bottle sterilizer needed? best bottle warmer?

lightningrod

Is a bottle sterilizer really needed? My parents used to boil the bottles. We are looking at the comfort teepee bottles. They got good reviews.

AKB090609

Not necessary, as far as bottles go it may not be up to you. Some babies are picky (mine was) I would only get a few of the ones you think you want to use and see how it goes. As far as a warmer we used our Keurig to warm up water and then put the bottles in the warm water to heat up I found that bottle warmers tended to make the bottles too hot.

LittleFish1

My LO didn't take too many bottles & was happy with room temperature formula on the rare occassions she got it.

Initially we were just boilling on the stove in a pot. More recently, we have been doing the Medela microwave steam sterilazation bags (name is probably different; they market them as being for pump parts however the bags are nice & compact, and I could fit 2 to 3 small bottles inside at a time)

diamondduck13

Boiling water in a pot or the Medea sterilization bags

Hot water in a bowl for warming bottles until I discovered baby was happy drinking them cold

LittleApple

You only need to sterilize bottles before the first use.

I actually liked my bottle warmer.  My kids liked their breast milk to be body temperature and putting the bottle in hot water took too long.

lightningrod

My wife is not BF so it will be formula only so we are trying to prep registry if we need bottle warmer or sterilizer which I already removed.

amief

If possible I'd try to see if the baby will take room temp anyway before investing in a bottle warmer.  My son actually likes it cold out of the fridge or room temp, so we didn't need a bottle warmer.  This is great because when we are out and about I don't have to worry about trying to warm it.  

I would highly recommend looking into the Dr. Browns formula pitcher though.  I love mixing up a whole pitcher (it is great for reducing clumps too) and then putting it in the fridge.  When the baby is hungry it is soooo much faster to get him a bottle.  

AKB090609

lightningrod said:

My wife is not BF so it will be formula only so we are trying to prep registry if we need bottle warmer or sterilizer which I already removed.

In that case I would for sure skip the warmer and do what I could to get baby to take room temperature or cold bottles.

LittleFish1

@lightningrod - good for you at participating on here! We love involved Dads!

lightningrod

Thanks I am trying my best to make sure the registry is practical and not nonsense as well as preparing for the main points on caring for a baby. I know formula, diapers and sleeping are the big areas lol. The stroller, car seat we have taken care of so I wanted to make sure I had the formula aspect resolved. I am assuming the formula is powder.

SunAndRain

Neither of those items are necessary, nor, IMO practical.  I skipped them, never missed them and I'm all about convenience.

Are you certain you'll use formula?  Have you ruled out breast feeding?  I'm not trying to start a debate but you don't want to load up on formula, obviously.  Also, if you do go with formula, your baby may not tolerate some so again, don't load up!

lmsmith1222

^WSS.

And if you're truly 100% on formula then I'd say yes no bottle warmer necessary. You can microwave the water before mixing I think, you just can't microwave BM. My LO wanted his BM warm and when he's crying didn't want to wait for hot water to slowly warm it up so we used a bottle warmer a lot. Sterilizer not so much I just sterilized them the first time and just washed them normally after that.

Mimaloo

I just asked my friend the same question. She told me that she tried boiling and stuff melted. So I kept the sterilizer on my registry. 

My cousin said she never used hers - just ran everything through the dishwasher. 

FmrAFBrat

I just got a $15 Munchkin sterilizer from Walmart. I never used a bottle warmer. With this baby I use Tommee Tippee. After 6 months I just use the dishwasher.

melaport

Bottle warmer not necessary and can set you up for a very unhappy baby later on when you are out somewhere and can't heat the bottle. Bottle sterilizer also not necessary just use a big pot and water. I have very hard water so have to use distiller to avoid a residue. Be careful with powdered formula initially. It is definitely cheaper but it was recommended to use the liquid in the first 3 months due to the amount of bubbles that will stay in the powdered once mixed making it difficult for baby to digest and making baby gassy.

AshleyF1234

For me, it was a necessity... I breastfed from boob, pumped milk and fed him from bottle and did formula. The formula and breastmilk pumped, had to be stored in refrigerator or freezer. When I made a bottle, it was cold and needed to be heated. My baby is used to taking liquids at room temperature but he can't stand it if it was cold.

The bottle warmer was easier to use than boiling water on stove or running under hot tap. I had a 4-5oz bottle of refrigerated milk, warm in about 2 minutes. I used Munchkin brand.

Also, I used a steam bottle warmer, it heats a lot quicker than electric.  I can throw small things in there to sterilize them in minutes. It also has been helpful to heat up small jars of his food food.

foodieforlife

fill a glass measuring cup of water and heat in microwave for 2 minutes. Place bottle in it for 2 minutes. done.
I was a nanny and learned all kinds of tricks from some awesome mamas!

drpayne

I used neither.  I agree with putting the bottle in hot water to warm it.  Never used a sterilizer... Well, I did once and gave it away.  It melted a pacifier   You only need to sanitize (the dishwasher is fine) them before first use or if you have a premie.