The importance of sterilising baby bottles thoroughly is immense. Germs are something that I think I may have a slight fear of at the best of times (normal, right?) never mind when it involves a helpless new born.
*Shivers*
My previous steriliser, way back when Carson was a tot, was a Tommee Tippee microwave one - very roomy/deep with lots of bits and pieces to stack up.
At the time, I knew no different and was extremely happy with it, but by the time Carson was 6 months old, I must admit I resorted to using the deep container as a cold water steriliser instead - I was simply fed up of the jigsaw puzzle every time I needed do do a sterilising run.
I have never had experience of an electric steriliser and for the extra cost associated with them, I'm unlikely to nip out and buy one just to say I've had a go!
I was very kindly sent a Dr Browns Microwave Steam Steriliser to give a whirl (geddit?!) and review for you guys to get an idea of what to expect with them.
Here are my thoughts...
Contents are interesting as aside from the steriliser itself and tongs, it comes complete with 2x wide neck 240ml baby bottles. I have heard great things about their
natural flow feeding system, particularly in the prevention of colic, so I'm really chuffed that you get a couple of bottles to start you off. It also comes with a reservoir tube cleaner for the bottles too - bonus!
Incredibly light! This is not a big, bulky, kitchen-worktop-living item (as I imagine electric steriliser to be). In fact, on the contrary, it's small, compact and neat enough to go in the cupboard along with the casserole dishes. It will fit 4 wide neck or standard neck bottles so size and weight can be deceiving. Especially when you pop it in the microwave - it literally only just fit in. Having said that, my microwave is a pretty small one so I can't see this being a problem for many at all.
Usage instructions are very simple to follow although I personally found the imagery on the back of the box easier to understand than the written instructions.
Once your bottles have been popped into place, simply pour in 180ml of water, pop the lid on and boom! You're ready to go.
Ensure the wattage of your microwave is taken in to account when you're deciding as to how long to sterilise for. Mine is only 700w (like I say, it's a small microwave!) so needed the longest time of 8 minutes to sterilise, followed by the additional 10 minutes to cool.
18 minutes can seem a long time but that is a) my piddly microwave's fault and b) ensuring that the steriliser's content have sufficiently cooled so as not to cause harm to you. You can't really argue with that, in fairness.
I mention the cooling period of 10 minutes as well, particularly as the lid DOES NOT LOCK. So there is a danger of scalding etc if you do not have your wits about you, even after the cooling stage.
There are, however, 4 quite deep ridges to use as the handles which gives for decent, sturdy handling.
This would be my ONLY negative about the steriliser. Having said that, the fact that it comes with 2 of the natural flow feeding system bottles and still only retails at £24.95, I would be more than happy to recommend this item to any new mum or mum-to-be. You can purchase the Dr Brown's Microwave Steam Steriliser for £24.95 from John Lewis.
With massive thanks to Dr Brown's and John Lewis, I have a Microwave Steam Steriliser up for grabs, simply fill in the rafflecopter below and keep your fingers crossed.
Pop on over to their Facebook page and let them know you're entering this competition, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to hear from you!
1. This is open to UK residents
2. Winner has 5 days to acknowledge and respond before another winner will be redrawn
3. All reasonable efforts and channels will be used to attempt contact.
4. Competition closes at midnight 5th May 2014.
All entries are checked so, as tempting as it may be to skim through the Rafflecopter entry, you will be doing yourself out of a genuine chance to win a cracking prize.
So enter genuinely because, as you've probably gathered, I do check guys.
GOOD LUCK!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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DISCAIMER: I was sent this item free of charge for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own and I have not bee paid for this post.
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