1. It’s important to keep sterilising all your baby’s bottles, soothers and feeding equipment until at least 12 months of age.  Stale milk is a particularly ripe breeding ground for bacteria and your baby will only just have started producing antibodies so is therefore still very vulnerable to infection.
2. Always refer to the manufacturers guidelines to ensure the product is safe for sterilising otherwise it could be damaged when exposed to high temperatures involved in sterilising (soft soothers be warned!)
3. Before you start to sterilise each time, be careful to wash all your baby’s bottles, teats, utensils etc in hot soapy water and then rinse well with hot water
4. There are several ways of sterilising your baby’s equipment. Electronic steamers, microwave sterilisers, cold water sterilisation using special tablets and of course the good old fashioned boiling in a pan for 10 minutes (for just in case your on holiday and have forgotten the electric lead to the base of the steriliser).
5. After your baby is 12 months, your safe to put her bowls and bottles in a hot cycle in the dishwasher instead of sterilising.  The cycle should be above 80*c to ensure the products come out clean enough for your baby’s developing immune system (don’t forget to keep your dishwasher clean as per recommended by the manufacturer).

In the study, 157 pregnant women were randomly assigned to receive the probiotic mixture or placebo for the last two weeks of pregnancy.  The infants then received the supplements for their first year of life.  The probiotic supplement contained a mixture of Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis (infantis) and Lactococcus lactis.

Results showed that parental-reported eczema was 58% lower in the intervention group, compared with placebo during the first three months of life, after which the incidence of eczema was similar between the two groups.

The researchers commented, “The results of this study suggest that primary prevention of eczema by perinatal administration of probiotic bacteria indeed involves modulation of the early colonisation of the intestinal microbiota, which may result in modulating the development and maturation of the infants’ immune system”.

Eczema is an early sign of allergy during the first few months of life and experts believe is due to delayed development of the immune system.  According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, it affects between 10 to 20% of all infants.