Consumer Reports: Which steam bottle sterilizers are best for your baby?

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- If you are a new parent or expecting, you've probably considered buying a bottle sterilizer. They're supposed to make sure your infant's bottles are free of germs, but they are expensive so you want to make sure they work.

That's why Consumer Reports put baby bottle sterilizers to the test.

Every new parent wants to keep their baby as healthy and safe as possible, so many turn to baby bottle sterilizers.

"Steam sterilizers are what we tested at Consumer Reports," said Molly Bradley of Consumer Reports. "They use high heat and water to create steam that basically kills germs in baby bottles."

It's a sanitizing process that uses heat high enough to kill over 99% of germs.

Consumer Reports bought the sterilizers at retail and tested them for three things.

"Temperature performance, drying performance and ease of use," she said.

CR tested how well the sterilizers cleaned both glass and plastic bottles. The top sterilizer in CR's testing was from Hauture.

"Hauture's baby bottle sterilizer, which retails for about $78," said Bradley.

Baby Brezzs's One Step baby bottle sterilizer came in at number two. It retails for about $110.

If those prices are too steep, Consumer Reports says sterilizers are nice, but they are not necessary.

"You can boil a big pot of water on the stove and boil your bottles in there," said Bradley.

It's another method that can kill a little more germs than just regular dishwashing or hand washing. Or if your dishwasher has a sanitizing cycle, you can run it through that way.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says sanitizing baby bottles is important for babies with weak immune systems and all babies up to two-months-old.

After that, you should be fine to clean bottles with the dishwasher set at its standard cycle or by scrubbing with a hand or bottle brush with soap and hot water.