Sterilisers - recs please

[MrsAlbie]

Posting here as Products is quiet.

Just had my 36 weeks appointment with my midwife. She recommended I look at sterilisers and choose one in case I need to Amazon Prime one when baby arrives.

Planning to BF, so may not need one initially but have borrowed a Medela Swing breast pump from a friend (again, in case needed) so would need to sterilise that if/when used.

I've had a little look in Boots but was overwhelmed by the choices . In this situation, would people recommend cold-water sterilisers, microwave or electric? Do they all fit most things in or do I need to be careful with specific bottles only fitting in specific ones?

Thank you

I just used a Milton tablet in a basin of cold water.

You don't actually have to sterilise breast pumps & bottles etc. Thorough cleaning in hot soapy water and left to air dry is sufficient. When I was readmitted to hospital for a week with an infection after ds2 was born and was pumping and feeding him from bottles (pump and bottles supplied by hospital), I was instructed just to wash and air dry.

Caveat: ds2 was full-term and healthy.

We have a Tommee Tippee microwave steriliser, only cost us £15. I'm breastfeeding so don't use it that often but we have sterilised a couple of different brands of bottle and the breast pump and they fit fine. I just keep it in the microwave when not in use so it's out the way.

If you're planning to ebf, so won't be sterilising daily, I'd just get the microwave sterilising pouches, which also have the advantage of being highly portable.

MAM bottles you can sterilise on their own in the microwave are brilliant!

As I bf I just used Milton tablets. I bought the Milton steriliser its just a bucket so any bucket would do (!). The advantage is that the tablets are cheap and it's big so you can get all sorts in. Also my understanding is that some microwave sterilisers are only compatible for that particular brand of bottles. I had to try 3 different brands of bottles before I found one my dd would drink from.

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, keen for whatever solution to be cheap but also user friendly!

Roughly how long do the microwave ones have to be zapped for in the microwave? Are we talking under ten mins or more?

And ooh, pouches, you say? scurries off to Google

Pfft, sorry, embolden fail!

My microwave one takes 4 mins and is very easy but if you aren’t going to be using it all the time i’d just use Milton tablets in any old container

That's quick, Lules!

These are the microwave pouches:
www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-AVENT-Microwave-Steam-Steriliser/dp/B00DUEFZK8?tag=mumsnetforum-21

They take a couple of mins.

Get a big one in case you need to use Dr browns bottles , they come with lots of bits and pieces and you'll need the space and height.

I have a tommee tippee one and it's like playing tetris. I think avent make a tall one, as do Dr browns.

I use an electric one.

They look really handy, Queen, thanks.

I had a tommee tipee steam sterilizer and wish I never bought the damn thing as the plate got so screwed up it took hours to soak and clean.

Your honestly better buying the Milton kit (bucket with lid) and using cold water and tablets.

That's what I'm doing this time round and smells better too.

FWIW, I EBF and had the Tommee Tippee electric steriliser, but I really didn't need to run it that much and it took up a lot of counter space. I ended up buying the pouches later on for travelling and never touched the steriliser again, and if I had my time over I'd have just bought the pouches. If you end up formula feeding or exclusively expressing then yes, you'll need a setup that allows you to sterilise multiple bottles at once, but before you give birth and if you are planning to breastfeed, you are probably only going to be doing one bottle and/or a few pump parts at a time, so the pouches might well be enough.

I only ever cold water sterilised, and wouldn't ever use any other type.
I had the Milton tub and I used the Milton liquid (I hate the tablets).
It's quick, easy, and literally anything can go in it.

I second the microwave bags/pouches. I ebf and they easily fit a couple of little medela bottles with teats at a time, and later on they would fit in one smaller size munchkin latch bottle too. Handy for dummies too and travelling. We had to sterilise fairly infrequently so they were great- didn't take up any room in the kitchen when not in use and easy to travel with. I'd just familiarise yourself with the pros and cons of microwave vs cold water sterilisers and you'll be all set if you do need to choose a bigger one quickly.

The other thing you could do is buy Mam self-sterilising bottles. We used these in addition to breastfeeding and you don't need a separate steriliser for them. They are also a "natural" shaped teat.

I ended up having to express after every feed and top up DD with expressed milk 8 times a day.

The convenience of the electric steriliser a friend had passed down to me was really really appreciated.

The tommee tippee electric ones are often on offer for around £20.

Cheers, all.
moggle, what are the main pros and cons cold water vs. microwave?

I had an electric tommee tippee one. It was ok but a bucket and Milton tablets was just as fast and easy and I think they smelled better. When we went away we bought those huge food bags from Ikea (like massive sandwich bag) and filled that up with water and a Milton tablet. For next baby I'm doing cold water sterilizing all the way

Sorry i have no real idea, I didn't use either! I might well need one this time round (having twins) and i need to google! Main thing I'm wondering about is how long items stay sterile for once you take the microwave steriliser out of the microwave, and safety of the cold water sterilising fluid for our nosy Parker cats...