Finding the Best Bottle Warmer and Sterilizer

With there being so many different baby related appliances on the market these days, it becomes a question of where you will actually find space on your kitchen bench to place them all.

Someone had the right idea with the creation of a baby bottle warmer and sterilizer built in one!

This article walks through what makes a good baby bottle warmer and sterilizer, what are some of the best baby bottle warmer and sterilizer's on the market. Our pick was the  coming in at  makes this a great buy! Some of the stand out features of this unit include:

• Heats two bottles at a time - Perfect for those with multiples like us!
• ​Keeps bottles warm for 24 hours
• Heats bottles on timer
• ​​Sterilizes bottles and pacifiers
• Defrosts baby food
• Heats baby formula
• Fries an egg! (Not sure how important that is...)

Things to Look for When Buying a Baby Bottle Warmer and Sterilizer

How Many Bottles at Once

If you’re like us and have twins, you want a unit that is capable of heating more than one baby bottle. Keep your eyes peeled for a unit that is capable of heating more than one baby bottle at once.

How Long Does it take to Sterilize?

Sterilizing baby bottles with a dedicated baby bottle sterilizer generally takes 4-6 minutes.

We recommend looking for a unit that is around this duration.

What is the Unit Capable of Warming

Help future proof yourself by looking for a unit which is capable of doing more than warming a bottle of baby milk. Most units are also capable of heating through baby formula and reheating frozen puree.

How Does the Unit Heat a Bottle? 

Baby bottle warmers heat bottles using two different methods to heat your baby bottle.

These include:

1. Chamber based - Immerses the baby bottle in a chamber of water which is then heated slowly. This method is a bit slower but has less risk of the milk being burnt.
2. Steam based - Generally a more faster way of heating your milk, steam based heating immerses the baby bottle in steam.  As this heats the bottle quickly using steam, this method can run the risk of over-heating your baby milk if you don't keep a mindful eye.

Which style is best? We generally recommend chamber based heating as it's more consistent however it's great if you're able to find a unit that does both for those times that you need the milk heated as soon as possible!

How Long Does it Take to Heat the Bottle? 

Generally the quickest units are capable of heating a bottle in 3 minutes.

An acceptable range is somewhere between 3-6 minutes. Any longer and you should probably skip that unit...

Ability to Manually Set the Temperature

No baby is the same as others and your baby may have a preference to how warm they like their warmed milk. Different units allow the option of being able to manually dial in the temperature which we found great for those warmer months.

Keeps Bottle Warm

Some units come with the ability to keep a bottle warm after being heated.

We find this feature especially useful when we dream feed our twin boys at night time where one of us is feeding one baby at a time. By having this feature, we can heat both bottles and keep the other bottle warm until we are ready to use it.

Timer Mode

Looking after a baby can be hard work and sometimes it's easy to lose track of time. For this reason, look for a unit which has a timer mode so you can put the bottle in the warmer, set the timer and not have to worry about the unit over-heating

Defrosts Milk

Do you occasionally freeze your expressed breast pump? If so, look for a unit that is capable of defrosting your milk safely.

Cleaning of the Unit

When buying a bottle sterilizer and breast milk warmer, you're buying it for the convenience of it saving time for you.

Be careful not to buy a unit that requires a considerable amount of effort to keep clean by having to pull it apart. 

TBI Pro Bottle Warmer 5-in-1 Premium Bottle Warmer and Sterilizer

As the name suggests, the  is capable of many things including:

1. Warm breast milk
2. Defrosts breast milk
3. Heat baby formula
4. Heat baby food
5. Sterilize baby bottles

The TBI Pro comes with compatibility to fit all major bottle brands and is capable of heating a 200ml glass baby bottle in 8 minutes.

One downside to the TBI Pro is how slow it takes to heat bigger bottles. As an example, if you're looking to heat a 500 ml plastic bottle, you're looking at waiting 23 minutes for the milk to reach 40 degrees (celsius). 

One of the things we loved about the TBI Pro Bottle Warmer was the timer mode. You can set the timer from 5 minutes to 2 hours and once the bottle reaches its temperature, the TBI Pro will keep at it an optimal temperature until you're ready to use the bottle. We found this particularly useful for those night feeds where you just need a warm bottle ready to go for your baby.

