Sterilisers and bottles?

littlemissteach

Hi all!
Hoping to do a "big" baby shop tomorrow and want to pick up a steriliser and bottles among other things- is there one type of steriliser that is "better" than the other- as in the cold water, microwave or electric ones and is there a better brand?
Also as regards bottles-how many bottles do I need to buy and what size and is there a brand you would recommend?
Thanks a mill :-)

highly1111

I would recommend the dr browne bottles. We've never had an issue with them and they have patent (very posh!) technology which means that they're anti colic. We've always found them excellent. We've used the same round of bottles except for new teat for both boys so they're durable & a great long term buy.

I'd buy 6 bottles to be honest. Any less and you'll be washing them constantly.

We have the tommee tippee microwave steriliser. It takes 4 of the dr browne bottles. You put in 200ml of cold water & microwave for 6 minutes. Again used for both kids and lasted well. Not one issue!!

Dr brownes also do a dishwasher rack which is used for their bottle 'bits' so you load them into the rack & i put the bottles into the dishwasher & then pop them in the steriliser. They also do a mixing jug which is good because you can batch make a whole jug of milk.

By the way, I'd recommend getting a digital weighing scales - possibly on sale in lidl or aldi this week for €8.99 - saw it somewhere! You can then weigh out the water & the formula all in one instead of counting scoops - far far handier. For example 1000ml of water & 157 grams of aptimel gives us 5 bottles!

Xdancer

I have only ever used a microwave sterilizer so I can't comment on the other types. I find the microwave one great.

I went for the Nuk first choice bottles and haven't had any issues with. Them. They have a wide neck and are very easy to clean.

I would agree that 6 bottles are handy to have.

KGLady

I absolutely love the microwave steam sterilisers: No chemicals, no fuss, done in a few minutes, it stores out of the way easily and its very portable as its light weight and small compared to electric ones.

I've used Avent bottles as they came with my breast pump and found them very convenient and durable - but then we never had colic issues but I know other parents who loved the Dr Browne when they were struggling with a colic baby.

In terms of doing your big shop, your timing is great There's brilliant deals to be had at moment in various shops. Aldi have their baby specials coming up this week including Tommee Tippee Sterilisers and bottles. Smyths have a lot on sale, I got some new Avent stuff there recently. Argos also have a baby event on too. I'm not sure if the Boots one is finished yet, a poke in the baby bargains thread might give you some idea on that.

http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/offers_week38Thursday12.htm
http://www.toys.ie/Feeding-!WCAT14-cat.aspx
http://bit.ly/R5nzzG (Argos baby feeding sale stuff)

Happy Shopping

sillysocks

We also ended up using Dr Browns bottles but went through Avent and Tommee Tippee before settling on the Dr Browns. So I'd probably recommend buying maybe 3 or 4 of one type of bottle and then you can see if they work for your baby before buying more.

We had an Avent Microwave steriliser and found it great. It fit the Tommee Tippee and Dr Browns bottles so was handy when we were switching between bottles not to have to buy a new steriliser.

I wouldn't bother with the smaller size bottles (think they're 4oz), they only last a couple of weeks before baby drinks more than they'll hold. If you buy the bigger ones you can just fill them to 3/4oz at the start and then continue to use them for the bigger amounts as baby grows.

Another great bottle related buy is a formula holder. Something like the one below. I used it all the time, not just out and about. I'd measure out the right formula amounts into two of these each night and that meant I could make up bottles as needed the next day without having to measure the formula for each bottle.

http://www.toys.ie/BabySafe-Milk-Powder-Container-!107289-prd.aspx

A bottle brush is another thing I never thought to buy before the baby but really needed!

littlemissteach

Thanks a mill girls there's loads for me to go on there!
Another quicl question- if for example I buy a tomeetippee steriliser, will it only fit tomee tipee bottles?Or are all bottles fairly standard size?

highly1111

littlemissteach wrote: »

Thanks a mill girls there's loads for me to go on there!
Another quicl question- if for example I buy a tomeetippee steriliser, will it only fit tomee tipee bottles?Or are all bottles fairly standard size?

It depends! The best way to do it is to buy your bottles first & then literally put them in the steriliser before you buy it. Yes, I was one of those mad women in the shop opening the steriliser and making sure our bottles fitted in. ;-)

sillysocks

littlemissteach wrote: »

Thanks a mill girls there's loads for me to go on there!
Another quicl question- if for example I buy a tomeetippee steriliser, will it only fit tomee tipee bottles?Or are all bottles fairly standard size?

The Avent one definitely fits Avent, Tommee Tipee and Dr Browns. I think it used to fit one less of the non-Avent bottles but still was fine.

Ginny

The Dr. Brown steriliser fits 4 bottles in it, and fits the Avent bottles too.
I bought the newborn Avent kit in Smyths on special. We have mostly Avent and Dr. Browns, the Dr. Browns is good, but is a bit of a pain to clean and you can't warm it like the other bottles, it leaks all over the place. We have 5 of the Avent anti-colic bottles and they've been great. I would say like silly socks said don't bother with the smaller bottles, buy the bigger 9oz ones, and just buy the No.1 teat to use with them. We had 12 4oz bottles and by the time he was 3/4 weeks we were on 5 oz so they'resitting in the press now.

Another piece of advice, when you have the baby, we thought our little lad had colic, turns out he just prefers bottles a bit warmer, so we invested in a warmer and it made the world of difference.
The Aldi muslins are the business, I use them all the time and will be picking up more on Thursday. We don't use bibs at all, the muslins are much better and easier for mopping up overflow or puke after a feed. I also use them as a sun shade on the pram hood, they're nice and big.

dublinlady

Just on a random side note - u can heat the dr browns bottles once u detach the blue but inside first! My lady would only accept warm ones! I fitted 6 dr browns into the Avent steriliser. Also found the Avent bottles good after the first 3 months when she didnt need the dr browns so much anymore ! Easier to clean too by far!