Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine, White
Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine, White
Fantastic filter.
Other standard water filters may not include this antibacterial system so these will NOT remove bacteria. When tested against other competitor water filters, our filter produced the clearest results. To be sure you are protected from bacteria, it is important you use our antibacterial filters in your machine. Please note that even if they vary in appearance, they’ll work the same if they’re Tommee Tippee branded.
| Weight: | 2.12 kg |
| Dimensions: | 23.4 x 33.5 x 31 cm; 2.12 Kilograms |
| Model: | 42370840 |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Dimensions: | 23.4 x 33.5 x 31 cm; 2.12 Kilograms |
| Quantity: | 1 |
I know in reality, it was probably 5 minutes in total but at 2am with a screaming baby, every second counts.
After reading reviews on Amazon and generally online I came across the Perfect Prep machine and it looked like a revelation.
We live in a very hard water area so we were concerned about the water but the Perfect Prep machine has a built in water filter so that meant we can fill the reservoir from the tap rather than from the filtered water we keep in the fridge for us to drink.
It’s a complete doddle to set up – you have to soak the filter before inserting but the in box instructions take you through everything clearly and step by step. Once set up it tucks nicely into a corner of the kitchen and doesn’t look like an eyesore (we got the black as it fits with our decor and existing appliances)
You use the dial on top to select the ounces you require. Put the sterilised bottle underneath (We use both Tommee Tippee and Avent ones with no problems) Push the big button and the ring goes red. It will dispense a ‘hot shot’ of water into the bottle then beep to alert you. You then need to remove the bottle and add the required formula (we use Aptamil and it mixes fine).
It says to put a lid on and shake the bottle but I have found a quick circle one way then the other a few times mixes the formula just fine.
Then place the bottle back on the stand and press the button again. The light will go green and the bottle will then be filled up to the correct amount with cooler water to bring the whole bottle to the correct temperature.
Once filled it beeps to alert you it’s finished and you can add the sterilised top and teat and give to your baby straight away (I usually give it another swirl to make sure it’s all mixed (One for good luck and all that!)
The whole process takes just a couple of minutes which means you can quickly get back to your hungry baby.
As I said before, we use in combination with Aptimil Formula Aptamil First Infant Milk 1 From Birth, 900g
Tommee Tippee bottles Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Feeding Bottles – Pack of 6
Avent bottles Philips AVENT Natural Newborn Starter Set SCD290/01
and the Tommee Tipee Microwave Steriliser Tommee Tippee Essentials Microwave Steriliser (Just make sure your microwave is big enough to fit this in as it’s quite large)
We have yet to change the filter but have only been using it for 2 months so I will update the review when that needs changing.
Overall
Yes it’s 60 for something which you do not TECHNICALLY need but for speed, efficiency and dare I say my sanity, I think it’s the best 60 i’ve ever spent.
We had previously used ready-made milk, then found out my son was lactose intolerant, so needed to switch to a prescription formula which was powder. When I found out all the faff involved with making up a bottle using a kettle, I went straight out and bought this! I must admit, I really miss it when I’m not home. Last weekend we were at friends for the day, and had to keep boiling the kettle a couple of hours before needing a bottle in order to get cooled boiled water, then boil it at time of making in order to sterilise the powder before mixing with the cooled boiled water… Alot of faff basically!
With this machine, all you need to do is select the amount in oz that you want to make using the dial on the top of the machine, place the bottle under the dispenser and press the button on top… This dispenses a shot of boiling water, where you then add your powder to, and shake to mix, then re-place under the dispenser for the second shot of cooler water in order to fill the rest of the bottle. You then have a bottle at the perfect temperature in about 3 minutes – Perfect!