OMORC Bottle Sterilizer and Dryer for Baby 5-in-1

The  is a 5-in-1 unit capable of:

1. Sterilize and dry your baby bottles and accessories
2. Sterilize
3. Drying
4. Warm breast milk and formula
5. Heat baby food

We'd argue it's more a 3-in-1 unit but hey! They argue it as a 5-in-1 unit so we'll go with that...! 

The OMORC Bottle Sterilizer and Dryer is capable of heating both baby breast milk and baby food which is placed at the top of the unit and heats using steam from the bottom chamber.

Generally most bottle sterilizers on the market have between 200-320 watts of power. The OMORC on the other hand comes with 550 watts of power which helps it generate intense levels of steam in a short amount of time. The OMORC is capable if sterilizing bottles in 6-15 minutes depending on how much is being cleaned. 

Two things we loved about the OMOROC was the capacity and dry functions. The unit is capable of sterilizing 5 baby bottles at once which was much more than some of the other units we reviewed.  We generally found that most units are capable of sterilizing a bottle but not able to dry the bottle. This was great that the OMOROC came with the ability to also dry bottles after steam cleaning them.

Yoego 3-in-1 Baby Bottle Warmer

Like other products reviewed in this article and as the name suggests, the is a 3-in-1 unit capable of:

1. Warming baby breast milk
2. Heating baby food
3. Sterilizing baby bottles and accessories

The Yoego is designed using a water based chamber (rather than steam) to heat the bottles. Generally we find this style of heating  slower but more consistent than steam based heating. 

One feature we loved about the Yoego was the ability to heat two bottles at once. This is a must with anyone with twins that are looking to heat more than one bottle at a time. 

One downside of the Yoego is that it does not come with a timer mode meaning you cannot put bottles in the unit to heat a specific time.

Smartip 6-in-1 Baby Bottle Warmer, Bottle Sterilizer and Baby Food Heater

The is very different to some of the other units we've reviewed with its ability to perform 6-in-1 functions! The unit capable of:

1. Warming breast milk
2. heating baby food
3. Sterilizing baby bottles and gadgets
4. Boiling eggs
5. Defrosting milk storage bags
6. Squeezing orange juice

The Smartip is capable of heating a bottle of baby milk in 6-8 minutes which is on par to other units we reviewed in this article.

While from a sterilisation side, the Smartip is able to sterilize bottles and accessories in just 12 minutes. 

We were also happy to see that the Smartip 6-in-1 came with a timer mode.

One down side to the Smartip 6-in-1 unit is that it is only capable of heating one bottle at once. Not great if you have twins and need two bottles heated in a rush.

Gourmia Jr. Baby Bottle Sterilizer and Bottle Warmer

The is a 2-in-1 unit capable of both heating and sterilizing baby bottles. Sure, it might not poach an egg like other units we reviewed, but it's one of our favourites.

One thing we loved about the Gourmia Jr Baby Bottle Sterilizer is that it is capable of simultaneously sterilizing 6 baby bottles while you are warming a baby bottle. 

Another plus for the Gourmia Jr is that it is compatible with all major bottle brands (Philips, Dr Brown, Medela, etc).

One downside for the Gourmia Jr was the lack of temperature control meaning you're unable to manually set the temperature to your choosing. For most people, this will be fine but for others, it may be an issue.

Elechomes Baby Bottle Warmer, Bottle Steam Sterilizer and Baby Food Heater

The  is a 6 in 1 warmer and Sterilizer capable of many things including:

1. Warm bottles
2. Brew formula
3. Heat baby food
4. Defrost frozen baby food
5. Sterilizer bottles and pacifiers
6. Boil eggs

We’re not quite sure why all these units are also capable of frying eggs. Perhaps they think it’s what tired parents are craving mid way during the night when they are making up baby milk bottles in angst?

One of the things we loved about the Elechome was the dual bottle heater design which works great for people like us who have twins. This is a life saver and enables you to warm two bottles at the same time.

Another bonus for the Elechome 6 in 1 machine was the inclusion of presets which allow you to quickly warm your breast milk bottles to your favourite temperature.  The user interface easily allows you to increase or decrease the temperature until you get it just right.

The Elechome Baby Bottle Warmer and Sterilizer includes a timer option which allows you to keep bottles warm at a steady temperature of up to 24 hours. Just think, you’re about to go to bed but you know your baby (or babies!) will be up in a few hours wanting milk. Why not take the pain out of the process and have the bottles pre-warmed and ready to go when your baby wakes up? Luckily, the Elechome is capable of keeping bottles warm or even warming bottles on a timer mode.