How to Use Baby Bottle Sterilizers

Introduction
If you are using bottles to feed your baby, whether with expressed milk or formula, you should ensure that each piece of the bottle is sterile. Sterilization means thoroughly decontaminated each piece of the bottle, including the nipple, nipple ring and cap.

While you can drop the parts in boiling water to sterilize them, or use cold sterilization techniques, a baby bottle sterilizer makes it easier and more efficient. Baby bottle sterilizers need to be used correctly, though, to ensure that proper sterilization occurs.

Steam Sterilizers
Step 1
Place the unit near an electrical outlet. Add the manufacturer's recommended amount of water. Plugin the unit.

Step 2
Place the bottle upside down (use the prongs to support them individually). Most units allow up to six bottles to be sterilized simultaneously. Place the nipples, nipple rings and caps so that they do not touch each other. Either prop them between the lower prongs, or place them on the supplied surface.

Step 3
Put the cover on items that are sterilized and turn on the unit. Sterilization typically takes about 10 minutes with an automatic cycle that raises water temperature to a sufficient level to kill off any bacteria (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Once this cycle ends, the unit automatically begins to cool. Many units do not allow you to open the cover until the cooling cycle is completed

Microwave Sterilizers
Step 1
Make sure your bottles and food sources (nipples, nipple rings and caps) is the safe in the microwave before using this method of sterilization. The items need to be specifically labeled "microwave safe" or they may melt in the microwave.

Step 2
Put bottles and feeding equipment on the tray provided. Use the prongs to place the bottles upside-down. Separate nipples, nipple rings and caps so they are not touching one another. Most units can sterilize up to four bottles and accessories at one time.

Step 3
Add the manufacturer's recommended amount of water and put the unit fully charged, in the microwave.

Step 4
Close the microwave door and set the timer to the amount recommended by the manufacturer. Most microwave baby bottle sterilizers require about eight minutes to sterilize enough bottles and food items, although the time depends on the model of the microwave.

Step 5
Let the bottles cool off before removing them from the microwave to avoid burning your fingers. Depending on the model of bottle and the power of your microwave, it could take up to two minutes for the bottles to cool off sufficiently.

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Multi-Functional Baby Bottle Systems

Bottle feeding systems include all the accessories for feeding your baby including and addresses all the particular feeding needs of your baby. Most baby bottles are specifically designed to solve one nursing challenge. For example, milk bubbles, gagging and leaking are the most common feeding problems which nursing mothers encounter.

Newborn baby feeding requirements are the biggest ongoing challenge that nursing moms worry about. Until recently, most changes to baby bottle systems have focused on goal to the find the most efficient baby feeding experience. Bottle systems depends on your baby's nursing style. Some babies suck quickly and want bigger holes for faster milk flow. Other babies would enjoy little drops through small holes. The use of bottle systems is a personal choice and is highly dependent on the need of the baby. Mothers should know when and how to use these bottle systems to created great feeding experience for the baby.

The most recent baby bottle nurser is built with a liner system inserted to ensure sterility of milk inside the bottle. Most ordinary bottles are just built to attach the nipple taking for granted incidence of bubbling and leakage or even sanitation. Modern baby bottles are especially designed with an elongated thread at the uppermost portion to make the bottle compatible with a sub-system that was proven to be effective ion reducing the incidence of bubbling in infant formula. The bottle is further designed to contain a chamber at the bottom configured to especially accommodate pacifiers yet can be alternatively covered by a dummy cap.

Many baby bottle systems have adapted to the call of technological advancement to the extent that bottle bottoms are built with vibration and program player. The program player is intricately created to contain a memory device with music or voice recording which can be used to entertain babies and teach infants different sounds. The vibratory system can act as a playing device. This only proves how nurses have come to welcome most of technology's benefits that babies will enjoy.  Moreover, baby bottles are usually held to detect if temperature is low enough for the child. With the current baby bottle nurser offered in the market today, a heat sensor was incorporated showing a display of temperature before handing it to the baby.

