four important aspects of baby bottle maintenance in one handy device.

Simply place your cleaned baby bottles with nipples into the sterilizer and choose from Sterilize, Sterilize and Dry, or Dry Only modes. The sterilization process is super fast - it only takes 8 minutes to have a rack full of clean, sterilized bottles ready for use.

But most sterilizers leave you with wet, dripping bottles. The Baby Brezza One Step Sterilizer Dryer will also dry your freshly sterilized bottles, with a 30, 40, or 60-minute drying cycle.

Once the bottles have been sterilized and dried, you can leave them on the rack without opening the lid and they’ll remain sterile for up to 24 hours.

Maintenance Tips for Baby Bottles and Accessories

Proper maintenance extends the life of your baby bottles and ensures safety for your baby:

1. Regularly inspect bottles and nipples for signs of wear and tear, such as cracks, and replace them as needed.
2. Use a designated brush for cleaning bottle nipples, as they can be challenging to clean thoroughly.
3. Avoid using harsh detergents and opt for mild, fragrance-free dish soap to prevent irritation to your baby's sensitive system​

How to Deodorize Baby Bottles

Over time, baby bottles can develop residual odors that regular cleaning might not remove. To deodorize baby bottles:

1. Shake hot water and a tablespoon of white vinegar inside the bottle.
2. Clean the bottle using your regular cleaning process.
3. Rinse thoroughly to ensure all vinegar is removed. This method helps in removing any lingering smells and keeps the bottles fresh

Handling and Preparing Baby Bottles

When preparing baby bottles, it’s important to follow these steps to ensure safety:

1. Always wash your hands before handling bottles.
2. Use filtered tap water or bottled water as recommended by your pediatrician for mixing formula.
3. Avoid shaking the bottle vigorously to mix formula as it can create air bubbles; instead, swirl or gently stir to blend​(Dr. Brown's Baby).

You Can Master Baby Bottle Maintenance!

In the beginning, you may feel like you’re constantly making bottles, cleaning bottles, and sanitizing bottles. But over time, you’ll master the routine of baby bottle maintenance.

As parents, we know that the right tools make the difference. Invest in easy-to-use and easy-to-clean baby bottle cleaning equipment – like our wide-mouth, two-part baby bottles and a One Step Sterilizer Dryer or Superfast Sterilizer Dryer that only takes 10 minutes to disinfect and dry bottles.

If you do, you’ll cut down on your baby bottle maintenance routine and have more time to spend on capturing those special baby moments!