Do you rinse pump parts before putting in fridge

Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts

Found the internet!

Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations.

Join Reddit

r/beyondthebump

I keep seeing varying opinions on this. Right now I wash off pump parts and bottles and toss them in a bin/tub in the fridge.

I then wash everything in a hit soapy water for 5-10 minutes. Then air dry. I'm also sterilizing once a day since I have a preemie. I used the medela breastmilk soap for the soak.

Is the fridge think ok to do? Because otherwise I literally would be washing shit all day. I've seen varying opinions.

level 1

I do NOT rinse between sessions - I pack the parts in my cooler until the next session.

My thought is that rinsing introduces more bacteria from the water, plus it doesn't actually disinfect the parts, so I just keep the parts ice cold and wash them at the end of the day.

My DD was only 3 weeks early though, and didn't have any immune issues. If she was a preemie preemie or had a suppressed immune system, I probably would have washed with soap and water each time.

There have been folks that leave the parts sitting in water all day, then don't clean them and use them to express milk. This is what the recommendation is trying to avoid happening.

level 2

Well I def dont do the last thing I out them in our very cold fridge after using them.

level 1

Yes, it's fine, especially once the baby is older.

I started putting pump parts in fridge instead of washing so I could get 2-3 pumps from them before washing when my baby was 2-3 months old. Still do it and he's 10 months. Never had any problems, and don't see why we would, since breastmilk can sit 5 hours unrefrigerated safely and 5-6 days in fridge. I'm just careful to pop pump parts into fridge right away, and I usually sterilize everything 1x week. I also freeze new milk promptly.

Baby's system has to be able to deal with a little bacteria once they're out of the immediate newborn stage - baby needs to adapt to new environment outside the womb.

level 1

I just wash in soapy water, air dry and put together again for next use.

level 1

I don't understand, do you reuse them after putting them in the bin in the fridge? With a preemie I wouldn't until baby is older.

Storing the parts in the fridge between rinsing off and washing in hot soapy water seems totally fine to me.

level 2

I don't reuse I put them there to store before doing a huge wash on all the parts/bottles.

level 1

I have 4 sets of pump parts and a preemie baby. I pump, rinse, then put them in a bag in the fridge. Once I’ve used the 4th set, I wash all the parts. I don’t reuse because my son is a preemie and still little so I don’t want to chance it but at least this way I only have to do one big wash twice a day (I pump 8x a day) and I sterilize all of the parts once a day.

level 2

This is basically what I do except I put the used parts in a tub in the fridge.

level 1

I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but why put the pump parts in the fridge? I’m not asking to be rude - I honestly don’t know. Right now I put used parts in a tub of soapy water in the sink and wash/sterilize when the tub is full.

level 2

Some people are pumping every hour or two and don’t have enough parts to just use a fresh set every time so washing them so much can result in burning out and wanting to stop doing it altogether.

level 2

The idea from what I understand is if breast milk is good for 5 days I the fridge then any breast milk residue should be good for 5 days as well. So it's not growing a bunch of bacteria.

level 1

I’m confused as to why the recommendations are so strict on cleaning bottles and pump parts, yet, I breastfeed and I’m positive my nipples are not sterile.

Also, is there any data on how common it is for a baby to get sick from contaminated pumps?

level 2

It's not so much that it's sterile as such. I mean, really as soon as you touch a bottle it's not clinically sterile. It's more that the milk / breast milk residue attracts bacteria so they have to be killed. (Especially in premees and new borns as their guts may not be able to fight it). So blasting it in a boiling pot Or a sterilizer will do this in the first instance.

I don't have any data but this is what the midwives and health visitors told me.