Cleaning/sterilizing pump while at work... Probably a very naive question...

[jabuti]

hi there,

i will be going back to work part-time when my DD will be 4 months old. i will be pumping at least 2 per day but im not sure how to keep the pump clean? for example, i pump in the morning, pour it in one bottle, store it away. then 4 hours later i would pump again... but then my pump wouldnt be sterilized again, because i dont have the facilities for it. does that mean i could only save the milk from the first pump and forget about the second? very clueless here.

you could take a steriliser (maybe a microwave one?) to work with you. but seems like a whole load of hassle. personally for the sake of time and convenience I'd possibly consider buying two pumps

What I do is save my pumping for 1 enormous session mid-afternoon so I don't need to clean/sterilise it. If I was at home (obviously without her) I'd normally express twice.

true hatwoman, a lot of hassle that is! i've been thinking about it for weeks now and i havent come up with a great solution, thats why i posted here.

canmummy, dont you get engorged pumping only once? also, i worry about reducing my milk production...

how about those coolers? for how long does the milk last in there until i put it in the fridge? so many silly questions!

I used to put my pump in the fridge, then take it out a few minutes before I needed to use it. Breast milk can be stored for up to 24hrs in the fridge, so I reasoned that any milk left in the pump wasn't going to "go bad" in that time.

My DD was never ill, so it can't have been too bad. Where I live they tell you not to bother sterilising anyway as there's no point, particularly if baby is bfed.

HTH

like Brangelina said

you could either use a microwave steriliser or get sterilising tablets or milton and a smallis h bucket

some poeple dont sterilise at all, its not really essential . your nipple isnt sterile, is it!

like brangelina. pump once. pour it into a separate bottle or take bottle of and replace with new. put pump in fridge with bm residue on. it'll be fine. i do it all the time.

or you can just rinse it through with boiling water after the first pump, put a new bottle on and leave in fridge til next time.

I learned to hand express which was faster than using a pump. Expressed directly into a sterilised bottle. No need to sterilise anything else - very convenient.

If you can't master it, then to be honest I would just wash your pump between uses. As the milk if for your own baby, no need to be so rigorous about sterilising. I would tend not to freeze the milk though that the pump wasn't sterilised for.

no freezing really, mears, why?

i WISH i could hand express. sounds amazing. can't you do a you tube demo or something?!

Probably just overcaution on my part. If equipment isn't sterile and milk is then frozen there theoretically might be problems when the milk is thawed and then reheated. While it is 'raw' there are inti-infective properties in it some of which might be affected by freezing.

will link to a hnad expressing site in a mo

i've thought about not sterilizing too. i might go for this option.

about storing it now... lets say i dont have a fridge at work and i can only bring a cooler with me. when i express, lets say, in the morning, and put it in the cooler that i will have it with me. then i come home at the end of the day and put it in the fridge... for how long is this milk good for?

storage guidance

hand expressing

With Brangelina on this one; I have a coolbag with two parts. I put the pump in one section and the milk (in storage bags) in the other part.

Not sure how long you can keep milk in a cooler - hope someone more expert can advise.

i read the guidance, no advice on cooler though!

Put a couple of those plastic ice things (you know, those rectangular things you put in the freezer the night before) in the cooler bag, or failing that fill a couple of bottles of water and freeze them overnight. That will keep things so much colder and help anything in your cooler bag to last longer. We do this for summer picnics when it's 40° and fresh fruit stayes cool and fresh all day.

i have those brangelina, i will give it a go!

Another one who rinsed pump with some boiled water and sterilised it later at home.
The Medela booklet was robustly reassuring on the 24 hour window!

hi all, i just thought that would let you know that i found out about the cooler. here is an email from medela customer services:

"Many thank for your enquiry, you can store breastmilk in the cooler bag with 3 frozen Ice packs for 24hrs. Your can store breastmilk in the fridge between 5-7 days."

We don't have a fridge in work and I had a big double electric pump which came in an insulated bag. I used to bring the pump itself and 2 lots of the attachments so that I had a clean set to use later. I stored the milk in the same bag. I used 3 icepacks which were usually still frozen by the time I got home so seemed to be doing the job.

ah good to know chip! i dont have a problem giving her formula, tbh, if that was the only solution. but i cant put myself to throw away all that good stuff!

Oh no, throwing it away is a no-no! That's liquid gold, that is!