For When You Don't Fancy Trekking Downstairs Just to Get a Bottle (Tommee Tippee Milk Powder Dispenser)

Member Name: krazykat2005

Product:	Tommee Tippee Milk Powder Dispenser
Date:	26/02/06 (731 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: convenient, value for money, safer and more hygienic

Disadvantages: struggle to fit eight scoops in them

As you might well have noticed from reading some of my other reviews, I am currently going through a bit of a dilemma when it comes to how would be best to feed my little one when out and about. There seems to be a bit of a balance between cost and convenience – the more convenient it is the more it costs and vice versa.

In this review I am looking at a product which is relatively inexpensive, but which take a little bit more work on my part to use.

-- PRODUCT DESCRIPTION --

This product comes in three pieces – the main body, the funnel and the lid – and each piece is fully detachable from the other. All three pieces are made of clear plastic.

They fit into most wide neck bottles and apparently take up to eight scoops of milk powder.

Basically, you remove the funnel and lid from the main body of the dispenser so that you can put the milk powder in, replace the funnel and lid to seal the dispenser and place it in the neck of the bottle of cooled boiled water before putting the teat and lid of the bottle on.

To use, you remove the teat and lid off the bottle and remove the dispenser, then you remove the lid of the dispenser leaving the funnel in the main body and tip the powder into the bottle.

This product was a nominee for the Best Travel Item in the Mother and Baby Magazine Awards 2005/06. Now in their thirteenth year these awards continue to be the most prestigious and respected event in the parenting industry, so I think it is safe to say that this product comes highly recommended by other mothers.

-- PRICE --

I got a three pack for £1.99 at Boots, so roughly sixty-six pence each.

You can get them from as little as £1.69 per pack if you buy three or more from the Kiddicare website. However, you do need to spend fifty pounds or over to get free delivery, so unless you are doing a big online shop you would not really be saving any money.

This product is also available in places like Mothercare, Tesco, Sainsburys, Toys’R’Us, Argos, Woolworths and John Lewis.

-- PACKAGING --

These come in a light yellow box, with a picture of what they actually look like. On the back, there are detailed instructions with diagrams on how to use them and a ‘convenient’ warning that “Health Professionals recommend that feeds are prepared immediately prior to feeding rather than in advance. This is to avoid the possibility of the milk going off.”

-- WHAT I THOUGHT --

On the box it promises that this product saves time, saves waste and is safe and hygienic.

I agree that using this product does save wasting made up bottles of formula that have gone past the recommended twenty-four hours as these allow you to make the bottles up as you need them.

I also agree that this product is safer and more hygienic that making up the bottles for the day in advance and keeping them in the fridge as the powder is kept separately from the water until it is needed, so bottles are always fresh!

I disagree that this product saves time because although they allow you to measure the powder in advance for the whole day’s feeds as it is probably just as quick to scoop the milk powder straight into the bottle. I found that because the container only just takes eight scoops at a squeeze – think add three scoops, tap to get rid of air, add three scoops, tap to get rid of air, press down with end of scoop, add one scoop, tap to get rid of air, add one scoop very carefully like a sandcastle and then put lid onto holding container over milk powder box to catch milk powder that escapes – it was quite time consuming making up six containers-full for the day ahead.

The fact that these are made of clear plastic is handy as it allows you to see whether they are going to overfill when you are preparing them. Plus it means you can see whether they are properly clean before you stick them into the steriliser.

I also love that they are designed to fit into the neck of any wide necked bottle, allowing you to save on space in your changing bag as there is no need for a separate bulky container.

Cleaning is pretty simple – I just take them to pieces, wash in soapy water and pop them in the steriliser along with the bottles, but you can use any other form of sterilisation available. They are dishwasher safe and there are no awkward corners to get into with the bottlebrush.

All in all, I like that this product means I can get everything ready for the day ahead first thing in the morning. I like that I can just grab a bottle should I unexpectedly need to go out somewhere without the worry that I need to use it within an hour of removing it from the fridge. I especially like that it allows me to take a couple of bottles upstairs at night, saving the late night stumble down the stairs to warm up a bottle of milk from the fridge.

-- CONCLUSION --

I will give these four out of five. If the container was just a little bit bigger, allowing me to fit eight scoops without all the palaver that I have to go through at the moment, then I would have given it the full five.

- Good Points -
- Saves wasting bottles of milk that have gone off as you make feeds up as you need them
- Safer and more hygienic as feed are made up as you need them
- Reusable, so good value for money
- Dishwasher and microwave safe
- Easy to take apart for cleaning
- Very convenient for being out and about

- Bad Points -
- Fitting eight scoops in is a bit difficult
- Can be time consuming preparing them if you are using their full eight scoop capacity

Summary: I would definitely recommend them!