Do I need a prep machine and steriliser?

I would say - if you are going to use formula at all then they both make life a hell of a lot easier. I breast fed but had to stop at 4 weeks. Then used them both from there. The prep machine saves a lot of time and you know you’re making the perfect bottle with no issues/waiting around. You can get them second hand on fb marketplace and you can fully clean them, new filter and cleaning cycle. The steriliser is needed unless you want to sterilise your bottles with other methods - but I think this is the quickest way

You definitely don’t need a prep machine. Sterilisers are good for dummies and pump parts (if you end up pumping at all) and later teething toys etc. I use a Milton cold water steriliser ☺️

Sterilizer will be a life saver because you will need to sterilize any bottles they get before 3 months. Prep machine is totally up to you, not necessary but might be nice

You don't need a prep machine. We had one and it made our bubba a bit poorly! You can get a nuby which cools down a feed quickly which is better than the prep machine in my eyes. We had a UV steriliser and it was so good! Quick and handy to use. :) x

@MK if using formula you need to sterilise every bottle so for a year

I've heard the prep machines often grow mold inside

You don’t need the prep machine. As your planing to breastfeed a cold water steriliser would be the best option. If breastfeeding goes well you should invest in a pump. I have the spectra S1 but wouldn’t purchase it until you know for sure you will be going ahead with breastfeeding. There are bottles you can sterilise in the microwave.

@Abi according to the CDC only requires sterilizing for the first 3 months unless immunocompromised.

@MK the person who posted this and myself are in the UK. If using ANY formula you must sterilise bottles.

@Abi interesting to know that the recommendations are different! I wonder if it's to do with how the formula is sterilized initially in the packaging. Thanks for educating me on a different country's way!

@MK yeh it’s purely because of the formula apparently not being sterile. But don’t know why this is different to the US X

If your planning to breastfeed I’d focus on a good breast pump and a few bottles (3 max)

Nuby Rapidcool instead! Milton cold water steriliser. On top of the above the prep machine can sometimes cause extra gas (but then so can shaking a bottle of formula). Join the Mama East buy and sell group on FB they’re always popping up second hand there

Get the mommy cozy sterilize!! 100$ on Amazon, has three layers, and can do up to 6 bottles. There are different settings as well for pumps! I wouldn’t waste your money on a prep bottle maker. I would invest in a water jug that produces hot and cold water. It has been a life saver for us and also provides us with clean water to drink

Don't bother with prep machine. Midwifes and health visitor will tell you that as they don't get to temp and full of bacteria.

I don't use either...I've got a rapid cooler to make the bottles and I use mam bottles so I sterilise them in the microwave! Rapid cooler cools the bottle within a few minutes and the mam bottles is 3 minutes +1 minute for every additional bottle in the microwave

The steriliser is a must, it's easier to put everything in there ready for use (used the Tommee tippee the one for microwave) but prep machine is pretty useless because it doesn't sterilise the powder.

Neither are a necessity. You can sterilise anything by boiling in hot water for 5mins.

I bought both ready for baby as everyone said they would be a god send and didn’t use either! Literally sold them boxed and unopened on Facebook. I BF till 13 months and gave formula at night from 4mths. I just made a bottle of powder up from the kettle and used a Nuby rapid cool and MAM bottles that sterilise lose in the microwave. We didn’t use dummies. Saved a lot of work top space!!! You can always buy it later if you need it but wouldn’t rush on the assumption you will need it.

Prep machines are lovely. However, the one I tried was SO noisy that I gave up on them. Now I just have a rotation of 6 bottles. And 2 formula tubs that hold 4 bottles of fomula per tub. Whenever she naps, I wash any bottles she has used and refill it with sterilised water (boild water) from a thermos, so I don't have to keep boiling the kettle. That's been a time and life saver... Depending on the brand of bottle you go for... Most brands you need a separate steriliser. I use MAM bottles, they're super easy to clean and they self sterilise, meaning: You take the teet off and put it inside the bottle with some water, place the cap loosely back on top and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. And it's done. 😊 I love them and thankfully baby prefers them too. I hope breastfeeding works out for you, it didn't for us. But you'll find what works best for you as you go ( I'm FTM as well) 😊 you got this xx

I only bought a prep machine when breastfeeding didn’t work out for me. You will need a steriliser but you can get microwave ones which are a lot cheaper. I use MAM bottles so don’t actually need to use my other steriliser x

Avoid prep machine if you can, evidence to show they don’t always hit the right temp to actually sterilize the formula and can make babies quite poorly. Also easy for them to grow mold! Pre make your bottles in the morning (or night before) and store in the fridge for up to 24 hours then heat as you need them. We never used an electric sterilizer, just a Milton cold water one x

Prep machine hasn't caused us or my friend any issues so far, as long as you change the filter and clean it out when needed. Been a life saver for us. We have the nuby rapid cool for when we're out, but it needs sterilising after every use, unless you're doing the hot shot method. We don't have a steriliser, just do cold water sterilisation for the nuby and we have MAM bottles which you can do in the microwave, love them 👌

@Becca same it’s completely safe and does sterilise the formula. All my friends and family have used it with no issues x

Also new tommee tippee bottles are self sterilising now so you can also do them in microwave like mam x

@Abi it’s not always completely safe. I tested the temp of the water on mine and it was only in the 50 degrees, it needs to be above 70 to kill the bacteria in the formula so in that case it would not have sterilised it completely. As a one off it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world but continuously happening could make your baby extremely ill. I appreciate you or your family/friends have not had issues but that does mean that issues don’t happen.

This was me and I was left completely unprepared when my baby kept failing to latch I would get it and not unbox it so if you don’t use it you can easily sell it on or return it if it’s within the right amount of days xxx