Baby feeding is a complexity of the mother's desires and the baby's needs. Whether to use this modern system or not is never a question when it comes to addressing your baby's concerns. If the traditional baby bottle can not answer the needs of your babies, then it is time that you opt for the most advanced baby bottle systems. Choosing the right baby bottle is a trial and error strategy. Buy one and let it experiment on your baby's preference. If it does not work, buy another and so on and so forth until you find the one that really suits your child.

When the need is critical, when the urge is indispensable, the use of baby bottle systems is advisable to people who can afford to buy one. There is nothing really wrong with aiming all the comfort and security possible for your child. However, remember that complexities and advancements entail greater efforts on your part before totally acquiring its benefits. With the many comforts of the new bottle system, be ready with its maintenance too.

To find a more detailed account of current baby bottle systems and baby bottle nursers can be found at Aha! Baby.

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Green Cleaning, Green Living and Growing Green Children

So what do you need if you want to have a more environmentally friendly baby (by which I mean that you want to raise and care for your child in a more environmentally friendly way, rather than having a child that is innately eco-minded)?  People love handing out lists of what you'll need when you go to antenatal classes.  But what about a green list?  This is just a start.

* Cloth nappies.  Get at least two dozen.  Your choice as to whether you're going to use the old-fashioned square sort or the newer ready-shaped sort.  Folding the square sort isn't as hard as you think.  If you can fold a letter to put in an envelope, wrap a parcel or make a paper plane, you can fold a nappy.

* Safety pins.  For fastening the square-style cloth nappies around the baby.

* Lots of flannels – use a damp flannel instead of disposable baby wipes.

* Huge bucket with lid – for soaking dirty nappies and flannels.

* Breast pump – if you want to share the feeding duties.

* Bottles for feeding – also if you want to share the feeding duties.  You can sterilize these in boiling water or by washing in the dishwasher.  If you don't want to share feeding duties, you won't need bottles and all the associated paraphernalia.

* Second-hand clothing or else good quality clothing that you plan on passing on to a friend or family member, the nearest charity store or to a younger child.  This cuts down on landfill waste, both in the form of old clothes and in packaging on new clothes.

* A food processor.  You weren't going to buy baby food, were you?  Instead of buying oodles of little tins and glass jars (which are recyclable, admittedly, and you can re-use the small jars for spices), you can use ordinary fruit and veg as first food for your baby.  Potato, pumpkin, banana and sweet potato are all suitable first foods, and they mash up a treat.  Bananas are also portable.  If you can get hold of organic fruit and veg, all the better.  A farmers' market may be a good source of locally grown and organic fruit and veg that are suitable, such as potatoes, carrots and apples.   Blend one or several in the food processor, either raw (in the case of bananas) or cooked (for everything else) to make a smooth puree.  You can freeze home-made baby food in regular ice cube trays.

* Cornstarch.  This is safer than talcum powder for your baby's skin, but still stops chafing.

* Decent-sized pushchair.  You are going to walk instead of driving everywhere, aren't you?  This is great exercise for you and gives you more chance to interact with your baby as you get about.

* A potty.  The sooner you can get them out of nappies, the better.  Less washing for you therefore less work for your house cleaner.

* More thick bathmats.  Who needs a plastic-backed changing mat when you can use a thick bathmat that will then be used as a bathmat once the baby is well out of nappies.  Change the baby on the bathmat on the floor – they can't roll off the floor and you won't need a big changing table.

Cutting down on packaging and waste is an important part of sustainability and living green.  Buying second-hand items helps here.  However, some items should always be bought new, such as cot mattresses (old ones may give off dubious and harmful gases), car safety seats and soft toys.  If you must, you can buy soft toys second hand, but give them a thorough wash first to make sure no germs or residues of steam cleaning fluid remain on them.  But potties, baby baths, toilet seats, changing tables (if you must), backpacks and the like can all be obtained second-hand as part of the great recycling chain of society.

