REVIEW – Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser

I am currently 5 months into my breastfeeding journey with Neve. As much as I love to feed her myself, we are expressing an occasional bottle for her, in the hope that I don’t get trapped as the only source of milk like I did with Erin! This way, Mike gets to give her a bottle whilst I put Erin to bed, and there is a real chance of me actually getting to going out again some point in the not to distant future!!

We were after a quick and efficient steriliser that we could use in our small kitchen but we don’t have a microwave. When we were given the chance to review the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser, this sounded like a great solution!

About the Product

The Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser is a chemical free sterilising system designed to kill 99.9 percent of germs on bottles. Designed to be fast, fuss-free and easy to use, the Close to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser can sterilise up to 5 bottles in just 5 minutes (plus cooling time) making it almost effortless to keep bottles, teats and feeding accessories safe and free from harmful germs.

Key Features:

• Oval Shape – perfect for smaller kitchens as takes up less workstation space
• Holds up to 5 bottles
• Contents stay sterile with lid closed for up to 24 hours
• Lid can be used as a sterile bottle prep surface.
• Chemical free – kills 99% of germs for worry free feeding.

The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser has an RRP of £58.99 but is often on offer at Amazon (currently almost half price at just £28.99)

Our Experience

My first impressions of the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser were good. The unit looks clean and modern, and its oval shape (as opposed to round), means that it can be pushed right back against the tiles on our work surface, taking up far less space on our counter top. We have a TINY kitchen, (probably the smallest kitchen you will ever see!) so this was a real positive.

Unlike some baby products, it was also great to see that there were very few parts in the box – simply the base unit, a two part tray system and the teat tongs. It was clear that I wouldn’t need a degree in mechanical engineering to figure this one out, and I am pretty sure even my 3 year old could put this together unaided if given the chance. There are instructions in the box, but I did not need to use them as the system just simply slots together.

The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser holds up to 5 bottles, but I was pleased that these did not have to be the Tommee Tippee brand. Although the guide holes in the tray are based on the Tommee Tippee sizing, I was able to fit a variety of bottles inside, including those from other manufacturers. When sterilising my breast pump (for which I DO need a degree in mechanical engineering!), I still had room to fit two bottles and teats alongside.

The sterilisation process itself is super easy and efficient. To use, you simply put 80ml of water into the base unit, arrange your products, pop on the lid, and press go! (Once it’s plugged in of course!) An orange light appears whilst the product is in use. It begins to heat up almost instantly, and the whole process takes just 5 minutes (with 3 minutes additional cooling time recommended).

After use, the contents of the steriliser stay sterile for 24 hours if the lid remains on. For those who are bottle feeding or having multiple bottles in a day, this is a real positive. You could fill it up and pop it on before bed, knowing that your bottles for the next day will be sterile and ready to go in the morning.

The products can easily be removed from the steriliser using the teat tongs provided. These are really useful to ensure that you do not contaminate the sterile product with your hands.

As with any steam steriliser, the product should be cleaned regularly. Any remaining water should be tipped out and wiped away, and a de-scaler should be used occasionally to ensure the base unit remains clean and few from residue.

Overall, this is a very easy to use and effective steriliser unit, and I would not hesitate to recommend based on our experience.

You can learn more about the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser on the Tommee Tippee website.

*Discclosure – I was sent a Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Steam Steriliser free of charge for the purpose of this review, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.*