Bottles, warmers and sterilisers (view report contents)
Microwave sterilisation
A microwave steriliser is a container just large enough for bottles and their bits and a small quantity of water. You place the loaded container in a microwave oven for about ten minutes. Most have a rack or trays inside. They must be carefully loaded so steam can circulate inside the products. They will stay sterile for three hours in the steriliser.
After removing the bottles, empty the residual water and rinse out the container to prevent limescale building up.
Some of the microwave sterilisers doubled as cold water sterilisers and the Boots 3 in 1 could be used as an electric steam steriliser too.
Lids
The Babytec and Bruin lids had no catches or hinges and were easy to remove and replace.
Loading
With the Bruin you need to load the bottles and bits on the basket outside the steriliser container - easier unless you have shaky hands when things can fall off as you put the basket in the container. Unloading was easier because you could do it in two stages.
Straightforward loading with the Tomy
The Mothercare microwave steriliser was more fiddly to use
The Avent, Babytec and Maws were all loaded straight into the container. The Avent had shaped, raised guides for loading Avent bottles which would help if you have sight or learning difficulties. With the Maws you had to fit another tray on top of the bottles for loading teats - a bit fiddly.
Safety
You have to wait a few minutes before removing a steriliser from the microwave oven and use oven gloves.
Using the steriliser for cold water
Loading for cold water sterilisation was simpler. The Maws steriliser held the same large quantity of water as the cold water-only ones but had no pouring lip or drainage holes. The Bruin was smaller (less water) but also had no holes.
PROS
- All the sterilisers were light in weight
- Straightforward operation
- Generally easier to load and use than the steam sterilisers
- Some can also be used as cold water sterilisers.
CONS
- You need a microwave oven you can use easily and big enough to hold the steriliser
- The larger ones were awkward to empty when used as cold water sterilisers.
The following sections provide more detail about sterilisers, including the pros and cons of different types. Click on the list below to see the section you are interested in:
Cold water sterilisation
Steam sterilisation
Microwave sterilisation
Steriliser buying guide
Steriliser summaries
Report Contents
About this guide
Feeding bottles
Bottle Buying guide
Bottle Warmers
Bottle warmer buying guide
Preparing baby milk
Sterilisers
Steriliser buying guide
Steriliser summaries
Helpful Organisations
Suppliers list
