Advice on sterilisers for 1st time mum to be please!

[gr1973]

Hi,

I'm pg with my first, hoping to bf but want to be prepared for all eventualities and realise I'll need bottles and steriliser anyway. I've seen some brands that do both a microwave version and electric version of their sterilisers but I dont really know what the difference is (apart from the price & no of bottles it stores!). Can anyone give me advice on what type is best or any pros/cons of either? Price isn't really a factor, but I'd resent paying extra for an electric one if I didn't really need it!

If you're really determined to breastfeed, sometimes having bottles, formula and steriliser "at the ready" can stop you from carrying on when it gets sore in the first couple of weeks, so be aware of that (Not that formula is poison by any means, nothing wrong with it but it IS worth perservering with bf when it gets sore/difficult before deciding to go down the formula route. If nothing else it's expensive and the constant washing/sterilising/boiling water/storing and making up feeds rather than just popping them on the boob is a real pita)

We have an avent steam (electric) steriliser, but we regularly use steam sterilising bags as they take only 3 mins in the microwave to sterilise two bottles, rather than 10 mins with the big avent steriliser. In hindsight I would have bought a £5 travel steam steriliser from tesco, as they're quicker and portable for travelling. hth

Hi,
i agree that having bottle feeding gear is not necessar and often not such a good idea if you really want to bfeed.

I would also add that if you have a dishwasher then that will be fine for washing bottles as in fact is hot soapy water, a hot rinse and air drying!

i had a tommee tippee microwave steriliser that was £18 IIRC with two bottles included and was fine.

i do agree with Jamesandthegiantbanana... keeping bottles and formula in the house can sometimes stop succesful breastfeeding.

i would be more inclined to gather lots of breast feeding info, helpline numbers and good websites, such as www.kellymom.com and if breastfeeding does not work out, it is easy enough to get a bottle and steriliser then .

your baby needs to go to the breast as much as they want to for the first few weeks to ensure your supply meets their demands, it might take a few days for your milk to come in, but the colostrum produced is enough, you should not need to give formula.

definitely read as much as you can about breastfeeding so you are well equipped with the knowledge you need

don't buy anything yet.

air-dried dishwashed stuff is as good as sterilised - no-one in the US ever uses a steriliser, they think we're all mad.

if you suddenly decide you need one after baby is born send dh out to Mothercare/Tesco.

(and anyway the best one I've used is the one that came free with the Tommy Tippee breastpump that's just like a tupperware box with a vent in the lid)

Sorry, you wanted pros and cons:

Electric steam steriliser:

Pros- Fits lots of bottles in so you can do them all at once. Items stay sterilised for (I think) about 3 hours if you keep the lid closed. Everywhere has a plug so if you need to take it away with you you can definitely use it, whereas you can't guarantee everywhere will have a microwave.

Cons- Bulky, especially when travelling, takes longer than microwave sterilising.

Microwave steam sterilising box:

Pros- Less bulky, better for travelling and if space on worktops etc is an issue. Takes less time.

Cons: Fits less bottles in, more chances of getting scalded from the steam/hot water as you move the unit from the microwave to the worktop, as electric sterilisers don't need to be moved.

Microwave sterilising bags:

Pros- Disposable after 20 uses so no cleaning, very very portable (they fold up to nothing) takes three minutes at full power. Good for when baby is screaming and you have no clean bottles, or when you only want to sterilise a single teat/dummy when you drop one on the floor etc

Cons- Only fits two bottles in (won't fit two avent bottles, rings, teats and lids in, I leave the lids off and just scrub them well) chance of scalding as before.

You don't, really you don't, need bottles and a steriliser

If you use the odd bottle of expressed breastmilk, you can hand express, or if you use a pump, you can boil the relevant parts and the bottle rather than mess with sterilisers (and with a full term, healthy baby, a hot soapy wash and careful rinsing is fine - if you can't see traces of ebm, then there aren't any. Bf babies are well-protected against infection anyway).

If you want to be prepared for mum-gets-run-over-by-bus-having-left-baby-with-granny, then you can express in advance and freeze, and you can buy ready-sterilised bottles and teats (in a sealed pack).

I've always wanted to do the american thing of not sterilising (I'm very thorough with my washing up and rinsing) but I can only imagine the horrified looks I'd get off my family. Roll on 6 months so I can freecycle the sodding steriliser.

Oh don't bother with sterilisers and stuff!

Before my DS arrived I got a bottle of Milton and a bucket and a cheap Mothercare hand pump which came with one bottle. None of the above have seen more than a handful of uses. Think how pissed off I would be if I'd spent out on a full set of gear!

You don't need to sterilise. Just be scrupulous when washing bottles. And if BF doesn't work out you can pick up bottles anywhere.

Save your pennies for chocolate and batteries for the remote

LOL Chubby at the chocs over steriliser idea! Need choc now though!

Crikey, thanks everyone I got more than I bargained for there! .

James and the Giant banana - thanks particularly for the advice as well as the pros and cons.

I am a 'want to be prepared for mum-gets-run-over-by-bus-having-left-baby-with-granny' type of person (anally retentive, control freak? Not me...) so all this advice has been really useful. I'll definitely do more research on bf as I am very keen and dont want to fall at the first hurdle (if I can help it).

This has prompted further questions about expressing though

• what do you freeze expressed breastmilk in
• if expressing I'd need some bottles anyway, so how many is enough?