Nick Vassilev is the founder of a successful carpet cleaning London and domestic cleaning London business, delivering quality cleaning services to thousands of clients.

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Cichlid Breeding

Cichlid Breeding

Cichlid breeding systems and Cichlid care it is time to pick a Cichlid to breed if you haven't already. Which to choose really comes down to preference and limitations. Cichlid breeding can be quite costly for some Cichlids, requiring much more than others, such as tank size, water conditions and other equipment, but most of all skill and effort.

For your first attempt at Cichlid breeding I would suggest starting with something that can be kept and bred easily. A fish as delicate as the Discus fish, for example, isn't a great choice to start out with as it can be quite overwhelming to someone inexperienced. Convict Cichlids are a great fish to start with, as they are very easy to breed, hardy and only grow to be around four inches, so tank requirements are not too demanding. German Blue Rams, Kribensis and even freshwater Angelfish are also not too difficult to breed for someone already experienced in keeping fish.

Once you have chosen your Cichlid you will need to actually get the fish. You can get them at your local pet store, through a fish breeder or order them online. Personally I was quite skeptical of buying fish online myself, but over the last few years I have ordered plants and fish from several sites and other breeders with nothing but great results. Recently I bought a large school of Gold Tetras for my 20 gallon planted tank from LiveAquaria.com, all came in great condition. Buying online is a great option when you can't find the fish locally or if you are like me and live around sub-par pet stores that don't care for their fish.

While it varies for each species, in general when buying the fish it is helpful to get several females for each male, as this way the male's bullying does not get restricted to just one female. Otherwise, this could cause stress among the weaker fish and for Cichlid breeding it is essential that your Cichlids are not stressed.

Sexing Fish:

Determining the sex of a fish is quite an important step in Cichlid breeding. Most fish can be classified as either sexually dimorphic or isomorphic. In sexually dimorphic species, the sex can be easily distinguished by primary (shape of sex organs) and secondary differences (size, color, shape, finnage). Males are usually larger and have more elaborate color and finnage. While in sexually isomorphic species there are little, if any, apparent sexual differences. Often, the only way to distinguish between the sexes is the shape of the genital papilla, which is only visible around spawning times. In some isomorphic species, the males are slightly larger and the females are slightly rounder in the belly.

While it is difficult to sex isomorphic Cichlids, it can be done with experience. This pays off quite well as it will limit the amount of fish needed. One can buy as many males and females as needed instead of buying a group large in hopes of getting a good ratio. Obviously in dimorphic species this is much easier, though it still may take a bit of experience with the fish to know what to look for.

Once males and females have been distinguished, a suitable pair or spawning group will either develop or can be chosen, depending on the species. There are several important traits to seek in choosing the parent fish, one being to choose fish that display the most vibrant colors and markings, thus producing the most attractive young. Also, only use healthy and mature fish for Cichlid breeding as unhealthy fish, if they will spawn, may produce unhealthy or deformed young

Be sure that the pair is compatible, many species cannot simply just be put together in a Cichlid breeding tank and be expected to produce young. In fact with many Cichlids, pairs form only after a group has been raised together for months, if not years. In certain species, one partner will bully the other to death if they do not develop a "bond". Some species can be bred to produce hybrids, though most are sterile and some even have health complications, which will be discussed shortly.

Raising the Fry:

When the eggs hatch, the fry that emerge look nothing like the parent fish. Usually they have a large yellow yolk sac and are barely able to move, let alone swim. The fry will feed off the egg sac until all the yolk is gone, then they will begin to look for food. Several Cichlids including Discus fish and Uaru species are noted to feed their young with a skin secretion from mucous glands.

