Philips Avent Microwave Steam Sterilizer for Baby Bottles, Pacifiers, Cups and More (model SCF281/02)

Product Information

It takes one touch of a button to start a cycle and, if you have any accompanying Tommee Tippee bottles, each bottle is clearly marked to show how much water to add to the steriliser – a thoughtful touch that our tester really appreciated.

As we aged out of sterilizing, we still valued the dryer. In 30 minutes, bottles would go from dripping water to dry, which helped when we needed to prep for the next feeding," says Bykofsky. "Pump parts fit in too, which was a godsend when I forgot to wash a pump part and had 30 minutes until the next session. We still run the dryer every night with toddler cups." Since steam bottle sterilizers require water, you'll need to add some to yours before using. Many recommend using distilled water; make sure what yours requires and have distilled water ready if needed.

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. Don’t rinse equipment off again afterwards as the water won’t be sterile. You don’t need to dry them as the cloth likely isn’t sterile either – just shake off the excess moisture and make sure it’s cooled down completely. When can you stop sterilising baby bottles? I use the Dr. Browns bottle warmer. It works great with other bottles other than dr.browns. I also use it to thaw out breastmilk." While it is a personal choice for your family, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends sterilizing bottles and parts once a day, especially for babies younger than three months, born prematurely, or have a weakened immune system. Although not mandatory, it is recommended to always sterilize new bottles before using them and if your doctor has recommended sterilizing bottles between feedings, you might like the convenience of being able to load and run a sterilizer without needing to boil water every time, especially if you have multiple babies.

Because travel sterilisers need to be compact enough to carry around, they’re usually short on bells and whistles. What we loved about the Milton Solo was that, travel steriliser or not, it’s more adaptable and comes with more useful design features than any other travel model we tested. We got the Baby Brezza bottle sterilizer because it was the only one we could find that also dried the bottles. It's great!" We spoke with three moms on BabyCenter's staff about their experience with three of the bottle sterilizers on this list Have multiple babies, use a lot of bottles per day or want to sterilise a variety of items including breast pumps, toys and dummies In the hazy days with a new baby, keeping them safe is the number one priority – and also likely to be the biggest source of anxiety for parents. A steriliser can be used to kill bacteria found on lots of different baby feeding equipment like baby bottles, teats and breast pump parts. But which is the best steriliser to make your feeding schedules easier to juggle? After our latest intensive round of testing, we’ve got all the information you’ll need about our favourites.

The inner tray is formed with notches to position the four bottles it can hold, which means they’ll stay in place throughout the cycle and sterilise properly.

The sterilisation cycle is just five minutes, one of the shortest from an electric steriliser we tested. If the lid isn’t removed, everything inside stays sterile for 24 hours after running a cycle. While the initial outlay is more than a microwave steriliser, it’s considerably cheaper to run. Altogether, the Tommee Tippee Super-Steam is a reliable, thoughtfully-designed steriliser that’s widely available, well-supported and should do its job consistently over time – a lifesaver to an overloaded new parent and a worthy winner of this year’s Mumsnet Best Steriliser award. MAM’s contribution to the steriliser market is this all-singing, all-dancing multi-part steriliser with six functions: microwave sterilising, electric sterilising, express bottle warming, gentle bottle warming, a defrost and warming option for milk and food, and, finally, a keep-warm function. While obviously larger than a travel model, the Philips Avent Microwave Steam Steriliser is still smaller than an electric unit and therefore easier to store when not in use, in a cupboard or in the microwave itself. Tommee Tippee has put a great deal of thought into the redesign of their electric steam steriliser and it really shows. The Tommee Tippee Super-Steam Advanced Electric Steriliser is made from tough BPA-free plastics and is exceptionally straightforward to use, with plenty of room for bottles and breast pump parts over two tiers.Karen adds that the Hauture fits comfortably on her counter, and likes that the machine can be used to sterilize, dry, and store bottles.