Customer Reviews

Philips Avent Express Microwave Sterilizer

5 star:		(363)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

When our son was born 5 weeks premature, our doctor told us that sterilizing was a necessity for the first few months because of his susecptibility to infection. We bought this sterilizer and it certainly does the trick.

Whatever you think of Avent bottles, this is a great sterilizer that works for *all* bottles, pacifiers, teething toys, breast pump attachments, and anything that can be steam sterilized. The only difficult thing was figuring out the wattage on our microwave (it was on the back panel) which determines how long you have to "nuke" the sterilizer.

It is small enough to make it fairly simple to travel with, and large enough to hold four small (8 oz) bottles or two bigger ones (16 oz).

The standard filling-out-the-registry question:
Do you *need* a sterilizer? Not always. Our doctor said it was necessary for pre-term babies, but in other cases a dishwasher will go a long way towards keeping things clean; especially if you have well water and enough bottles to keep you while your washer goes through the cycle. [If cost is a factor], then there are probably other things you should be spending money on. But we found that it was well worth the money in terms of time and convenience.

The steam sterilizer is definitely easy and convenient. Just pour 200 mls of water, add your microwaveable bottles, nipples, breast-pump parts, etc...place in the microwave and a few short minutes later, you've got sterile supplies. This is excellent if you don't own a dishwasher, as stated by a previous reviewer. However, if you have access to a dishwasher, this gadget is just a gadget. I find it takes more time and effort to retrieve the sterilizer, set up the bottles, nipples etc... than to just pop it into the dishwasher. (This is especially true when you have you're a first-time mother overwhelmed with a new baby ~TRUST ME on this one.) If you have a healthy full-term baby, it's not really necessary to sterilize items everytime, a run through the hot water cycle in the dishwasher is sufficient. If you don't have a dishwasher, then by all means I recommend it. If you do, skip it. I've only used this once, and since then I've simply used the dishwasher.

After nearly burning myself while sterilizing bottles on the stove, I decided it was time to find a better way! This product is it! One of the best things about it is you can put any brand of bottles in it, not just Avent. I've had no trouble with larger bottles--I can fit four 9-ounce Gerber bottles, along with four pacifiers. And it's very easy to use: I just rinse out the bottles/nipples, put all the parts in, pour in the water, microwave on high for 5 minutes, let it cool down, and you've got bottles ready to use. I also like that I can put the stuff in late at night, and go to sleep, without worrying about staying up to watch stuff on the stove. I use it constantly, so it was worth every penny!

If you want to sterilize bottles and pacifiers this is the product to have. It is very quick - 5 minutes in our microwave and you are done. Yes, you can put these items in the dishwasher but I hate to run the DW for just a load of bottles. You also need to have a special basket to keep the various bottle parts from falling to the bottom of the dishwasher.

Yes, there is condensation, but we keep a bottle rack next to the sink and let them air dry for a few hours. If you hand washed you would also have to let them air dry so I really don't see the point of this complaint.

Avent is very durable - we have had ours over 3 years now and have been doing bottles daily and it has not cracked or broken. Child #3 is on the way so we will be using it for at least another two years.

I agree with everyone else... I love this sterilizer!!! I registered for this based on the reviews I saw here on Amazon.com and was not disappointed!!! This is fast and easy to use... takes only 5 minutes and you have clean, sterile pacifiers, bottles, brest pump parts, etc. Some of my friends told me not to bother registering for a sterilizer because they get just as clean in a dishwasher, but I don't always run the dishwasher daily. This is much easier to use and I can use it several times a day without running my dishwasher. I would highly recommend it.

This bottle sterilizer has been a real time-saver. We started out boiling all of our son's bottles, and since I'm not breastfeeding, there were quite a few, especially when he was a newborn and eating every three hours or so. I wish I had had this from the beginning. Boiling works just fine for awhile, but when he started eating more at one time and we went to bigger bottles, we also had to go to bigger pans or more time boiling. We tried the dishwasher, but bottles overturn, fill with water and you end up washing by hand and boiling anyway. The microwave works well, keeps the bottles clean, and you can put any kind of bottle, nipple, or cap in the sterilizer that is microwave safe. I highly recommend this.

At first I thought this was a big gimmick, but after I used it a couple of times I decided it was wonderful. Microwave steam sterilizing is SO much easier than boiling things, and you don't have the risk of forgetting your bottles on the stove and burning them up (this has happened to several of my friends). The big plus that I never realized, though, is that you don't get the mineral deposits with microwave sterilizing that you get with boiling. We have relatively hard water, and when I boil bottles there is always a thin white film of minerals left on the bottle that I have to clean off - it's a real pain. Microwave sterilizing doesn't leave that residue. Overall I thought this was a great product.

If you're in a pinch for money, I'm not sure that you need to have this particular container to microwave things in - it has a nice rack and directions about how long to microwave and how much water to put in, all of which are helpful, but I'm not really sure that you couldn't accomplish the same thing with a large tupperware container, for example. The rack is nice, though, and that would be an advantage of this container. You have to decide if the rack is worth the extra money or not.

My daughter is nearly 6 mo. old now, and we have been using this item since I started using a breast pump when she was 3 weeks old. It is still in great shape, and I imagine that it will still be when we have another baby in a few years. It is so quick and easy to use, and it really gives you that added peace of mind about your child's health. Just add 7 oz. of water and set the microwave on 4 minutes. Word of caution: the sterilizer does get EXTREMELY HOT (in order to do its job), so don't even try to handle it with your bare hands...use oven mitts. I use a Medela Pump in Style and the milk containers for it fit nicely into this sterlizer. I recommend this item to everyone that uses a bottle, either occasionally like me or those that strictly bottle feed!

I am a mother of an 8 month old, who still breastfeeds, even though I am working full time. This has been a wonderful time saver for me as I pump at work, and must sterilize the parts and bottles every day. It makes my life less complicated and leaves me more time to spend with my daughter!! I have not seen another product like this on the market, but I truly believe that it is worth the price, which is not high in my opinion!! I have come to trust the Avent line, including the bottles, pacifiers, and especially this steam sterilizer!!

This sterilizer was convenient and easy to use... before I got the microwave steamer I boiled my bottle and pump parts on the stove. As a new mom...my attention span was not always good...and I often forgot to turn the stove off after five minutes and would return later to find all the water had boiled off in the pot. :( The steamer is faster and safer...and you can fit a good number of bottles, along with pump parts, in the steamer. An added bonus? Your bottles/pump parts stay sterile for up to 3 hours if you leave the top down... I found this to be an excellent product.