At first fry can be fed very small foods like Frozen Daphnia, Hikari First Bites, liquid fry food and Baby Brine Shrimp. Baby Brine Shrimp play an important role in Cichlid breeding, as they are the main food used to feed fry of most Cichlids. There is frozen Baby Brine Shrimp, instant Baby Brine Shrimp and of course hatching your own, which I am a huge advocate of. You can buy a hatchery kit or build your own (which we'll show you in a future article) using a 2 liter bottle, an air pump, airline tubing, aquarium salt, Brine Shrimp eggs, Brine Shrimp net and Brine Shrimp food. Once the fish grow larger they can eat chopped Tubifex Worms, mini Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp and small flakes. The fry should be fed several times a day.

Around 25-50% of the water in the Cichlid breeding tank should be changed daily according to the species. Be sure that the "new" water added has characteristics like the water taken out, because fry are quite sensitive to sudden changes in the water chemistry. Many species need periodic sorting by size, so that larger fish do not cannibalize smaller fish. The fry will grow rapidly with good water conditions and frequent feeding with a good diet. It is best to cull unhealthy and deformed fish.

Selling the offspring is a normal part of the hobby, usually so many Cichlids are bred that you have to just to make room for the next few spawns. There are many ways you can sell your Cichlids, you can sell or trade them to other Cichlid breeders, sell them to pet stores, or sell directly to hobbyists both online and offline. However, don't expect to get rich off of this, usually it is just enough to cover cost of keeping the fish, if even that. For example, one of the easiest Cichlids to start with is the Convict Cichlid as I mentioned earlier, but since they are indeed so easy to raise they are quite common, thus you won't make much money off of them and it may even be hard to find buyers in some areas.

Hybrid Cichlids and Selective Cichlid Breeding

Some Cichlids have been found to hybridize with closely related species quite readily, both in the wild and under selective Cichlid breeding. Perhaps the most ubiquitous aquarium hybrid is the Blood Parrot Cichlid, which is a cross of several American Cichlid species. With a beak-shaped mouth, an abnormal spine and an occasionally missing caudal fin, the fish has caused controversy among aquarium enthusiasts with some even calling the Blood Parrot the "Frankenstein" of Cichlid breeding.

Another notable hybrid, the Flower Horn Cichlid, was very popular in some parts of Asia from 2001 until late 2003 and is believed to bring good luck to its owner. The popularity of the Flower Horn Cichlid declined in 2004, resulting in many Flower Horn Cichlids being released into the rivers and canals of Malaysia and Singapore where they pose a threat to native animal communities.

Numerous Cichlid species have also been the subject of selective Cichlid breeding to develop new ornamental strains for the aquarium trade. The most intensive selective Cichlid breeding programs have involved freshwater Angelfish and Discus fish and many mutations that effect both coloration and finnage are known, one of my favorite examples is the Smokey Leopard Angelfish. Many other Cichlids have been selectively bred for albino mutations, resulting in fish like Albino Oscar fish, Albino Angelfish, Albino Kribensis, Albino Peacock Cichlid, Albino Brichardi and Pink Convict Cichlid.

However, these efforts at selective Cichlid breeding may have unintended consequences. For example, some selectively bred strains of German Blue Rams known as German Gold Rams have health and fertility problems. Similarly, the inbreeding involved in selective Cichlid breeding programs can cause severe physical abnormalities such as the notched phenotype in freshwater Angelfish. Which is why it is common in Cichlid breeding for breeders to trade fish to keep the gene pool fresh.

I'm a fish breeder. Want to know more about Cichlid breeding? Visit my Cichlid breeding website.

View this post on my blog: http://www.newbabybottlesterilize.com/cichlid-breeding.html

Easy way to Sterilize Baby Bottles

[tags baby bottle sterilizer,how to sterilize bottles,boiling bottles to sterilize,newborn bottle,the baby bottle,baby bottle feeding]
[category Sterilizing Baby Bottles]

With new disposable liners and silicone nipples that wash clean for babies, many parents are choosing not to sterilize baby bottles. However, if you live in an area where your water supply is non-chlorinated, your infant's doctor may recommend that you purchase a sterilizer for baby bottles, nipples and implements for the first few months of your child's life

Wash the baby bottle and nipple first. As soon as possible after your baby finishes drinking her baby formula, rinse her bottle with warm water or just let it soak. Even though the sterilization process will kill bacteria, it may not remove dried formula from creases in the bottle or nipple.

