A steriliser is a brilliant bit of kit for baby’s first year, whether you’re bottle feeding, pumping and storing breast milk, or cleaning dummies and teethers.
The NHS recommends all baby feeding equipment is sterilised until your little one hits their 12-month milestone in order to kill harmful bacteria while their immune system is still developing. And many parents find they’re still using a steriliser long past this point.
While it’s entirely possible to sterilise equipment the old-fashioned way – by boiling in a pan for at least ten minutes – a steriliser does all the hard work for you. It also makes the process far safer, which is key when small babies, sleep-deprived parents, and boiling water are involved.
What type of bottle steriliser should I choose?
Baby bottle sterilisers have come a long way in the last few years, and there’s now an array of clever solutions available. A cold-water steriliser is probably the most low-key option, and often the cheapest. This simple, heat-free option uses a sterilising fluid to disinfect bottles. Items must be fully submerged in the solution, and are usually sterile in about 15 minutes, although there is a little bit of watery mess involved.
What is a steam steriliser?
A steam steriliser – whether electric or microwave – kills bacteria with high temperatures. That means you’ll need to allow extra time for cooling and drying or look for a steriliser that does this for you. Microwave steam sterilisers are handy if you want something compact, and there are multifunctional options available that will also defrost frozen milk or keep baby’s bottle warm if you’re looking for an all-round feeding solution.
What is a UV steriliser?
UV sterilisers zap bacteria with – you guessed it – UV light. There’s no heat, no chemicals, and no water involved, so this is a totally fuss-free option – albeit usually with a higher price tag. These can be a good option if you live in a hard-water area and notice lots of limescale build-up with steam sterilisers. UV sterilisers come with a safety shut-off function that switches off the UV light when the steriliser is opened.
Whichever steriliser you choose, always wash and rinse your items thoroughly beforehand. Then, once it’s all been sterilised, make sure you give everything a good check over before giving it to your baby.
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Nuby UV steriliser
We were impressed by the speed of this UV steriliser, which completes a full cycle in just three minutes. It only has one setting – just pop your washed and dried bottles and accessories inside, press the button, and in three minutes everything is safe and ready to use. The external light flashes when sterilisation is in progress and stays solid when it’s done. The UV light inside automatically shuts off if the lid is opened mid-cycle, which is another tick for safety.
The steriliser itself is light and portable, which makes it easy to move to different rooms of the house, travel with, or store away in a cupboard. It’s also multifunctional – as well as bottles you can sterilise toys, household items, and even your mobile phone. If you use glow-in-the-dark soothers, the UV light is handy for quickly charging those, too. This might just be the best baby purchase you make.
Buy now £99.99, Amazon
Milton combi steriliser
This combi option can be used either as a cold-water steriliser with Milton sterilising tablets or fluid, or a microwave steriliser. Cold-water sterilisation takes 15 minutes once you’ve fully submerged everything in the solution, and although everything comes out wet, there’s no need to rinse items before they’re used. There’s space for around five bottles and teats, and it’s designed to work with any brand.
To use the steriliser in the microwave, just add 200ml water and place all your bottles in upside down. Once the lid is on, sterilisation takes from 2-6 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave. As with any microwave steriliser, the contents are hot when they come out – so you’ll need to wait another few minutes for them to cool off. That said, it’s still a fast and practical solution that gives you lots of flexibility.
Buy now £24.96, Amazon
Medela Quick Clean Microwave bags
If you’re looking for a portable option for travel, these microwave sterilising bags are brilliant. They come in a pack of five, and each one is reusable up to 20 times. Just make sure you check the box on the back each time so you know when you’re due a new one.
The bags are really easy to use – just add 60ml of water, pop your washed and rinsed items in the bag, and seal it at the top. Microwave times vary from 1.5 minutes to 6 minutes, and there’s a steam vent to pour the water out of once it’s done. These are handy to have in your baby changing bag when you’re on the move and don’t want to get caught out.
