Dr. Brown’s Bottle Steriliser and Dryer

Product Information

Bottle sterilizers kill bacteria on the surface of baby bottles or other items that you use to feed your baby. Though they do the same job, sterilizers have different capabilities. Here are some things to keep in mind. There are four main sterilisation units on the market: cold water sterilisers, microwave sterilisers, electric sterilisers and travel sterilisers. They all have their own pros and cons. 1. Cold water steriliser As such, there are a lot of parts to contend with and it’s not the easiest to get to grips with at first. But once you’ve put down the lengthy instructions, it’s perfectly user-friendly. Electric, microwave and travel sterilisers using steam will all get very hot, so the usual cautions apply: wait the recommended amount of time before opening the lid after a cycle has completed, open the lid away from you to redirect any steam, use oven gloves to retrieve from the microwave if necessary, and of course keep any hot items away from children. Karen adds that the Hauture fits comfortably on her counter, and likes that the machine can be used to sterilize, dry, and store bottles.

This isn’t cheap, so for infrequent trips you’re better off with the aforementioned Milton’s Solo Travel Steriliser. But if you’re regularly away or just out and about, Nuby’s portable UV unit is a worthy splurge (plus it comes with a Nuby bottle and pacifier, among other extras.) Do you have enough kitchen counter space to keep a sterilising unit out all the time? Would you want to if you did? Electric units usually stay plugged in on the counter – they’re too large to store and too bulky for it to be convenient to move them often.

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I absolutely love my Avent microwave sterilizer! It's so amazing and fast. I use it every morning to sterilize my pump and bottles for the day." Items inside stay sterile for 24 hours and the lid is designed with a flat lip so it can be laid horizontally in a smaller microwave – a useful feature we didn’t find in any other travel steriliser. The exact length of the sanitizing cycle depends on your microwave's wattage; it ranges from two to six minutes. Microwave sterilisers also use steam to sterilise their contents, which may appeal to you if you prefer to sterilise without chemicals. We spend hours researching, speaking to parents, analysing data and listening to experts before we test out the products on our shortlist.

The advantage of microwave sterilisers is that they’re more capacious than travel models but smaller than electric ones, so they can be stored out of sight. The length of the cycle is almost always shorter than using an electric steriliser, too, which might come in handy with a very hungry baby. The type of steriliser that’s right for you will depend on your baby’s routine as well as your environment, so it’s perfectly alright to wait till after the birth – maybe buying a box of sterilisation bags as an interim measure – and assess your sterilising needs in the days and weeks afterwards.Whether you want the ease of a sterilising solution, a steam-sterilising microwave option or the latest electric all-rounder, we've looked at all the options on the market. We've also listened to our BabyCentre parents to find out which sterilisers they are raving or ranting about. While they tend to take longer to sterilise things than a steam steriliser, the advantage of a UV steriliser is that you don't have to contend with equipment that's hot to the touch after sterilisation, making them a safer option for most households. You also won't need to do any descaling after use. What makes a steriliser safe?