My only negatives to this…
– When pouring the boiling water shot, it will finish dispensing the shot, and indicate that the bottle is ready to be removed, however after a few seconds delay a small amount of water will fall out, so if your hand is there reaching for the bottle it will burn you. I’ve had this a few times now, and so have to wait for this second drop of water before removing the bottle
– It doesn’t always make the amount it should do. Sometimes it will dispense a perfect 7oz bottle, however other times it will dispense 8oz, even though it is set to 7oz. I have read other reviewers mention this before, and had had friends say the same thing. I actually got an exchange for my first one for doing this and the extra leaking of boiling water, however the second one does the same thing, so leads me to believe that it is a design flaw rather than unit issue. Online feedback suggests that this is due to varying types of milk used, because of the consistency of the milk, which I could understand, however we use the exact same milk day in day out, and it still gives varying amounts in the final amount between feeds
– It’s sometimes hard to see the water level in the machine due to where the tank sits. In certain light, it’s easy to mistake the base of the reservoir tank to be the water line, when actually the tank is almost empty. This is only an issue when the water is just above where it needs to be to set off the low-water light, so at a quick glance you would think there is more water than there actually is
– It’s very expensive for what it is. We got it on a Prime special deal, which was 60% cheaper than it’s standard retail price. As much as it’s a brilliant and time-saving product, I don’t think I would have paid full-price for i
I took a long time to decide if I wanted this or whether I could manage with kettle and cold water in a jug.My husband and health visitor poo pooed it so I put it to the back of my mind. After scolding myself pretty badly making a bottle the traditional way I decided to order. I’m really glad I took my time as as of dec 1 it was available in black which looks so much better in my kitchen than a big ugly white machine. Significantly more expensive than white, nearly 60 more which is a bit of a con but its not noticeable in my kitchen (and actually looks quite good!)so I don’t mind the price difference.
The instructions are really easy to follow and I was up and running in 10 mins. It takes a little while for water to go through the filter which isn’t explained and should also be stressed because if allowed to get low and you replenish the water it won’t work for 5 or so minutes but this is the purpose of the low water warning light.
Essentially you pick the size of feed required on the dial and put the bottle in the machine. This produces a hot shot of water to which you add powder then put back in the machine and it will add the correct amount of cold for that particular feed. You haven’t got long to put your powder in, if you are too slow it won’t give you the cold and you have to start the feed again, a good safety feature (but you have to be pretty slow for this to happen).
Someone on here was complaining about the use of ordinary cold tap water in the machine for the cool shot and that almost put me off buying but surely that’s what the filters for??? Also lots of complaints about the loudness of the beep, it’s less loud than a microwave beep and I think if you were multi tasking which is often the case with kids you might forget you’d even put the bottle on if you were tired or distracted so I have no issue with the beep like other reviewers.
I actually expected it to be a bit quicker,the flow of the cold is quite slow, don’t see the reason for this but maybe it’s a safety feature or prevents bubbles in the feed?
Also the temperature of the feed is lower than I would normally make but again I can appreciate this as a safety feature and my newborn seems quite happy.
It’s much quicker easier and less stressful than the normal way and I think that’s what’s important, anything that can keep stress levels down with a newborn is worth it weight in gold! I highly recommend!
An absolute Life saver. I don’t know what is all the fuss in previous comments about the machine dispensing more water, it is common sense that if you add 5oz of water to 5 scoops of formula, the liquid will slightly be more than 5oz…
Our twins are not patient and being able to make a fresh bottle in 1.30min is priceless.
Some tips we accumulated, using the machine 16 times in a 24h period 🙂
– When you have done the initial clean cycle of the machine and fill up the tank with fresh water, be patient. It took 15 min for the “tank empty light” to clear up, this is because the filter is new and dry and the water has to go through it. You can put the filter in a bowl with water before hand to speed up the process.
– When the hot shot is dispensed, wait 5 more seconds, some more water will drop down.
– some formula can be thicker (we use Aptamil Comfort) and can block the teat if you shake the bottle at this stage (Avent bottle don’t have caps like Tommee Tippee bottles so we need to keep the teats on). Instead, do a swirl motion with one hand so the formula dilutes with the water without going in the teat. I usually remove the teat then to see if I can see “bits” floating around and if I do I swirl the bottle a little longer.
– If you take too long (easy to be distracted), the machine will make a loud beep and the light will switch red which means that if you press again, a hot shot will be dispensed, not the cold water. What I do in that situation is put a empty glass, press the button so the hot water is dispensed, and then put back my bottle in the machine and press the button again (light will be green).
– The machine will not work if the water in the tank is more than 25 degrees. You will get a warning before hand, when this light is flashing slowly you know the water is getting close to this temperature. The best thing is to either store your water in the fridge, or add ice cubes (freshly made from boiled water or low sodium mineral water like Evian) to the machine, it will take 2 or 3 min for the cold water to go through the filter and reach the sensor and the light will clear. Also, especially when it’s warm, don’t fill up the tank to the max, just half. That way, you can top it up with cold water instead of removing all the water to replace it. Don’t forget that the water has to go through the filter which is why it takes some time for the warning light to clear.
The only negative I had is the loud beep which I found unnecessary. I wish there was a way to disable it because you can’t have this machine in a nursery with twins sleeping, it just wakes up everybody. Instead, we have it in the kitchen now, far away from the nursery.
