How to Sterilize a Pacifier Nipple

Last Updated: March 31, 2023 References

Has your baby's pacifier entered a germ filled area with sicknesses going around? This article will explain how to make this pacifier completely sterile for use again. It will keep the baby healthy.

Steps

1
Drop the pacifier into a hot pot containing boiling water. Keep this water boiling during this process, just be careful.
2
Hold the pacifier completely in the water by the tongs. Be sure that the face guard and nipple of the pacifier are fully submerged in the water.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- Grip the pacifier by the face-guard, and keep them gripped, until you let them re-emerge later.
Advertisement
3
Keep the pacifier submerged in the boiling water for at least five minutes. Do not let this submersion go for longer than ten minutes.^{[2]
X
Research source}
4
Take the pacifiers out of the pot without touching them. Let them drip-dry their extraneous water back into the pot of water - all while using the tongs.^{[3]
X
Trustworthy Source
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services
Go to source}
5
Lay the pacifier down onto a brand new cloth or terry cloth towel. Although not ideal for highly-common use, use a brand new diaper for a quick solution, but don't just lay the pacifier down on any ole' cloth diaper. This cloth diaper must be new and directly from an unopened package - so as to remain sterilized and clean there too.
6
Let this pacifier cool to room temperature—or at least an hour. Allow this time for any extraneous water to drip off onto the diaper, come out of. Doing so, will allow it time to dry off from excess water that wasn't absorbed by the air when letting it air-and-drip dry.^{[4]
X
Research source}

Warnings

You should never touch the nipple after the pacifier has become sterilized.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Always try to sterilize the pacifier more often, if there are sicknesses going around that you or your baby (or any of the caretakers) have caught. They could be passing the germs onto you, your baby, and even the pacifier that could potentially be going into your baby's mouth. "What a bad thought to think about, but it's happened before to many!"

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
Never use a stabbing fork (such as forks to turn hot dogs on a barbecue grill) to pick up and hold a pacifier that is needing to be sterilized. It can, in a mere second, poke and rip the nipple on the pacifier, if it bumps up against the fabric to the nipple, and also can't hold the thing with enough force, to keep the nipple under the water firmly.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0