DH seems awfy keen on the whole expressing thing so he can get involved in feeding, but I do need to do lots more research. Am only 16 weeks so just getting started really...

Thanks again for all the advice (mmmm, chocolate... where's that leftover selection box...)

ps - sorry if some of these questions are a bit simple. I'm a well-educated career girl really!

You freeze it in breastmilk storage bags from boots, hence two bottles is probably enough as they're never out of action in the freezer.

And don't feel you have to express just so dh can feed - there's heaps else he can do to be involved that doesn't involve a) you expressing (when surely he's meant to be taking the burden off you) or b) fiddling around with bottles and teats rather than interacting with the baby

My DH loved being able to feed ds when I'd expressed and gone to bed - it was a lovely bonding thing for them to do, and having a baby who will take breast or a bottle gives you flexibility and the opportunity for a bit of time off occasionally.

I think it's a fab idea. I did it with DS and will do it again when we have another. Washing up and sterilizing one bottle and pump a day really isn't that much faff.

it was finding the time to pump that I found a faff - worth it (after bf is well established ) to go out, get haircut etc but I wouldn't do it every single day unless I needed to.
DH does dd's bedtime and they both love it

Don't bother. Stick it all in the dishwasher. There's a thread on it somewhere -- both RTKM and I were advised to wash in hot water and air dry by SCBU. I figured if the hospital think it's good enough for preemies, it's good enough for my 9lb porkers.

All my GP friends did the dishwasher thing. All their kids are still alive.

Thanks! Your post made me laugh MrsBadger - ther's my DH thinking about how he'd like when I am of course thinking about how I might get the occasional night out to catch up with the world! That said, I've got a good 'un in my DH so if being able to feed occasionally (unless its a complete pain in the ass for me) is important to him I'd like to give it a bash. On that note, I'm off to see if he's finished cooking my dinner!

Congrats!

We don't have a steriliser, DS is formula fed so obviously has bottles, but we have the microwave ones from Mothercare that sterilise themselves in 90secs, plus a bit of Milton for anything else - syringes/dummy/whatever.

dont worry about the going out bit -

when you have the energy you can feed baby before you go out - say 7 ish bed time

then feed when you get back say 10.30/11

baby wont starve - i bet you wont go out until baby feeding well and sleeping fairly well anyway

some dads like to do the feeding bottles but there are other things they can do instead - apparently this is the number one reason mums stop feeding because if it gets tricky dad is there chomping at the bit to feed baby himself - natural i guess when baby is crying but it does not always help when mum is actually doing a great job

Your dp's sound vastly different to mine, I virtually have to bribe him to get him to feed ds!

Hi - I bought a pump (medela electric swing), steriliser (avent microwave one) before I was due. They get used at least once a day. From early on I used the pump to build up a stash of ebm in freezer (and sterilised all breast pump parts), then later - expressed so that DH could give the dreamfeed. I can now express for the dreamfeed at the same time as feeding DS for his first morning feed, so not a faff at all.

the positives of microwave one is that it is quick, can live in the microwave so doesnt take up counter space, if it does sit on the counter it is small, it is also very portable for this reason. Dr Brown also do one and it is a shame that it isnt better (i have that one at my mums) - because DS hated the avent bottles, but is fine with the dr. brown ones. The downside to the dr. brown microwave one is that it doesnt have clips to lock it shut like the avent one does.

If you decide not to buy one until you know you need it; then I advise that you at least have an idea of which sterliser/ bottles/ breast pump you want and where they are in stock so you can send someone to get them for you.

Everyone else on here may be right about the sterilising, what can I say - have PFB syndrome.

congrats on your pregnancy!

I have an Avent steam steriliser. Has been used with DD1 (4yrs ago) and DD2 (6mths). I found it useful to have for breast pump and dummies even though I was breastfeeding DD1. DD2 has been formula fed since 10wks and has been used for bottles since then.

You can fit in loads of bottles and it is really easy to use. Only downside is it is quite big. Had a microwave steriliser as well with DD1 which was great but we have a combi microwave and switched on the oven to heat, not realising it was in there and it melted!

I wouldn't get anything until you have given birth and tried to get bf going. If it takes a while to start you can always get someone to dash out to your local 24hr tescos and get a steriliser.

We had to do just that, bf took 3 weeks to work so dp had to get one before I got home. We got the Avent steam steriliser, its pretty good, big though.

More thanks to all for advice/recommendations etc. DH now reviewing information!

Suspect that DH might point out that we could buy all the feeding equipment available and it would still be cheaper than a dishwasher (how can I fit a table for 8 in my kitchen/dining room and not a dishwasher??) so I think we will go for some kind of steriliser.

On the subject of expressing, someone (family member) offered me barely used breast pump. Is that a bit icky? Practically new.

As you can sterilise the whole pump I suppose it must be ok with a second hand one .

i had a second hand one too. A family member 'want to be prepared for mum-gets-run-over-by-bus-having-left-baby-with-granny' type of person (or more money than sense!!) relative brought one used it twice and then gave up with breast feeding- so gave it to me. The whole thing comes apart and is washed and sterilised, believe me, your new addition isn't going to know.
Save the money for something not practical at all- like the fav mothercare outfit- that way you'll feel a tad less guilty.

I had a secondhand one too - unless you are rolling in money you quickly become much less precious about 'pre-loved' baby stuff. I even had secondhand nappies...