i'm just curious how often other mamas sterilize their pump parts? i do the ones at work once a week in the Medela microwave bag, and I boil the ones at home about once a month (they get used less). i've never sterilized the tubing, though, so maybe i should get on that.
MomE2MathU
08-12-2009, 05:15 PM
I only work every third day (24 hour shifts) and sterilize about every two weeks or so. I have three sets of shields and parts so they are in a large rotation. I don't plan on sterilizing my tubing unless something happens to it. I've done it to tubing in the past and what a PITA. Getting the condensation out of them afterwards is really really hard and it leaves them looking a big foggy (which they say is normal, but it drives me crazy).
TuthGuru
08-12-2009, 05:18 PM
i sterilze my work pump parts every day. how are you washing yours at work? i sterilize in the microwave bag after each use since all i do is rinse them out with water.
Kriket
08-12-2009, 05:47 PM
i do it once a week.
i don't do tubing, i have an ameda which is closed
MomE2MathU
08-12-2009, 06:02 PM
i sterilze my work pump parts every day. how are you washing yours at work? i sterilize in the microwave bag after each use since all i do is rinse them out with water.
Mine are easy to wash at work because I'm at a fire station and we have a full kitchen. I just use a huge bowl of soapy water each time. Most of the firefighters had wives who BF'ed so it's no big deal to them and the rest of them are too afraid of it to be curious. LOL.
n3w2cl0th
08-12-2009, 07:01 PM
I have an ameda too...I sterilized about once a week...I was puming 2-3 times a day at work and I washed with hot soapy water in between pumpings and then washed again when I got home...sometimes I put them in the dishwasher...but I tried to boil them at least every other weekend or sooner if they smelled like milk...
Asher'sMama
08-12-2009, 08:25 PM
I have an Avent pump, so I never had to do tubing either (closed system). I just let my pump parts soak in hot soapy water every day that I used them and then washed them with in new hot soapy water after they soaked.
sh0rtchica
08-13-2009, 07:00 AM
i sterilze my work pump parts every day. how are you washing yours at work? i sterilize in the microwave bag after each use since all i do is rinse them out with water.
I work in a small office so we don't have a kitchen sink, or even a sink in our suite. And it's a big pain to bring everything to the shared hallway bathroom. So I actually leave my pump parts in the fridge every night and in between sessions. BM is good in the fridge for several days, so there's no reason it should go bad on the pump parts!
newbiemama
08-13-2009, 08:41 AM
I work in a small office so we don't have a kitchen sink, or even a sink in our suite. And it's a big pain to bring everything to the shared hallway bathroom. So I actually leave my pump parts in the fridge every night and in between sessions. BM is good in the fridge for several days, so there's no reason it should go bad on the pump parts!
haha!! good thinking!!! i use the Medula steam bag at the end of each work day, but otherwise wash them or use a sterile wipe after each use.
CEVmommy
08-13-2009, 09:09 AM
I'm supposed to sterilize it? :hide: I just wash mine same as I wash anything else... :backout:
loganzmama
08-13-2009, 10:11 AM
I'm supposed to sterilize it? :hide: I just wash mine same as I wash anything else... :backout: Im in t boat with you....
TuthGuru
08-13-2009, 10:35 AM
I'm supposed to sterilize it? :hide: I just wash mine same as I wash anything else... :backout:
awwww, don't hide :giggle: the pump parts i use at home get washed just like dishes. the only reason i sterilize at work is b/c it's the best/easiest method to use in my office (since i can just rinse with water and then pop in the microwave).
ya'll are fine! :thumbsup:
NancyB
08-13-2009, 10:39 AM
I wash my parts in soap and water at work and then sterilize after each use (I bring 3 sets to work). I did the bags for the longest time and I just bought a Munchkin clamshell type thing, which I am loving. I can fit more in (only 2 rounds and I get all the parts and bottles for the day done) Then I lay everything out on a paper towel and reassemble the next morning. Luckily we have both a dining room and kitchen table, so plenty of room to do that. I am loving that I have a routine I can stick with.
I plan to sterilize each use until 7 months, then I'll do maybe twice weekly. Doesn't seem to take too much time since I have the routine and space for it.
By the way, I LOVE the new subforum!