Overall, an absolute life saver and I don’t know how we would have survived so far without it. We are sleep deprived (the twins are now 2 months old) but a huge thanks to Tommee Tippee for making our life a little easier.
when I first saw an ad for this product in a baby magazine I wanted to know more and buy one… and I am so glad that I did. It isn’t necessarily the cheapest product you will buy but it is worth every last penny in convenience and ease of use – no more racing to get a bottle made and then cooled while our little one screams (because however organised you are during the day there are always times when you forget to pre boil a kettle, and who wants to spend ages making a bottle in the middle of the night?!) I admit before purchasing I wavered, thinking I could just save the money and stick to the kettle/cooling routine but I am so glad I decided to hit the order button!
The perfect prep machine is so quick and easy to use, we pre measure our formula powder into the tommee tippee formula pots and keep them with the sterilised bottles by the machine so that as soon as our little man shows signs of hunger we can pop a bottle under the machine, press the button, add the powder to the hot shot and shake, then hit the button again for the rest of the water to come through and it is ready to go – it takes a minute, if that! We haven’t had any problem with the water oz’s being US not UK (as other reviewers have highlighted), the way I see it for the minimal difference in water volume vs the powder we measure out is not a major problem at all – it isn’t as though there is a huge increase in dilution and I regularly give my little man a little extra boiled water after a feed anyway so what is the difference?! Up to you though if you prefer to adjust the water/powder ratio to make it the UK oz equivalent…
Re warning lights, apart from the water level low light (which hardly ever comes on, as keeping the water topped up is also easy!) we have also had the water temperature light come on once, after our kitchen got particularly warm one (rare!) sunny day. It was easy to simply empty out the water chamber and refill it again to be filtered – after all warm water can become stagnant and I certainly don’t want to use potentially dangerous stagnant water in my baby’s feed! I would suggest not keeping the machine near a window for this reason though – a cool corner of the kitchen would be better!
Whether you use other tommee tippee products or not I honestly believe this is a must buy for all new parents, the best value for money of everything we’ve bought so far! I hope you agree when you get yours!
I’ll firstly mention the very small issues with the perfect prep.
1. As our twins arrived early we had to feed them small quantities in the beginning, it would have been great if the machine was able to make feeds which are less than 4oz, but as the bottle making process took so little time we didnt mind that we had to waste some milk.
2. The noise of the machine is not a major issue as our twins are normally awake when we are making bottles, but this may be an issue for those who have other children in the household who are sleeping.
3. Another very small issue is the water level not being very easy to see on the side of the machine, but there is a warning light to remind you to top up the water, so again no a major issue.
I’m sure that there is some easy way for Tommee Tippee to remedy these small issues, they may decide to make a perfect prep 2, in which case I’m happy to offer more ways that the product could be improved upon…for a fee. 🙂
Now to the positive elements of the product.
1. As the process takes 2 minutes, we are able to make a bottle and have it ready for screaming babies within a very short space of time.
2. As the process is basically done for you by a machine it means that a consistent approach is taken to each and every feed. There is no need for guess work or checking that the bottle is at the right temp, this is especially useful for new parents who worry quite a bit when making bottles.
3. The water is filtered which means that any impurities are taken out of the water first.
4. The ‘hot shot’ of boiling water at the beginning means that any bacteria is removed from the formula.
5. The machine puts exactly the right amount of remaining water into the bottle. Some other reviewers have stated that the water level is not correct, but I can vouch for the machine and say that it is correct. The water is then at exactly the right temp. It does seem a little on the cold side, but we’re happy to rely on Tommee Tippee’s expertise. The twins seem to enjoy the milk so thats good enough for us.
6. Finally, the machine looks great, and can be easily carried upstairs if required. It also has a number of warning lights for water level, descaling etc which are very useful. It might be an idea for Tommee Tippee to design a bag for the machine to go into as I’m sure that the machine will be taken with if we go to the in-laws etc.
Overall I would say that this product is fantastic and I would have been happy to have paid more for it if the price had have been higher. It is rare that a company will take a chance and get involved in a process such as bottle-making as it is a process that has to be 100% right due to the fact that you are feeding infants, so I commend Tommee Tippee for being an inovator and designing a product which is so revoluntionary.
Its the type of product that Steve Jobs would have invented if he had been involved in the baby market…he would have named it the iPrep. Don’t hesitate, buy this product, it will be one of your best purchases.
RD