Buy now £12.81, Amazon
Milton cold water steriliser
Milton’s cold-water steriliser is as low-tech as it gets, but you can’t argue with its simplicity. Just add 5L of cold water and a Milton sterilising tablet or cap of fluid to the tub, fully submerge all your items and place the included tray on the top to keep them underwater. Pop the lid on, then flip the handle to secure it in place. Sterilisation takes 15 minutes.
Although you could use any tub for cold-water sterilisation, we like the 5L capacity of this one, which allows plenty of room for lots of items. We also found the locking carry handle useful, as well as the pouring spout when it’s time to empty the fluid out. Speaking of which, the tray doubles up as a drainage area for bottles when placed on the upturned lid, although we tended to leave ours in the fluid until we needed them.
Buy now £15.12, Boots
MAM 6 in 1 Electric Steriliser and Bottle Warmer
This steriliser manages to fit an impressive number of functions into one machine. That includes the option of microwave or electric steam sterilising, gentle and express bottle warming, food warming, defrosting, plus a keep-warm function. It means you only need to splurge on one purchase, and we were impressed at quite how compact it was considering how may features it packs in.
Another plus-point is the fact that once sterilised, items stay sterile for 48 hours – an improvement on the usual 24 hours we got with most other sterilisers. We particularly liked having the option of electric or microwave sterilising in one unit, which makes taking it out and about a breeze.
Buy now £77.00, John Lewis
Tommee Tippee Ultra UV 3-in-1 Electric Steriliser & Dryer
This UV steriliser has different options to dry, sterilise, or dry and sterilise in one go, and completes a full cycle in 60 minutes. There’s space for about six bottles depending on the brand you’re using, and once you’ve taken one out, the unit emits five minutes of UV light and five minutes of drying every two hours to keep rest of the contents sterile and ready to go. If you don’t open the door after the first cycle, everything stays sterile for 24 hours.
Size-wise, this steriliser looks like a mini fridge and takes up quite a bit of space on the worktop. That said, it’s ideal if you’re looking for something that stays put in your kitchen, offers a drying function, and doubles as bottle storage.
Buy now £149.99, Mamas and Papas
MAM Microwave Steam Steriliser
This simple microwave steam steriliser fits up to six bottles on two levels, yet it’s small enough to fit in a compact microwave. It’s easy to store away when you’re not using it, and the lid doubles up as a drainer when your bottles area ready – just use the little tongs to take your sterile items out.
This one sterilises in just five minutes, and keeps everything sterile inside for 48 hours providing you don’t open the lid. It also doubles up as a cold-water steriliser for those times when you don’t have access to a microwave, so it’s a great option for travel.
Buy now £32.00, Boots
Vital Baby NURTURE advanced pro UV steriliser & dryer
Vital Baby’s UV steriliser has four modes to choose from. The Sterilise function safely destroys 99.99 per cent of bacteria, viruses, and mould in seven minutes, while dry mode takes 17. Auto mode combines the two in 29 minutes, so you get sterile, dry contents in under half an hour.
Store mode takes things one step further by activating the UV LEDs for a minute, every hour, for up to three days. That means items are sterile for a whopping 72 hours, the longest of all the sterilisers in our shortlist. The futuristic design is available in white or black, and the touchscreen panel finishes this high-tech steriliser off perfectly.
Buy now £124.09, Amazon
Philips Avent Steriliser SCF293/01
Philips’ premium electric steriliser completes a full sterilising and drying cycle in just 40 minutes and keeps everything inside sterile for 24 hours. After steam sterilising, it uses jets of filtered air to dry bottles before turning off - so you don’t need to hang around waiting for everything to dry. There are also settings to just sterilise, or just dry, if you don’t want the full cycle. Sterilising takes 10 minutes.
This one has a slimline vertical design – the base is the sterilising unit, bottles fit in the middle section, then teats and accessories fit in the smaller section at the top. The result is a sleek steriliser that looks great in the kitchen and doesn’t take up much space on the countertop.
Buy now £84.65, Amazon
Verdict
Nuby’s UV steriliser ticks all the most important boxes – it’s portable, sterilises in record time, and the price tag doesn’t break the bank – without adding on lots of unnecessary extra features. There’s no mess to clean up, no danger of burning your fingers and no need to wait around for hours. That’s win-win for anyone with a hungry baby.