Sk8ermaiden
08-13-2009, 02:27 PM
I just use the Medela wipes on mine.
K-Murph
08-13-2009, 02:31 PM
I try to sterilze once a week, but I haven't done it in a while ... Too busy and too tired! :thud:
SazBaby
08-13-2009, 07:57 PM
I work on the road in my work truck, so no bathroom readily available... I usually pump 2-3x daily, and I just store the parts inside the medela steam bag between uses. When I get home, they soak in a hot soapy water bath, get scrubbed out, and sterilized in the steam bag. I have to be really careful to rinse out the steam bags, otherwise they stink like spoiled milk after a couple days!
I occasionally have extras that I freeze for emergencies, and that's really the only reason I sterilize every day. I think if I was only providing milk for the following work day, I'd be ok with less frequent sterilizing...
jenmm
08-14-2009, 01:30 PM
If I don't have access to water, I'll use the Medela wipes. Typically, I wash and then sterilize mine in the Medela/Munchkin steam bags after each use.
clothrookie
08-16-2009, 06:20 PM
Dishwasher or wash with dish soap. I don't sterilize. They are clean.
moobiegirl
08-16-2009, 06:34 PM
I rinse them each time at work which is twice. Then whenever I run the dishwasher at home I toss them in there. I don't sterilize them per se, but I think the dishwasher gets hot enough.
wobitnobby
08-21-2009, 07:52 PM
I've done it to tubing in the past and what a PITA. Getting the condensation out of them afterwards is really really hard and it leaves them looking a big foggy (which they say is normal, but it drives me crazy).
My two favorite tips for Medela Tubing Maintenance:
1)After washing tubing, I would whirl it around my head like a lasso for a few minutes, so the centrifugal force would pull the water out, and then hang the tubes from the middle with both sides pointing down so that any drips could come out.
2)After every pumping session, while I was capping bottles and taking the flanges off the horns, I would let the machine run air through just the tubes for 30-60 seconds, to dry any hint of condensation in there.
wobitnobby
08-21-2009, 08:01 PM
I actually leave my pump parts in the fridge every night and in between sessions. BM is good in the fridge for several days, so there's no reason it should go bad on the pump parts!
More than that, breast milk is quite antimicrobial when it's fresh. It has huge amounts of IgA (http://www.promom.org/bf_info/sci_am.htm), lysozymes (http://www.drgreene.com/21_26.html), and live white blood cells (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119578280/abstract) in it. So it's not a good growth medium until that has all died, a day later at room temp (at which point it becomes an excellent growth medium - if you adopt my plan, don't push it too far).
Between pumping sessions, I was storing my pump parts in the PISA bag on top of my cooler pack and even though they were outside the insulated shell they felt refrigerator temp cold to me every time I pulled them out. So nothing was going to have a chance to grow between sessions. Plus, if the breast milk goes bad in the bottle it will smell off and the baby will refuse it. I never had a bottle go bad, except for after I stopped pumping regularly and left one in the fridge for 12 days.
So, for 7 months of crazy double-full time hours, I only washed my pump parts once daily, even if I pumped 5 times. I brought a cloth napkin with me to catch drips and would haphazardly wipe excess milk off the flanges while breaking the pump down, then fold the pump parts into the napkin to protect the bag from getting milk in it.
At night I would either pop em into the dishwasher or handwash in the sink. Once a week or two I steam sterilized in the microwave if I had been missing the dishwasher too long.
SativaStarr
08-21-2009, 09:30 PM
I'm supposed to sterilize it? :hide: I just wash mine same as I wash anything else... :backout:
Same here :giggle: Except I rinse after each pumping and just wash at the end of the day :hide:
Deanie
08-24-2009, 11:25 AM
Mine are easy to wash at work because I'm at a fire station and we have a full kitchen. I just use a huge bowl of soapy water each time. Most of the firefighters had wives who BF'ed so it's no big deal to them and the rest of them are too afraid of it to be curious. LOL.
:giggle2:
sh0rtchica
08-24-2009, 12:05 PM
I try to sterilze once a week, but I haven't done it in a while ... Too busy and too tired! :thud:
me too. i felt bad at first, then figured that it won't kill DS :blush:
LeslieT
09-09-2009, 12:35 PM
Dishwasher or wash with dish soap. I don't sterilize. They are clean.
