One day, when my second daughter was a week and a half old, I washed my breastpump attachments, put them to boil on the stove, then fed her. At some point I nodded off, and about 45 minutes later the house was filled with the smell of burning plastic. Now, this is something that had never happened to me before, and it was an expensive mistake I easily learned never to repeat again, but when we were buying the new breastshields and storage bottles, I saw the Medela Quick Clean Micro Steam Bags at Babies R Us and had to have them. These, to me, were extra insurance that the melted bottle incident would never repeat itself.

What is the Quick Clean Micro Steam Bag?
The Quick Clean Micro Steam Bag is a large plastic bag (roughly 8" x 10") with a ziploc top that you can put items you want to sterilize into. The bottom of the bag expands to enable the bag to stand up on its own, making the bottom about four inches wide. The bag is designed for sterilizing breastshields, valves, bottles and nipples, but it can really be used for sterilizing anything that is microwave-safe and will fit into it. This review will deal specifically with sterilizing the items I mentioned above.

How Do You Use This Bag?
These are the instructions from the back of the bag (what a handy spot for these!):
1. Rinse breastshields, bottles, cap(s), etc. thoroughly
2a. Add 2 ounces of water to bag
*Using less than 2 ounces of water may warp your parts
2b. Use 4 ounces of water for breastpump tubing. Make sure tubing is covered with water.
3. Put breastshields, valve assemblies or bottles and cap(s) into bag
3b. Lay tubing flat on bottom of bag
*Do not place any other items in the bag with tubing.
4. Microwave on high power for
1.5 minutes = 1100 Watts
3 minutes = 800-1100 Watts
5 minutes = 500-750 Watts
5. Using oven mitts or hot pad, carefully remove bag from microwave oven
6. Before removing bag contents, tilt bag up and pour out excess water (You pour the water out through an inch-long slit on the upper righthand side of the bag, as you face it from the instructions side)

Some things to note while using the bag:
While the instructions on the bag do a great job of simplifying the process, there are a few things it doesn't mention. First, you want to make sure you rinse the parts right away. If you can't rinse your breastshields and bottles right after using them, I recommend you clean them a little bit with a sponge or bottle brush before steamcleaning them, because if you don't there may be a little bit of residue left on them. I have found this to be most common on the breastshields. Another thing is that you don't have to measure out exactly two ounces of water to put in the bag. After my aforementioned stovetop sterilizing experience, I am a little paranoid, so I make sure to put in at least three ounces of water every time. I also recommend that you let the bag sit open for a minute after you open it, because even though you have poured out most of the water, there will still be quite a bit of hot steam in the bag. Also, sometimes some of the water may still be hiding in a bottle or two. I always rinse out my bottles and breastshields after sterilizing them, so that their remaining droplets of water won't become stains. This might not be a big deal to most people, but I'm a bit anal when it comes to things that come into contact with my baby's milk.

FYI-If you are sterilizing your tubing for your pump, I have found that the quickest way for me to get them to dry afterwards is to whip them in circles, like a rodeo man would swing a lasso, or like some would do to a jump rope, and then hang them from the skirt clips on the bottom of a hanger. Otherwise, it's very difficult to get all the droplets out, which you need to do before you pump again.

What More is There to Know About These Bags?
The bags are extremely affordable. A box of five bags costs $4.99, and each bag can be used 20 times, for a cost of about 5 cents per use. I have used some a few times more than 20 and have found that they still work effectively (they don't evaporate or self-destruct after use #20). There is a handy set of 20 checkboxes on the back of the bag to aid you in keeping track of how many times you have used the bag. Since I keep a Sharpee in the kitchen to write how many ounces are in each bag of my Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags, I just mark a checkbox off of the Quick Clean Bag at the same time as I label my breastmilk bag. A Sharpee is not necessary to write on this, however. The bag is thick enough that a ballpoint pen works fine as well (it won't rip anything).

As a side note, there is also a place to print your name on the bag, but I haven't yet figured out what its purpose is. I don't have anyone else using breastpump sterilizer bags in my house, and even if I did, what would it matter if we used the same bag? Doesn't everything still come out sterile?

This is a product I highly recommend to anyone who doesn't want to use the stove-boiling method to sterilize bottles and breastpump accessories, or to anyone who just likes to quickly sterilize stuff.

Other Items I Would Have Liked With my First Baby, 5 Years Ago:
My Brest Friend
Hooter Hider
Gymini Super Deluxe Play Mat From Tiny Love
Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags
Desitin Clear


Recommended: Yes

Write a Review