Baby Product Review_Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer VS Avent Steam Sterilizer

Sterilizers now seem like a common thing in most households with babies these days due to its convenience for new parents especially. There are a few brands and types of ssterilizers in the market to choose from and for this post I'll be reviewing two types, i.e. Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer VS Avent Steam Sterilizer.

The Avent Steam Sterilizer was my first purchase. Back then I didn't have much ideas of the types and brands of sterilizers available in the market so I bought a random one at a baby fair. I was heavily pregnant when hubs & I went shopping to prep for baby Fayth's arrival so we just grabbed an affordable one and moved on to the next item on my check list.

Recently got ourselves a new Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer, I must say its much more convenient & efficient compared to our old one. Let's take a quick look....

At first glance, I like how the outlook of the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer is - looks like a mini refrigerator, with the modern-looking glass door and all. Cute in baby blue & white. Would have loved a pink one though. Hope you are hearing this Chickabiddy!

Front view of the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer - simple design, easy & convenient to use. The 5mm tempered glass door aids in the prevention of ultraviolet penetration. Safe for everyone's use.

Here's how the inside of my Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer looks like, loaded with the usual things I sterilize. The double-decker racks are made of medical grade stainless steel which can comfortably fit in 8 feeding bottles (regardless of wide/ narrow neck) as well as teats/ pacifiers.

The interiors are pretty spacious which could also house other baby/ household items like breast pump parts, toys, cups, teethers, beauty tools, tableware, etc. Spacious storage is good to keep baby items organized and neat.

Just load in item/s you want to sterilize, press a button (for selection of the suitable function) and you're good to go. One thing to note, there's different functions to operate depending on the items you sterilize, i.e. glass bottles/ plastic bottles/ or just toys & accessories. For the purpose of this review I've placed plastic bottles in and all I had to do was press and hold the "auto" button until UV light blinks: that also means it has started the function for 30 minutes of drying first + 10 minutes UV sterilization after - this is just one of the few settings available. I really love the drying function & also the fact that every time I open up to get something, its dry and ready to be used. Previously when I was still using the Avent Steam Sterilizer, bottles were always wet when I took them out. Not sure if its just me being OCD or if you feel me... hmm..

Its really easy to use and really quick. Just load the items in, click a button and just wait for it to be done - simple! What's more is that Chickabiddy is certified by SGS to be more than 99% effective in UV sterilization. One more cool function I liked alot was the "cycle" function. You can set the Chickabiddy to an automated cycle which turns on for 5 minutes of drying + UV sterilizing every 4 hours - this is to prevent reproduction of bacteria in the cabinet so you can leave things inside for longer period of time.

Looking over to my old Avent Steam Sterilizer. It has 3 tiers in all. Its still working fine after using for 7 months, served us well I would say.

The first tier is meant for smaller items, for myself I usually place teats, pacifiers, tongs, and baby's utensils here. The small bottle in the picture is just placed there for illustration purposes. The bottles doesn't quite fit the first tier while standing.

The second tier is meant for bigger/ taller items like milk bottles. I personally have never used this sterilizer to sterilize any other things apart from bottles, teats, and pacifiers. So not sure if its good for sterilizing toys or make up stuff 'cuz its wet.

Open up the last tier and you'd find a blue panel with metal center, where you'd have to fill the metal part with water almost other alternate usage. Well its a steam sterilizer, so it needs water to generate steam. In this picture, the metal plate looks relatively clean 'cuz my hubby just cleaned it before I kept it in the storage. Ask other Mummies or Daddies who are also using this, they will tell you that rust will eventually form up after some uses and you'd have the trouble of cleaning the rusty area. Don't think its good for you to leave the rust there while its being boiled to steam and sterilize your baby's bottles. So long as if you keep this part clean, I think its not big of a problem.

Another thing about using the Avent Sterilizer was that since it has 3-tiers, it can be quite a hassle to remove layers and put back the layers before and after each use. I was quite used to the "hassle", but my mil kept complaining about it. Asking if I could remove one of the layers and placed the baby items either all on the first or second tier. Tried, but no it doesn't work for our items. E.g. If we put everything in the first tier there wouldn't be enough space or the bottles would be too tall to close, and if we put everything into the second tier the smaller items would be difficult to remove since this tier is taller and your whole arm has to reach quite deep to get something. So ended up we just continued using as it was. 

Just to show you how the rust looks like. (Picture taken from: http://www.juicichic.com/philips-avent-3-in-1-electric-steam-sterilizer-review/)

Here's the comparison of the two in size - front view.

And side view. Well the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer may look bigger than the Avent Steam Sterilizer, but it doesn't make too much of a difference for me in terms of sizing.

Above is the comparison between the two sterilizers. Information was take from: http://purezza-sg.com/index.php?_m=mod_product&_a=view&p_id=203

Click here for full specifications of the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer.

What I liked about using the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer:

1. Convenient - sterilize, dry, and store all-in-one. Definitely very user-friendly, and shouldn't be a problem for the elderly to learn as well.

2. Fast & Efficient - drying just takes 30 minutes, then UV sterilizing takes another 10 minutes (just one of the settings). Comparing with Avent's Steam Sterilizer, you'd need approximately 20 minutes or so to sterilize, and even when machine stops you'd still have to wait for some time as bottles will still be very hot from the steaming. I usually wait out an hour or so before taking things out from the sterilizer. And like I mention, bottles will still be wet after sterilizing so I usually had to use a dry cloth to wipe down before packing the bottles to take out.

3. Safety - automatic shut-off when opening the door or overheat. I went to kaypo and touch the exterior of the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer when it was at work, it was not hot at all. Previously I kind of burnt myself a little with the Avent Steam Sterilizer. How I got burnt you may wonder? There were times were I needed to hurry out and couldn't wait for the whole cycle to complete so I opened up the tiers trying to remove things from inside, definitely do not advise you to do so - I got burnt a few times doing that already. 

4. Economical - Though the Chickabiddy may seem more expensive than the Avent Steam Sterilizer at one look, I would say its more worth because it can be used for a much longer time. Even when baby grows older, you'd still be able to use it for your tot's toys, your breast pump parts and accessories, or even your own makeup and accessories. Value for money!
Another thing to point out, the service life of its UV bulb is 8000 hours- means no need to change bulbs for 3-4 years vs other Korea brand which you may need to change every half yearly.

5. Organised - I like how all the bottles are nicely organised on the bottle racks (that comes originally with the Chickabiddy), no need to buy extra bottle racks. I think there are other Korean brands that do not come with the bottle racks.

Hope my review was useful for you to further decide on which type of sterilizer is suitable for you & your family's use. You can purchase the Chickabiddy UV Sterilizer & Dryer from Kiddy Palace or the link here. For Avent's Steam Sterilizer I got mine from a baby fair, think you'd be able to easily find it at any baby fairs.

Feel free to leave comments in the comments box below if you have any questions regarding this topic and I'll try my best to answer if its not already stated in my blog above. Thanks for reading! : D

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