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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Cold water or Steam?

15 replies

dyzzidi · 30/06/2005 09:44

I have been offered free a free sterilizer off two different friends both are brand new and I obviousley only need one but which one.

One is steam but i thought you had to keep steaming as things only stayed sterilized for four hours.

One is cold water which my sister/sil swear by.

Which one do you find less hassle to use.

OP posts:
nailpolish · 30/06/2005 09:45

is it a microwave one? these are my favourite and the easiest to use by far

Original poster
dyzzidi · 30/06/2005 09:46

no its a plug in one so the take about the same amount of space up on the kitchen side.

I haven't made my mind up about feeding yet (see otehr very complicated thread) but do intend to use a dummy so will need sterilizer straight away.

OP posts:
lunachic · 30/06/2005 09:55

steam = no chemicals
imo this has to be best

nailpolish · 30/06/2005 09:56

i agree

Prettybird · 30/06/2005 10:25

I liked the cold water sterilisation, as it meant I could just leave the stuff in there until I needed it.

First used it when I was back in hopsital with an infection, and using the breast feeding/pumping room: they used cold water sterlisation there (Nice thing about that was that someone else was responsible for rrefreshing the solution! ).

Found it nice and transportable too for when we went off on holidays.

Actually never had a "kit" per se, just used a large tupperware cotainer that fitted my breast pump and a few bottles, and bought Milton tablets/liquid.

Original poster
dyzzidi · 30/06/2005 10:28

My mum says the cold water one as things will be 'clean' when you need them. but i also think about the chemicals too.

OP posts:
zingiber · 30/06/2005 10:34

I had both, first the cold water one then the steam.. The cw tended to leave a greasy residue on thing if you left them in a while - now I did think it was my washing-up skills so I doubled up my efforts but it still happened.

The chemicals btw are the same ones that supermarkets use to wash the salad that goes into bags and aren't really harmful but I did get funny about that too.

Bought an Avent steam one and it is fantastic. TBH I never paid a lot of attention to how long you could leave them once sterilised. Once you've got the milk germs off, they're clean.. It's the bacteria that grow in the milk residue that can cause problems. If I felt they'd been left too long, I just switched it on again. 8 mins I think. I really recommend it.

Another thing is that if you're taking a breast pump out of cold water, having to dry it off, assemble it, stick it on your boob - well it's such a faff and not pleasant. It came out of the steam one much more ready to be used.

chipmonkey · 30/06/2005 11:53

I used cold water in hospital, when ds3 was prem and it was very handy in that you only changed it every 24 hours and could keep re-using the same water, just dunking the breast-pump back in after washing. I did feel uneasy about the chemicals though and it was very messy, dripping when you took the things out. The other thing is that if you need something in a hurry, the cold water takes 30 min where most steam sterilisers work in less than 10, though what they don't tell you is that you have to allow a few minutes for things to cool down otherwise you'll burn your fingers! I have this one on the bottom which is excellent as it can be both a microwave steam steriliser and a cold water steriliser. The only thing is if you get an Ameda or Medela breastpump you can't Microwave steam the parts and if you do decide to bf with your situation you may need one of these!

ThisIsMe · 30/06/2005 12:04

Steam without a doubt. Water is using chemicals and messy.

If you want to sterilise just a dummy you can buy little capsules that you put the dummy inside of with a little water and microwave them for one minute to sterilise them.

popsycal · 30/06/2005 12:05

get a steribox for 1.25 from mithercare
sterilisers dummies in microwave in 90 secs

Original poster
dyzzidi · 30/06/2005 12:34

i didn't know about dummy sterilisers so thanks for that

OP posts:
Tissy · 30/06/2005 12:43

I didn't have either; used a breast pump for months at work and put all my equipment in a big saucepan with a steamer basket at the end of the day and steamed for 10 mins. Didn't have a problem and the saucepan is now back to it's original use!

starlover · 30/06/2005 12:58

prob with cold water ones is that you have to remember to change water every day. and you have to buy steriliser too.

also, will take half an hour for things to be ready whereas a microwave one takes 7 minutes!

AND... with cold water, if you put anything new in, it effectively "unsterilises" what's already in there and then you have to start the half an hour again... iyswim!

chipmonkey · 30/06/2005 13:12

Oh, yes starlover I forgot about that!

HappyMumof2 · 30/06/2005 13:38

Message withdrawn

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