Keeping pump parts and bottles continuously in Milton?

[FloralFantastic]

Hi,

My baby is 8 weeks old and I started pumping occasionally when particularly engorged in the first couple of weeks. Since my supply has settled and my husband is back at work I haven't pumped in a couple of weeks (last time was because as a one off baby slept longer than usual so at 3am I came down to pump). But we use Milton to sterilise and are just in the routine of my husband changing it every morning, and pump parts and a bottle living in there "in case". But is this ok? In the middle of the night I wouldn't ideally want to wait the 15 mins to sterilise, but realistically I'm not finding time to pump as an "extra" so will only be pumping if I'm very engorged or planning to leave baby with my husband. Am I causing any issues or is it fine to carry on like this given in a couple of week's time I probably will be in the routine of a bottle every couple of days.

I don't understand what you mean. I breastfed so didn't sterilise anything. Had haakaas but they were just washed in boiling soapy water.

Do you mean you have a tub of water and Milton and leave things in there constantly? Surely you just sterilise things in Milton, dry them, and put them in a cupboard ready for when you need them.

Yes it's fine.

Nope, once you dry things they'd no longer be sterile! When I had my first the advice was still to sterilise for breastmilk so I'd rather continue doing that - you keep in milton until you need to use it, shake the drops off and use.

Why does a bottle have to remain sterile? You sterilise to remove any remaining milk germs. You don’t need it sterile from the environment. A baby will be chewing other non sterile items, on non sterile playmat, non sterile car seat straps they lick etc

Clean anything with hot water and soap. Sterilise if you want to.
then just put the bottles together and in cupboard and dummies or parts in clean box in cupboard

That's fine (provided you do change the Milton out sometimes!).

You do obviously want things to be clean and no stagnant water, manky tea-towels or stale formula etc involved in feeding, but bear in mind that your breast isn't actually sterile, and neither is your babies' mouth or hands. Breastmilk in particular is supposed to not be, as the living components of your biome and immune cells help to prepare the baby. So please don't get hung up on '100% sterile' to the point where it makes you anxious, or distressed if you think you haven't got it exactly right.

@FloralFantastic

I'm still genuinely confused. I've used Milton before and still do every couple of months to give bath toys a good clean as they can get mouldy. How can you keep something sterile from basically everything around us? The Milton will sterilise your bottles etc from old milk. Then they are clean and dry and kept safe in a cupboard until next use.

Do you really mean just leaving them lying in a basin of Milton constantly and then immediately using them? I must be missing something here as the thought of that makes me queasy. You rinse the bottles through first right? The smell of Milton off of them would be vile.

You rinse the bottles through first right? The smell of Milton off of them would be vile

??? No. You clean bottles then keep in the Milton bucket (fresh Milton daily), then when you want to use something - such as breast pump or bottles, you just take them out and give them a shake to get obvious spare liquid out/off, and use them. Rinsing them would defeat the whole point. They don’t smell vile, they smell of Milton 🤷‍♀️.

I used this with one of mine. They were in hospital for months, couldn’t breastfeed and I pumped and expressed. Hospital made up a new Milton bucket daily for each person. Once baby came home I just used the same system we had used for months in hospital (could never breastfeed so I expressed long term).

Just be aware I did the same and it degraded the flange for my pump, the plastic went all sticky and weird. Luckily tommee tippee replaces parts for free. I don't pump often any more (older baby) and just wash with soapy water.

Thank you, this was the kind of thing I was worried about! I may take them out for a couple of days and see whether the lack of a pump to hand does or doesn't cause stress 😅

For those worried I'm "over-sterilising"... I'm not sure when mumsnet became a "who can be the dirtiest" competition! Personally it gives me peace of mind versus putting things in the kitchen cupboards that my filthy toddler helps himself to - maybe you all wash your hands every time you grab anything from a kitchen cupboard but unfortunately that doesn't always happen in my house! And sure, my baby will eventually be putting all sorts in his mouth, but at 8 weeks that certainly isn't happening yet, and seems no reason not to keep trying to keep things clean in other ways!

I honestly thing this is bonkers
where I live they don’t even sterilise at all. Not even in the hospital for baby bottles. They all go in dishwasher at the hospital on maternity ward then put together on shelf that mothers can help themselves to use to make the formula

Formula isn’t make either at 70 degrees. aptimal milk instructions here say boil water and use at body temp of 37 degrees. So that’s now it’s made in hospital. It comes from the exact same aptimal milk manufacture that uk aptimal comes from.

I just washed the off bottle in hot soapy water and never sterlised. Then put lid on empty bottle and in cupboard ready. How would the inside and teat get filthy if cover in a Normal clean cupboard? This is exactly what the midwife did also ( we have for 4 months weekly visits and help here from them). I breastfed mainly so the bottle would be in there ready for weeks sometimes

I'm not sure when mumsnet became a "who can be the dirtiest" competition!

I don't know why you think people disagreeing with leaving bottles and so on permanently steeping in Milton means that they are dirty. Surely you must see that advice varies and a sterilised and clean bottle put into a cupboard is not dirty.

A washed and sterilised bottle can but put in high cupboard or shelf surely ? Your toddler isn’t climbing the cupboards so could reach. It’s not going to suddenly become re covered in old milk

Yes this is what our hospital did too. I stopped sterilising when we got home as new advice (well new 5 years ago!) in Scotland was that you don't have to sterilise for breast milk, but if I was going to continue then I'd do the same method. It was very convenient. You just stored your stuff in the Milton tub until needed and replaced the water with a new tablet every 3 days or whatever it is.

Lucky you if you have a toddler that doesn't climb, as mine can reach every cupboard and unfortunately sometimes I have to look after my newborn or go to the loo 😅 My dishwasher also doesn't dry very well so dumping straight into the milton pot when I take out the dishwasher is sooo much easier than having to fully dry the bottle.

Advice differs sure and I respect that but basically I'd rather keep using the milton for the first couple of months at least for a multitude of reasons!

Oh mine def climbed. I couldn’t have left him to go to the toilet, he had to come with me.

I think you missed my point - those who choose to sterilise / make things as clean as they can shouldn't be made to feel like that's a bad thing!

I think you missed my point - those who choose to sterilise / make things as clean as they can shouldn't be made to feel like that's a bad thing!

I mean it's hardly the end of the world but I don't think it's necessary or a very good idea. You did ask for opinions and a few people have said the same: sterilise and put in a cupboard.

You're happy doing what you're doing so I'm not sure why you're asking for advice.

Sterilise them, pop them in a clean air-tight box, pop them in the cupboard. Job done.

Maybe my post was too rambly but I was asking whether it would cause degradation of the pump parts, not for advice on whether or not to sterilise!

@FloralFantastic

Sterilising is fine. It just seems overkill leaving them constantly in Milton when it's not necessary. A bottle straight out of soaking for hours in Milton will smell of bleach. Not pleasant.

I do it like you OP. Leave everything in Milton until I want to use it. Fresh Milton every 24 hours. I think that's how it's supposed to be used.