Breast pump cleaning & sterilisation

[Sunnylands27]

I’ve been EBF my 6wk old DD & have just started to express via Elvie single pump so that my partner can give a bottle in the morning so I can get showered, changed & ready for the day before he heads off to work. However I really no nothing about cleaning / sterilising bottles and breast pump parts.
Currently I’m pumping 2-3x per day (both breasts) to fill a bottle and after each pump I am washing all parts and bottles in fairy liquid with warm water, rinsing with tepid water & then sterilising in a tommee tippee electric steriliser each time before use. It’s a lot of hassle!
Do I have to sterilise each time?
How often should I sterilise everything?
Also, I’m having to dry some of the parts off with a clean paper towel after because they’re never dry in time for the next pump, is this safe?

I'm sure once a day would be sufficient for cleaning/sterilising the pump.

If baby was born full term and healthy you don't have to sterilise anything for use with breastmilk, washing with warm soapy water is enough.

Follow @bemtbreastfriend on Insta, she has some hacks like she doesn’t even bother washing pump parts in between uses on the same day - she’ll just put them in a sealed ziploc bag in the fridge until using them again (theory being bacteria shouldn’t grow at that temp and with breast milks antimicrobial properties). Obviously depends on the health of your baby and your own comfort level with risk! But she’s a great account to follow for pumping advice in general. I wash mine in soapy water after each use (but I only pump once a day) and sterilise once a blue moon.

Thank you so much for recommending!! I’ve been watching her videos on my night feeds with DD tonight & I’ve learnt so much already!

Once you've pumped put your pump in a Tupperware in the fridge, you can use it again and just wash at the end of the day.
Doesn't need sterilised. When ds was newborn I sterilised just for extra peace of mind.
Dh mainly deals with anything to do with the pump or bottles though as it's him that needs them to feed ds I wash my boobs in the shower, job done.

I didn’t sterilise the bits and bobs every time. I won’t this time either.

Just once a day with usual clean sponge and dish soap, to be fair that was cleaner than my nips anyway 😂 I didn’t shower for 3 days in labour and she just shoved my nip in his mouth so at that moment I realised… it didn’t matter one bit.

haha! Good idea, I’ve been washing them & rinsing after each use then sterilising 1x a day but will switch to the fridge trick! My partner is really good at sterilising everything & washing them but works weird hrs so often I need the pump bits before he’ll have had chance to clean them.