Keeping those Baby Bottles Clean

One of the BEST tips we learned in the NICU with our girls was to soak our baby bottles in warm dish soap immediately after we fed the girls breast milk, formula, or whole milk.  This way the milk (especially formula) doesn't get stuck on the bottles and become hard to clean from drying-up.  Also, this process helped reduce the 'odor' that spoiled milk starts to release in the air.  For the past 17 months we've had our 'blue bucket' in the right side of our sink to soak our bottle pieces.  I'm so used to this process I even use it for our sippy cups.  The tip for today is to use a soaking bucket for those bottle pieces and even pumping pieces to make cleaning that milk off easier...once you have time.  There was no way I had time to clean each bottle right after we used it and with the Dr. Brown bottles (that we love) there were too many pieces to deal with right away.  We've found this soaking method to work the best.  For now, we're used to the bottles drying on our kitchen counter and although its not the prettiest site, its the most practical for us to have quick access to the clean pieces when the girls are screaming in hunger.  Also, check-out your dishwasher and see if there is a sanitizing rinse.  We do use the dishwasher to sanitize our bottle pieces.  There's only so much hand washing a gal can do!  Give it a try and let us know if you have any questions.

Clean that Kitchen Sponge!

Do you use your kitchen sponge to clean-up everything like I do!?  Whelp, Family Circle magazine just said the best way to sanitize that sponge is to get it damp then microwave for 2 minutes!  I was putting ours in the dishwasher but microwaving sounds so much easier AND it kills the bacteria better!  Never thought of this idea but it sounds great!  With the kids running around and getting into anything already I'll get rid of as much bacteria in the house as I can!  Also, make sure you use a new sponge every 2-4 weeks.