Which steriliser?

[CheshireCatsWhiskers]

Hi, my baby is due in a few weeks and one of the last remaining items on my shopping list is a steriliser. I've been putting off getting one as I wasn't sure what one to get..

I'm planning to breastfeed and hopefully express milk occasionally too. I've already got 5 bottles I was given by a friend (with new teats) and another friend is selling me her manual pump which is apparently a Philips Avent one. Other than those items, I guess I will need to sterilise any dummies and other items that might end up in baby's mouth.

What sort of size steriliser would be best for my intended usage? I was thinking of getting an electric one as the microwave ones look pretty small and I don't fancy the cold water type. Best to get one with two tiers? Any particular recommendations?

Im breastfeeding with the occasional bottle, and we have a Nuk microwave steriliser which is great. Quick, easy and it's small enough to not get in the way.

It does 4 bottles at a time so might not be right it'll you're using a lot of them.

I heartily recommend a Tupperware tub with a lid & milton sterilising tablets. You only need to replace the water every 24hrs & items can be added & removed as many times as necessary. The items only need to be in there for 15mins then they are good to go.

If you are planning breastfeeding and only bottles occasionally then the microwave one would definitely be enough. I give a bottle of expressed milk once or twice a week and now just use the mam self sterilising bottles which you just add a little water to the bottom of and pop in microwave for a few mins. Saves sterilisers taking up work surface space. Prior to that also have a Philips avent microwave one which I think could take 4 bottles/ dummies at a time. Hard to say before you have baby as breastfeeding might not work out/ baby might not take dummy etc so you might be better waiting a few weeks after baby born to see how things are going...
also I would advise an electric breast pump if you'll be pumping regularly, I got a double one on amazon for about 39 pounds and it's brilliant, much much more efficient than the tommee tippee electric one I had with my first baby!

I second cold water sterilising with Milton tablets. 1 tablet per 5l water and keeps everything sterile for 24hours even when you add and remove things from the water. Buy the Milton tub (about £10 on Amazon) which has 5l marked on it for extra ease and has a weighted shelf to keep everything fully submerged. We tried a stream steriliser and it was a nightmare. Needed precisely 80ml water per round but had no markings as to where to fill to or any measuring device that would accurately measure 80ml (my Pyrex jug was hopeless measuring such a small amount and who wants to be faffing around measuring water in the middle of the night). It then should have sterilised for 5 minutes but just randomly decided the times each time- sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes 15 minutes. Finally nobody could tell me once you've steamed them and taken a bottle out how long everything else inside stays sterile for so to guarantee this you need to put the steriliser back on every time you take anything out- such a faff!

Another vote for going with milton and cold water

I have burned myself too many times using steam

Do you need a lid for definite? I have Milton tablets.
I've ordered the unit but it won't be here u til Tuesday of next week.
Expecting a storm here this weekend and wondering if I can use the Milton tablets in a Tupperware container/basin?

Hopeful bump

@halfpasteleven You'll be fine without a lid but just use something to weigh everything down or they float to the top and aren't then in full contact with the water. Before we got our proper Milton steriliser we used a big mixing bowl and put a plate on the top of the water to keep everything submerged. Bit more of a faff trying to get the plate out but did the job :)

Thanks for the info everyone! I still don't really want to get a cold water one but am looking again at microwave ones - I guess in hindsight they should be big enough considering I'm unlikely to be sterilising all the equipment I own in one go every time. And suppose they're quick enough that I can do a couple of batches if need be??

Plus I'm planning on getting one secondhand so (a) I ideally don't want to wait until after baby's born as it'll be much easier for me to pop out and collect one by myself in the next few weeks! And (b) I'll probably only be spending about a fiver on it (if I do get a microwave one) so I guess it's not the end of the world if decide to get a different one later... For now I just want to have something ready.

@TrashKitten10 thank you. Can I just ask did you change the water when you lifted the plate off? Thanks