Are sterilisers necessary?
Hello, I'm planing to express and breastfeed. Have been looking at the more natural type bottles such as BreastFlow and Dr. Browns. Is a steriliser essential nowadays and are they univeral. Both the above brands do their own sterilisers, but I'm also planning on using Medela electric pump, so will be pouring the milk from the medela bottles into the breastflow/dr browns bottles....in other words, if sterilising in essential will I need 2 sterilisers for the 2 types of bottle? Sorry if it's silly to ask but not sure how these things work! Thanks! L xx

I used Dr Brown's bottles with an Avent Steam steriliser and they fitted fine :) I'm sure the medela would fit in there too as it's designed to fit the Avent breast pump HTH xx

Lisa, they are universal unless I guess you have humungous bottles. I had Dr Brown (too faffy imo) and they fit in my tomme tippee sterliiser. We first had a steam steriliser and now have a cold water one which I much prefer cos I can tell it has done a good job, I can smell the cleanness!! I had a medela and don't recommend them. If you get an avent you can express then put a teat onto the bottle you've just expressed into rather than using 2 bottles. It makes sense! Some people say they could find teats for the medela but I never did! A sterliser isn't essential, you could just use a big pan and a tablet but I couldn't be bothered with the fuss!

Ah, ok, so I should look for one that will also take the breast pump parts too yes? xx

BTW, the cold water sterliser I have can also be a steam one in the microwave. It was about £20 and included 3 or 4 tommee tippee bottles.

Great thanks to you both..... I guess I was looking at Dr Brown/Breast Flow (the Breastflow in particular seems to get really good reviews on Mothercare) so that the bottle could be as natural as possible. Are the tommy tippee closer to nature ones good Hels, do you not recommend the medela because of the lack of teats or an actual problem with pump itself? Sorry for all the questions. We are at the "things to buy" list writing stage!

I think steralising is essential, but Someone told me that you can use a dish washer for them... not sure how true it is, but worth looking into (Not for me as I don't have a dish washer)

I used dishwasher sally..once bon was over 6 months or so..BUT it turned the bottles and teats etc orange..it did fade after a few soapy washes..but decided not to do it again..in the end i just stopped sterilsing at that age and just rinsed in boiled water!!

Lisa, the pump was ok but I only had the hospital one to compare it too and that one cost hundreds of pounds! It may seem like a small, trivial problem having to sterilise more but I am pig sick of sterlising already! Yes the sterlisier will fit the breast pump bits as well. As for bottles, here's what I think: Dr Brown - not sure how well they worked for Isaac, he still got colic but mabe he would have had it more without them?! Too many parts to sterlisise and mess about with. Not very attractive either! Measurements of the larger ones start at 2oz I think and so we had to buy smaller ones when Isaac was NB as he was on less than 2oz. Tommee tippee - look good, easy to handle, teat too floppy (he had a problem with my nipple too!) and too close to nature for him!, teat a bit of hassle getting in to white cap. Avent - perfect!! Both sizes, great to hold, easy to assemble, not many pieces, air vent to help avoid colic (if that is possble?!?). I would recommend these!

I'm not sure about using a dishwasher as a steriliser.... I've just found this on Wickipedia (sp?) Dishwashers do not sterilize the utensils, as proper sterilization requires autoclaving at 121 °C with pressurized wet steam for at least 15 minutes. Commercial dishwashers can use one of two types of sanitizing methods: hot water sanitizing (using final rinse water at a temperature of at least 83 °C (180 °F)), or chemical sanitizing (by injecting chlorine in the final rinse water). Not all dishwashers are capable of reaching the high temperature required for hot water sanitizing. Medical grade dishwashers and sanitizers are starting to use ultrasonic cleaners, which use a liquid bath treated with sonics to remove particles and sterilize instruments. Most consumer dishwashers use a 75°C thermostat in the sanitizing process. During the final rinse cycle, the heating element and wash pump are turned on, and the cycle timer (electronic or electromechanical) is stopped until the thermostat is tripped. At this point, the cycle timer resumes and will generally trigger a drain cycle within a few timer increments. Most consumer dishwashers use 75°C rather than 83°C for reasons of burn risk, energy consumption, total cycle time, and possible damage to plastic items placed inside the dishwasher. With new advances in detergents, lower water temperatures (50-55°C) are needed to prevent premature decay of the enzymes used to eat the grease and other build-ups on the dishes. This also saves energy and can allow the washer to be hooked directly to the hot water supply for the house. Also, I know we only use our dishwasher once a day max so you'd have the problem of where to keep things to keep them sterile (not that it makes them sterile anyway!). At least with a conventional baby steriliser you can keep things immersed in sterlising solution or alternatively, switch the steriliser on as needed - the Avent steam one only takes a few minutes. And thinking about it, when the steriliser had finished, bottles etc were much hotter than stuff that comes out the dishwasher as soon as it's finished.

I am a Dr Browns advocate, started using them after 4 long months of 1.5hr feeds with Ryan and he went from 3 to 8oz in 15 minutes flat once he was using them. Wished I had started on them earlier. Didn't bother with anything but for Andrew. We have the Boots own steam steriliser and it fits 6 Dr Browns bottles and 'bits' in it easily enough.

I def wouldnt use a dishwasher for sterilising new babies bits but as they get older..whipping one bottle in ect will give it a bloody good clean..but still didnt end up doing due to turning things orange!! good research though loubster!! xx

We had a ceremony to put the sterilizer away when Seph turned 6 months, biggest pain in the back side sterilizing!!

I agree Sally - it took up so much room too!

I cannot bring myself to stop sterlising Andrews measly 2 bottles a day. I know the guidelines say 6 months but think gonna stick closer to the 12 months. The sterilising cycle only takes 6 minutes (the one we used to have for Ryan took 30 mins and was a pain in the bum waiting for it). Must admit though can't wait for it to disappear from the kitchen worksurface.