Hand held self contained pacifier or baby bottle nipple spray cleaner

A hand held pacifier nipple cleaner comprising:

• a housing;
• an upper portion of the housing for containing the nipple;
• a horizontal landing above the upper portion for supporting a nipple flange of the pacifier,
• a mouth in the horizontal landing for allowing the nipple to extend downward through the horizontal landing into the upper portion of the housing;
• a short wall residing around the horizontal landing having a shape of an outline of the nipple flange;
• a reservoir for holding cleaning liquid in a base of the housing;
• a separator between the reservoir and the upper portion preventing used cleaning liquid from returning to the reservoir;
• a pump residing inside the housing;
• a pump plunger extending from the pump horizontally through the housing, the plunger for operating the pump;
• a suction tube connected to an inlet of the pump and having a suction end in the reservoir for providing cleaning liquid to the pump;
• and
• a nozzle connected to an outlet of the pump for receiving the cleaning liquid from the pump and providing a spray of the cleaning liquid into the upper portion of the housing and towards the nipple.

A method for cleaning a pacifier, the method including the steps of:

• filling a reservoir portion of a pacifier cleaning apparatus with a cleaning liquid;
• positioning a pacifier into the cleaning apparatus with a pacifier nipple inserted through a mouth into an upper portion of the apparatus;
• pumping the cleaning liquid from the reservoir portion into the upper portion to clean the nipple, wherein the upper portion is separated from the reservoir to prevent used cleaning liquid from draining back into the reservoir;
• removing the cleaned pacifier from the cleaning apparatus;
• and
• disposing of the used cleaning liquid to allow subsequent use of fresh cleaning liquid.