Like any preganant woman, I was all prepared. I had endless bags of clothes, some new, some second hand, hundreds of nappies in and a cupboard full of wipes. I had planned to breastfeed my son but had bottles and a microwave steraliser ready for when I wanted to express milk.
My son was born just 2 days late, and I successfully breastfed for the first 5 days of this life. Over a few hours pains, like afterpains, gradually got worse. It came to the point where I was bent over in agony – begging my boyfriend to help me. An ambulance was called but with the bad weather conditions – a foot of snow outside my house – it took a while to get to me. It felt like a lifetime.
As I lay in pain, a million things went through my head, my worst fear was that something hadnt came out of me and they would have to
cut me open. You see on the morning on my sons birth, I woke covered in blood and was rushed to hospital. They suspected a ruptured placenta but as his heartbeat was still healthy, they broke my waters and allowed me to continue with a natural birth. With everything spinning in my head, my son, the pain, paramedics asking endless questions I just wanted everything to be over.. After spending a few hours in hospital I was told I had a Womb Infection and I should be kept in, I begged the Doctor to let me home and she finally agreed on the condition that I took the antibiotics and pain relief pills and if I hadnt felt any better within 24hours to go straight back to hospital. The only downside to going home with the pills was that I would be unable to breastfeed. I felt like a failure even though I had no choice but to put my son onto formula.
After a few days I started to feel almost normal, and as I took over the responsibilities of my son again I started to notice something strange. He was on 3oz bottles, every 2-3 hours, but after taking one oz he would stop, projectile vomit it up, relax and take the remainder of the bottle.. I phoned the midwife, health visitor and even the doctor and I was told as long as he kept the last 2 oz down there was not a problem, he would not become ill.
The snow was so bad over my sons first few days that the midwife only managed out once, desperate to leave again and he was two weeks old before the health visitor was able to come out to see us. On her first visit she weighed my son and upon looking at his red book asked where his weight had been recorded from the midwife visit and was shocked when I told her he had not been weighed since birth. At two weeks old my son weighed just a couple oz more than at birth but still nobody seemed concered about his constant sickness.
When he was 3 weeks old, I left our family home to stay with my mum for a week or so to help me out. After a couple of days I noticed that he had not been sick during his feeds but thought whatever it was he must have grown out of it.
It wasnt until I came back home that it clicked what had been causing my sons extreme sickness. The first bottle I gave him – one I had
washed and put in my microwave steraliser, followed the steralising instructions exactly, then filled with formula milk and fed to my son, made him projectile once again. I wondered, the microwave? could it be? My mum didnt have a microwave steraliser, she insisted on “the old fashioned method” of cold water steralising tablets and he hadnt been sick once with those bottles. From that moment on, I stopped using my steraliser, went to the shop and bought cold water tablets. My son has not projectile vomited since.
You may think its just fluke, maybe just my son. Thats what I thought until 3 months later when a friend of mine gave birth. I visited her a few days later and whilst feeding her little girl she warned me, that she may projectile vomit on me. I laughed and said it didnt bother me, after all I had been in her position. Later that day I was in her kitchen, when I noticed sitting next to the microwave, a steraliser very similar to the one I had used. I asked her if she had considered the steraliser in her daughters sickness, she said she presumed it was acid reflux, as suggested by her midwife. She stopped using the steraliser, just to see if it would have an effect, and guess what? It did. Her little girl has not projectile vomited since that day.
I have since bought a new microwave and in tiny writing, in the instructions guide it tells you not to use a microwave to steralise babies bottles as it can be harmful. Why is this not made more public? Why are microwave steralisers still available to buy?
About The Real Supermum
After reading this it makes you think my boy always used to be sick an you always believe midwifes ect when they say reflux. But I was using a microwave sterliser to
Omg thats terrible! If its says it on the microwaves then why on earth do they make microwave ones. They should know better! Lucky you found out what was wrong and helped your friend x
I’m really sorry to hear all that you had to go through during and after your birth.
Some microwaves are not suitable for microwave sterilisers. Some, not all… eg my one at home is but my dads one is not.
I have used microwave sterilisers with all three of my kids and fortunatley never had any problems.
But you found that the sickness with your baby stopped when you stopped microwave sterilising. It’s good you found the cause to stop your baby suffering. X
Omg thats terrible x
thats awfull it should state this in larger writing so all mums are aware of the dangers it poses and the risks to little ones x
Sorry 2 hear about ur baby
but fortunately I’ve used a micro steriliser with both of mine and thankfully they have been fine x
OH no. I’ve used 1 for both of mine and they’ve been fine but it makes me think twice about using it this time around..x
good grief glad everything was ok in the end and that both yours and your friends child are ok, i agree if there is something written in the actual microwave itself then why do they make them its baffling,I personally used an electric steam sterilizer and it was brilliant xx
I would have never thought that, they should make sure they outline the warning in bold letters so every parent can see it … Glad you figured out why he was being sick all the time after a feed x x
Wow I never knew that! I have always used the traditional way with milton and water, I feel its uch better as well as I used to use the day befores water to soap my terry nappies in. I do hope your baby is ok now. I too had a uterus infection after my first baby due to the way things were done in lanzarote where I had her and I have never in my life felt pain like it. I was in a week after wivout my babys. Hugs to you hun xxxx
Sorry to hear that. I’ve had a microwave one with all 3 and never had a problem. Glad baba’s all better now xx
I use a microwave steriliser but thankfully I breast feed so never had to be faced with any problems as I rarely use it but it’s something I’ll keep an eye on when I start making bottles xxx
I used a microwave steriliser for all my LO’s when i expressed I never had a problem but my mum pointed out that they couldn’t use a micro steriliser in theres, I thought odd and never questioned it again. It is interesting to know. And next time I read a post about a baby being sick after bottle feeds I won’t be so quick to say acid reflux,pyloricstenosis or wind. I will ask this question. xx
Ive tryd cold water, microwave and electric sterilizers and all made both my children projectile vomit, so in the end I boiled a bottle in a pan of water, old-fashioned maybe but it worked x
i used a microwave steriliser a couple of times and thank god, never had a problem. Why are we able to use a microwave if it is harmful?
I think this should go further, see how many other families have come across this??
glad all si well now
omg tht terrible im so glad i use plug in ones with both mine