Unboxing the Philips Avent 3-in-1 electric sterilizer

*Items were purchased by myself

A sterilizer is essential for every mummy. and can be used to sterilize bottles/pacifiers/breast pumps initially or food jars when they start to wean, so it is really a good investment to get a good one that last.

A sterilizer is essential because milk actually contains alot of nutrients, and bacteria can grow in that environment. Especially when newborns have not build up their immune system, these bacteria can cause them to be really sick. In the past, people used to sterilize the old-fashion way, which is to sterilize bottles in boiling water. You will have to monitor it, and also the hot steam may scald your hand *Ouch

Now the electric sterilizers really make this process hassle-free. Plug in, switch on and they will sterilize within minutes and auto switch off. And remain sterilized for up to 24 hours. Amazing!

After much deliberation between the Avent 3-in-1 and Pigeon Rapid steam sterilizer, I decided to get the Avent one for several reasons:

1) Avent sterilizer is smaller and flat in shape, and thus more space-saving. And it can fit 6 bottles, which will be more than sufficient for me. The Pigeon one is round and can fit 7-9 bottles, which will be useful if there are more kids.

2) Avent sterilizer can keep bottles sterile for up to 24hrs, while 6hrs for Pigeon. I am planning to sterilize twice a day, once before going to bed, so I can use the bottles in the morning. So I will need the bottles to remain sterilize throughout the night before I use them in the morning.

3) Sterilization time needed for both is 6mins, so they are on par.

I was also considering the Pigeon multi-function sterilizer, which is a sterilizer, bottle and food warmer in 1. The pros will be that space-saving and cost-saving, but the cons are that if the base is spoilt, all 3 functions will be gone and also when I am sterilizing, I cannot warm a bottle at the same time.

The Avent box comes in a carrier for easy transport.

The box exterior:

Quick guide on how to use:

Freebies that comes with it:

Avent 125mL bottle

Pacifier

What I believe is used to remove the hot items from sterilizer

Contents:

Top left: ‘Lid’

Bottom left: ‘Base’

Top right: ‘Body’ (for taller items)

Bottom right: ‘Tray’ ( for smaller items and accessories)

How to assemble for your different needs:

1) Assemble all the 4 parts if you need to sterilize bottles: Put bottles in the ‘body’. Put teats in the ‘tray’.

2) Assemble all except ‘tray’ to sterilize breast pumps

3) Assemble all except ‘body’ to sterilize pacifiers and small items

Hope you enjoy this review 🙂

xoxo,

My Tommee Tippee feeding bottles and tips on choosing bottles

*Items were purchased by myself

How can choosing a bottle be so complicated.. There are so many brands in the market. Top choices include philips Avent, tommee tippee (TT), Pigeon, Dr brown etc.. They come in different sizes, and have different teats to cater for different ages. Furthermore, it is not a matter of whether you get the best in the market, rather is whether your baby likes that bottle. If your baby has colic or stomach windy issues, it could also be due to the bottle. It seems much easier to raise a baby 20 years ago than now!

It was a close fight between Avent or TT for me. Initially, I wanted to skip the smallest-sized ones since I feel they will outgrow that volume sooner or later (125mL for avent and 150mL for TT). However, although newborns require very little milk, they need very frequent feeds every 2-3 hours, so I felt that investing in the smallest-sized bottles will make my life easier, and they will also be well-utilized.

So I bought 4 TT 150mL bottles that comes with  slow flow (0m+) teats to prepare for my newborn. If it works out well, we will continue to use TT bottles (the 260mL size) with different teats (medium and fast flow versions). Hopefully the 150mL bottles can last until 4-6 months. BTW, both TT or Avent bottles are ‘BPA free’. This is an important assurance for bottles made of plastic, to avoid any harmful chemicals after rounds of sterilization. For glass bottles, don’t need to worry about BPA.

Why I chose TT over Avent?

-TT is 150mL as compared to 125mL for Avent. Probably can use longer. Although the next size up is same at 260mL.

-Avent has more bottle parts than TT, so washing and sterilizing is a little more troublesome.

-Avent has leaking issues as commented by other mummies.

-TT has a unique design, stubby and super cute. The design has practical uses, it allows for better and more comfy grip.

-Super sensitive anti-colic valve to help colic problems? Not sure whether is good until I use it.

 

My tips on choosing bottles:

– If you are planning to transition from breast to bottle, better to use wide-neck bottles. Babies will put their mouth entirely over the teats to mimic drinking from breast

 

Will update this space with the review after my baby starts using the bottles.

Have a great day mummies!

xoxo,