Sterilisers - where to start?!

Hi Ladies,

I'm looking into sterilisers for a buyers guide in PP mag and would love your top tips on how to choose one and what to look out for when you're buying.

What are the most important things to think about and is there anything you wish you'd known before you splashed the cash?

Must appreciated!

Kimberley x

First time round we bought a cold water tank but the tablets in the water really effected my skin. My hands and espcecially my fingertips were so dry and cracked.

Second time we got a Close to nature microware one and it was awesome. So quick, compact, kept everything together. Loved it. It was good because it had a holder so you knew if you'd misplaced something.

I inherited an Avent electric steriliser and find it a lot less hassle than the microwave one I use at Granny and Grandad's house.  Although it's not as easy to hide away, there's less measuring water and all I do is flick a button to set it going.

Things I would think about when buying a steriliser:

 1)  Space - is there space in my kitchen for an electric steriliser to be out on the side, or should I hide one away in my microwave?

2) Is my microwave the right size for a microwave steamer?

3) What brand bottles am I going to use?  We were given some Tommee Tippee bottles which I struggle to fit into our Avent steriliser.

4)  How many bottles am I going to sterilise at once - I find the electric steriliser easier to arrange a greater number of bottles than the microwave one.

I loved my sterilizer we got the electric Avent one and it was fab, really easy to use and take on holiday too, i had it out on the side in my kitchen all the time we needed it, i love the click of a button and its going.  I found it easy to clean too.  I would recommend to anyone.

i love our avent microwavable steriliser as it can steralise upto six bottles at a time and its really simple no messing around with  buttons simply pop it in the microwave and a few minutes later your ready to go

I'm using a cold water steriliser from Mothercare at the moment together with Milton tablets. I'm finding it's brilliant as the running costs are very low (just cold water, changed every 24 hours and get the tablets when they're on special offer), plus it only takes 15 minutes to sterilise something when using Milton tablets.  An added bonus is that everything remains cold so no chance of burning me or Baby Fear. We went on a holiday for three weeks and got a travel cold water steriliser from Asda (that you could also microwave if the mood took you!) and it worked perfectly - just used a part tablet!  Milton tablets also seem to have less of a taste/odour so no funny faces pulled by Baby Fear. ;0)