I had a microwave one 6 yrs ago with my LO and am expecting again - its been a while so which would you recomend??/

thanks

V

Cold water one! I have a microwave one and it's fine but to make it efficient I wait till it is full (trying to reduce my carbon footprint!!) then do them all at once. While on holiday I took a travel cold water one and I found it much easier, just put some cold water in and milton then leave for as long as you want, take them out and use them without having to rinse them or anything! As each bottle is used just wash it and put it straight in. If I was ever going to have another baby then I would certainly buy a cold water one.
xx

I'm a cold water girlie too - have used micro and electric but have found cold water sterilising to be far better. There's no restrictions on how long the stuff stays sterile, other than to change the water & solution every 24 hrs, bottles can be left til needed and as Donna says, a used bottle can be washed and plopped back in straight away.

I got the one from boots and its really good roomy for bottles and quick x

Electric one silly me! xx

Hi, just wanted to check... Am i right in thinking that with cold water solution, its ready after 30mins then you can take out and use a bottle, then if you wash it straight away you can put it back in the same water you got it from? Is that right? So technically you could get away with only having one or two bottles? And won't putting fingers in the water contaminate it? Sorry this is my first time & i'm SO confused by everything!!

oooh are you not worried about chemicals??? if they are strong enough to kill the bugs on the bottles and you don't rinse them what will those same chemicals do to babies tummy??? i cold sterilised my nipple shields while in hospital (had section was in for 3 days) and i always rinsed them in sterile water from the nurses . i now use a microwave steriliser it brill as for carbon footprint what about all those chemicals going down the drain ???
fea x

If you have a water meter then you might not want to cold water sterilise! My tommy tippee cold water/microwave steriliser takes 5 litres of water to fill completely (and would probablyn eed about 2.5 litres to at least cover bottles if I ddin't want to do many) rather than 200ml to microwave sterilise.

Personally i prefer microwave as its easier and I reacted badly to having milton on my hands - still haven't quite got rid of the eczema almost 6 months later.

Lucyloo - Yes - you can wash and put a bottle straight back in teh solution so long as the solution has been made within the last 24 hours but I have 8 bottles and i wouldn't want anything less... 2 is too few in my opinion when you have a very small baby its much easier to have a few bottles ready rather than have to think straight away that as soon as a feed has finished you'd better go wash up! Actually in the early days I had about 10 or 11 bottles ont he go as we bought 2 sets of 3, then got 4 with the steriliser and 1 with the pump - and that was great..but when it comes to buying new teats it gets expensive (hence only 8 bottles now!). Even now lo is on 4 bottles a day rather than 5 its nice to know I don't need to worry and rush with getting stuff washed up if we have a rough day.

electric steam one!!!
brilliant, fast, safe, no chemicals, easy to use.

xxx

Def a cold water one.
Microwave ones once u open the lid only stay sterile for 2 hours! Whats the point in that? You just have to keep putting them back in the microwave may aswell only have one bottle.
Cold water you just change once a day and keep washing bottles and putting them in as you go. So much easier. And with Milton solution you dont even have to rinse them xx

You don't need to keep putting them back in the microwave.. just make up the bottles either with just water & add powder later, or make them up and stick them in the fridge - whichever way you do your bottles and they are fine. We do 4 bottles at a time and fill them with cooled boiled water and then just make up with formula as and when we need (within 24 hours or so) and they are fine.. never had a problem with them. So long as the steriliser is used correctly it gets rid of any bacteria from the milk and the bottles are fine - I've left bottles in mine unopened for longer than the 3 hour sterile period and still used them, and i've opened the lid, got stuff out and then gone back later and made up the bottles.

I always used to rinse off the milton when i used it.. i didn't fancy lo drinking anything that smelled all chemically like that!

I had an electric steam one as my microwave was too small! I just put the bottles together when they were ready & put them in the fridge empty until i needed them (within 24hrs) i didn't put any water in straight away because i found that by the time it cooled right down it didnt mix with the formula as well. I used cold water method for a few weeks with my 1st child but found it a pain with it using so much water & then it was so heavy i couldnt empty it without spilling water everywhere!!

Ok, ok, so Milton is a chemical that's gonna harm ur baby, the environment and everything else it touches.....I don't think so!!! It's been used for yrs, it has a very good track record and is completely safe.....and when it comes to time to change the solution, what's the harm in using a cloth and wiping down all the kitchen surfaces???? How many mum's clean their kitchens with cleaning liquids/creams/sprays or wipe down chopping boards then prepare food? At least with a milton solution, it is proven to be totally safe for babies etc.............Milton is a tried and trusted method, widely used in hospitals as well as by mothers. It is a non-toxic solution that destroys dangerous micro-organisms, but is gentle and safe for baby and harmless if swallowed. Milton is a stable solution of sodium hypochlorite. Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical which is highly effective against bacterial organisms and spores. When in contact with protein, it breaks down to form:

Water + sodium chloride (salt).

This solution is therefore totally safe to use and can be applied directly to the skin – even swallowed – without harm.

Milton baby protection products Milton is effective against:

* Rotavirus – an air borne virus passed on from person to person
* Disease-causing bacteria such as:
o Campylobacter — the most common type of food poisoning. Often contracted from cats & dogs
o Salmonella — often due to undercooked foods
o Listeria — from poor handwashing
o E Coli 0157 — from raw meat and often passed on from not washing hands after the toilet
* Bacterial spores – bacteria in a dormant (non-active) state
* Candida – a fungus that causes thrush in babies.

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh at the beginning and I totally understand about wanting to keep our babies safe but milton is safe to use (ok, I admit I do rinse my bottles etc but thru choice not concern!). Yes the sterilizer can be heavy to lift when full but we used to part empty it using a jug b4 lifting. Having used cold water, electric and micro sterilizing if I couldn't get a cold water system, I would use electric as my 2nd option......found most micro sterilizers were far too big for my microwave lol

It's like anything thou, we all have an opinion, we all have favourites but at the end of the day we all want the same thing - our babies as safe as we can get them and the knowledge we've done all we can to achieve this. Happy Choosing people.......sterilizers, buggies, bottles etc.....it's a jungle out there!!!!!!

[Modified by: MummyX5 on July 06, 2008 09:01 AM]</p>

I have the Tommee Tippee Steam Sterliser and I think it is very good. When I was at my Aunts for a few days on holiday I used the Milton tablets but I thought there was a very strong smell off the bottles when they were sterilised so I have to admit that I rinsed the bottles as well before I made them up.

i have to say i like the milton hand gel its great - after i wash my hands i just squirt a biton there to be doubly safe, and its moisturising as well.

never used a cold/microwave one so cant really comment on them

xxx

Quote:

Yer same here why mess with buying other things!?