I believe sterilisation has to do with killing the bacteria in the water. If your water comes from the mains (Thames Water) it has already been treated against most forms of nasty bacteria, and if you clean thoroughly, and you dry all the equipment well, there should not be a reason to sterilise at all I've read. That said, I sterilised the bottles for the first 5 months, and my child has never had a case of v&d ever. If your water comes from a tank or a well you need to sterilise until you are happy with his/her resilience to fight a potential killer like e coli.
I hope this helps.

the day I caught him eating a slug in the garden

ps. of course you would want to make sure the equipment was washed in hot water and clean and dry before you used it.

I was also under the impression that as milk (formula) could attract bacteria it was wise to sterilise until 12 months. However, an independant breastfeeding counsellor told me that it wasn't necessary to sterilise breastpumps or any bottles solely used for breastmilk as the antibodies in breastmilk 'sterilised' / killed off harmful bacteria in the equipment. I stopped sterilising my pump and kept some bottles specifically for b/milk and my LO has been fine since about 4 weeks.

12 months for my three children but I had a discussion recently with a cousin pharmacist and mother of six, and apparently doctors' recommendations have changed now and it is not necessary to sterilise anymore as long as you wash the bottle and teat thouroughly. Of well, I'll still sterilise until 12 months for my fourth...

I stopped quite late compared to everyone else it seems!

I read somewhere that it isnt about germs as such (so the fact that they're putting everything in their mouth isn't relevent) but because milk products can contain harmful bacteria if not cleaned thoroughly and therefore bottle teats should be sterilised for as long as you use formula milk.

Therefore, I sterilised until I gave up formula at around 16 months.

I have never sterilised anything. They are as healthy as any other children.

6 months for the first child, 5 months for the second. by that time, he was happy grabbing anything he could pop in his mouth, so we didn't much see the point. he's been fine.

You can stop sterilising at 6 months, it is generally when they begin to start weaning as you often don't sterilise bowls spoons etc and babies are putting unsterilised toys etc int heir mouths anyway

Many thanks everyone. Very helpful!

I didn't sterilise at all this time - mainly because my little monkey wouldn't take a bottle so by the time she did, she was already crawling round. I stopped just before a year with my older daughter. Both went onto cows milk the week they turned one. Going off on a tangent now! I do often just run the teats under some boiling water for a few seconds but I probably don't need to now!

HI,
I stopped just after 6 months but I think the previous post is the best indicator. My daughter started to crawl very early and putting everything in sight in her mouth by that age so sterilising stopped making sense. Hope this helps.

I think as a guide its usually when they are crawling well around 9 mths as everything (i.e playgroup toys) get mouthed anyway but i continue sterillising for my charges till 12 mths just to be on safe side

Normally when the baby is 12 months old

I'm curious when people stop sterilising bottles, breast pump equipment, etc. We have been using cold sterilisation all along, cleaning the bottles etc. with soapy water before sterilising. I'm not keen on the dishwasher route; I expect it's fine but prefer not to have such hot water on anything plastic. I'm guessing we should sterilise until we stop using bottles and the breast pump but really have no clue!

Thanks!