Select the hottest cycle on your dishwasher and choose the drying option. The heat generated during the drying cycle acts as a sterilizer. If yours does not have an upper rack with its own water source just below, choose a different option for cleaning baby bottles.

Put the bottles and nipples in the bottom of a deep pot, making an expensive sterilizer and cover them with water. Place a lid on the pot and bring it to a boil. Allow the bottles to simmer for twenty minutes before removing with tongs and draining on a clean towel. If your bottles are glass, place a washcloth underneath them in the pot to prevent breakage.

Purchase a stove top sterilizer that uses a rack to hold baby bottles and nipples and proceed to sterilize them as directed in Step 3.

Use an electric sterilizer, designed specifically to hold one or more bottles. One of the advantages with this method is the ability to take the sterilizer with you when you travel.

Sterilize the baby bottles and nipples in the microwave if you have a sterilizer designed for that purpose. (See Resources.)

How To Sterilize Baby Bottles

[tags baby bottle sterilizer,baby bottles sterilizer,sterilizing baby bottles,sterilizing bottles,sterilization baby bottles]
[category Sterilizing Baby Bottles]

Everything that is used to feed that baby must be washed and sterilized thoroughly before and after use. Normal cleaning process doesnt remove the bacteria from the milk, thereby, making the baby prone to infectious diseases. Sterilizing baby bottles is a must, if you want to ensure good health for your baby. The milk bottle is to be sterilized after it has been cleaned thoroughly. Electric and microwave sterilizing are the modern methods of sterilizing baby bottles, while boiling and cold water sterilizing are the traditional ones, which can be taken recourse to when you don� have access to electricity. Read on to know the different ways of sterilizing baby bottles.

Steam sterilizing
Electric steam sterilizing method is similar to what is used in hospitals. This takes about eight to twelve minutes, excluding cooling time. This process is efficient and doesn't take long. You must use only those parts that are safe to boil. Bottles and nipples should be placed upside down to ensure proper sterilization. If you are using a microwave, you will have to buy a steamer for it. Do not place any metal parts inside the microwave. Sterilization in a microwave will take five to eight minutes plus cooling time. Remove the lid of the steamer very carefully as the interior becomes extremely hot. The greatest advantage of using this method of sterilization is that there is no smell or taste. If kept closed, the items remain sterile for three hours.

Cold water sterilization
Tablets used for this method are available in the market. Dissolve them in the prescribed amount of water. This will form a solution that is effective against bacteria. These tablets are safe and will not have any side effects, even if swallowed. You can buy a sterilizing unit for this or buy a bucket with a lid, which is used for this purpose alone. You must ensure that the bottles are completely submerged in the solution. For complete sterilization, make sure that there are no air bubbles in the bottles. Sterilization should be complete in half an hour, but it is safe to leave items in the solution for 24 hours. Fresh solution must be made every day. Make sure to wash your hands before removing the sterilized equipment. Fill the bottles with milk and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Keep bottles in the main part of fridge, as it is colder than the door. Keep away from raw food.

Boiling
Boiling is another method of sterilizing baby bottles. All the bottle-feeding items need to be boiled for a minimum of 10 minutes. You must have a separate pan, only for the purpose of boiling these items. Some items like nipples or teats will have to be replaced more often if you use this method, as they get sticky.

Microwavable bottles
These bottles can be sterilized on their own in the microwave. A single bottle takes 90 seconds to get sterilized. While microwaving, the bottles must be kept open, so that the heat directly reaches inside.

2011-02-14

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