If you are a new parent, you will know what the word ‘bottle warmer’ means. That’s right, just that device for heating infant milk in the first months of life. Preparing a bottle may seem like a simple operation, but when we are in a hurry, it is not so impossible to make mistakes.
It often happens to prepare too hot or too cold milk at the least appropriate time. With the bottle warmer, you do not take these risks. It will save you time, and your baby will thank you for having the milk ready in seconds.
Modern technology has produced innovations on many articles dedicated to babies; among these, many types of bottle warmers have been developed, some surprising.
Right below we had listed out the best bottle warmers.
What to Look for Before Buying Bottle Warmers?
What Is a Bottle Warmer?
As the name suggests, it is an appliance or small appliance that allows you to heat our baby’s bottle. It will enable you to keep the milk inside the bottle at the right temperature using electricity or a thermos, without using the microwave. The aim is to feed your child at any time of the day (or night).
What Is the Main Purpose of A Bottle Warmer?
The bottle warmer helps you prepare baby food quickly, so you don’t have to keep it waiting. You can still make the bottle as our grandparents did in a bain-marie, but if you don’t have time and your baby starts to tantrum, nothing is more efficient than a bottle warmer. It’s even more comfortable if you have twins: three minutes and you’re done!
Why Spend on A Bottle Warmer?
Because you can feed your baby even when you go on a trip or decide to go shopping in the city, there is no risk of milk being overheated because the bottle warmer usually includes an automatic switch-off function. Also, it retains all the vitamins and nutritional benefits of breast milk or infant formula.
Why Isn’t It a Good Idea to Warm Baby’s Milk in The Microwave?
First, because if it is breast milk, it is easy to exceed the ideal heating temperature so that its nutritional properties could be lost. Second, even when it comes to infant formula, the microwave oven does not guarantee a homogeneous temperature to the liquid to be heated, so there is a risk of burns for the baby.
What Are the Advantages of A Bottle Warmer?
A bottle warmer has many advantages when a new member arrives in the family. In addition to the time saved in the tedious task of preparing infant formula, you will be able to make your baby happier every time he is hungry.
In the following list, we summarize the most positive aspects of this device, present in homes for several decades:
- Nutrient Storage: Especially if you are a nursing mother who wants to preserve the benefits of breast milk, you will already know that you should not heat it in the microwave.
- Uniformity: The milk’s temperature is distributed evenly, which does not happen with the microwave, so it is one more reason to opt for a bottle warmer.
- Accuracy: Current bottle warmers achieve high precision in terms of the temperature of the milk or baby food, a significant advantage compared to traditional methods. As you know, the ideal temperature is around 36 degrees Celsius, like body temperature.
- Speed: This is one of the significant advantages of the bottle warmer. You no longer need pots, pans, and thermometers to prepare your baby’s bottles. Depending on the manufacturer, it can take anywhere from 90 seconds to seven minutes, not more.
How Do You Clean the Bottle Warmer?
First, you need to turn off the power. Then you have to disassemble the removable pieces and wash them in the dishwasher. To clean the body of the appliance, wipe with a damp cloth.
Do not use abrasive cleaning products. You will also have to deal with the limescale deposits that usually appear when you use tap water. If you want to avoid the descaling process, use distilled or boiled water at low temperatures. You can also use a specific descaling product, in addition to following the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Dimensions
For parents of twins or more, it is essential to consider the size of the bottle warmer. Not only to find out if it is possible to prepare more than one bottle at a time, but also to understand if it can be used easily with wide-mouth bottles. Furthermore, “large caliber” bottle warmers tend to have multiple functions, even if they are more expensive.
Automatic Shutdown and Heat Maintenance
Almost all bottle warmers have an automatic shutdown to protect milk from overheating. Depending on the model, this function affects the temperature of the water, that of the heating plate, and the passage of time.
In case you are a tendentially absent-minded person, this feature will come in very handy because you won’t need to pay too much attention to the bottle warmer.
On the other hand, the additional function of keeping warm, and the fact that it turns on automatically if the temperature drops, is handy. However, the integrated thermostat must have the control function, which is used to measure the water temperature in the device at regular intervals.
Ease of Use
It seems obvious, but the bottle warmer should be easy to use, even in stressful everyday situations. Often parents hold their baby in the neck while he is hungry and has little time to use the appliance. Make sure that the bottle warmer works in a few moves and guarantees the desired temperature in a few minutes.
Acoustic and Luminous Signal
Your bottle warmer must include acoustic and luminous warnings to indicate, for example, that your baby’s baby food is already ready at the desired temperature. It can be an acoustic signal or an LED light, but this criterion is always necessary, so you don’t have to worry about the bottle warmer while cuddling your baby.
Universality
Another relevant question is the universality of the appliance if you think of purchasing a bottle warmer. That is, if your model is capable of heating bottles of any brand or if it only supports compatible containers. With a child at home, you will manage more than one bottle, from here, you can understand the importance of this feature for parents.
Although many manufacturers claim that their bottle warmers are only compatible with bottles from their brand, they can be used with other companies and even of different sizes.
Safety
In general, children’s devices have strict safety standards, but it is essential to check them to avoid unpleasant surprises. You already know that most of the time, ‘who spends more spend less.’ Check your electrical connection and disconnection systems and throw away leftover water at the end of the heating process.
Additional Functions
In addition to the function of heating children’s food, a bottle warmer can include other features that you will find extremely useful. This is the case of appliances that include the possibility of sterilizing bottles and teats.
With the following list, you can analyze which extras the bottle warmer you want can incorporate:
- Sterilization: Some models include the option to boil water and thus eliminate all traces of unwanted bacteria and microorganisms. It can be instrumental if your baby is still very young.
- Jars and Homogenised: There are models that not only heat liquids but also offer heating containers, jars, and homogenized for children. It is a function that you will appreciate over time.
- Defrosting: There are more and more bottle warmers with the defrosting purpose. This is a great option that will save you a lot of time if you are in the habit of breast milk.
- Juicer: The high-end models include a juicer to prepare nutritious and healthy juices for your little one. This avoids the separate purchase of another useful accessory.
