pumping when empty to boost supply do i wash and sterilise pump each time ?

[smk84]

won't be giving any milk to my baby as i wont be getting any yet ! thank you ;)

No I wouldn't bother then, it's such a faff. Just wash nicely as it will be touching your boobs and obviously then so will baby.

Just need to make sure pump is washed in hot soapy water (unless baby is prem/ill then sterilising is prob your best bet).

thank you. if i end up getting milk 2 give 2 baby am guessing would need to sterilis each time ?

Yes, definitely. Good luck, hope you're one of the lucky ones!

thanks bramblina - me too !

This from La Leche:

"Fresh human milk kills almost all bacteria, viruses, and fungi that it comes in contact with so you don't have to sterilize pump and bottle parts. Washing them thoroughly with hot, soapy water is usually all they need. If you have a dishwasher, run the pump flange and connector and bottles through it whenever its convenient." The Womanly Art of Breasfeeding p 309.

OMG I wasted hours when both my babies were young sterilising that dammed thing to pump every morning!!! Would you trust that? I know it's LLL, but really? We're told to sterilise everything nowadays, actually I do question that....

No need to sterilise with breast milk. There is a piece somewhere from one of the big london hospitals about it that has been posted on here a lot before.

I think the emphasise on sterilising in our culture is due to the fact the FF is the norm for lots of people and it IS really important to sterilise bottles then because the formula itself has bugs in it that need to be killed.

So you just think, young baby = sterilise everything. I did anyway (but could express naff all!). I was pretty amazed when I read the section on bm storage in the LLL book but I really don't think it would be advised by them if it was dodgy.

So, just so I'm clear ... I express every morning and sterilise my manual pump and bottle each time. The whole lot goes through the dishwasher, and the milk is bagged up for the freezer. Is LLL saying that I can skip the sterilising step? Goes against everything that is drummed in to us!