Newbie questions about sterilizing?

[bclare]

I am preparing for the arrival of our little one, and since I am going to be pumping and feeding here and there when I return to work after a few weeks, I am getting some of the things I need ready.

How often do you need to sterilize bottles? Pump tubes, etc? We don't have a dishwasher, so I am trying to figure out the best way to do this. Is it worth buying a bottle sterilizer? Can you use a pot of boiling water and steam? How many times can you use a bottle before you need to do this?

Thank you so much-- I know I can find "official" answers out there, but I am looking for advice from moms and dads who have been doing this for a while and know what really needs to be done.

[CherryBombMama]

i boiled the bottles for a few minutes the first time I bought them, and that was it

as for pump parts, every other week or so I soak them in bleach then rinse, except for the tubes, which i only bleach when milk gets in them (very uncommon.) during the day, I store the breast shields and bottles in the fridge, then at night i wash them in soapy water.

do you have a dishwasher? you can put the pump parts (except the tubes) in the dishwasher

[groovyem]

My lactation lady said I only have to sterilize when the supplies were new, after that, nice hot soapy water. Medela actually makes bags for sterilizing in the microwave. They are reusable for a certain number of times, I use mine if my supplies were wet in my bag for a while.

[MamaPhD]

OK I'm gonna have to disagree with PP.

Breastmilk is extremely nutritious and germs grow really well. The thing is germs are microscopic so you cannot see them. The tubes can have aerosolized milk droplets that are too small to see. This is why you have to sterilize pretty much everything each time you use them.

Same as you would wash your hands after using the bathroom or while you are sick. Hands LOOK clean but there are germs there!!!

When I was working, I bought three sets of breastshields (6 total) so I won't have to wash them at work (cumbersome, takes time, no space). I pumped three times at work, and brought home used breastshields back in a zipper bag. At night, wash all breastshields and the tubes with hot soapy water then steam sterilize. You can do this in a bottle sterilizer (done in 6 minutes) or in a microwave steam bag (done in 2 minutes). Dry them overnight and pack for another workday in the morning.

I would recommend both electric bottle sterilizer and microwave steam bags. They are so easy to use and takes no time at all compared to boiling a pot of water.

Bottles have to be washed and sterilized EACH TIME! If you wash them in a dishwasher, bottles are semi-sterilized from the hot water it uses, so you can sterilize them every week or so. If you hand wash bottles, you have to sterilize them. So if you will work an 8-hour day, and baby takes 4 bottles per day, you can buy 8 bottles and wash/sterilize them every other day.

Congrats in advance on your upcoming baby!

[bclare]

I guessed I would get different answers to this one...
For those of you using soapy water-- I assume you are doing this seperate from the dinner dishes? I was thinking to get a small tub I could use and it's own sponge and just use that tub to wash them? We eat meat, so my thought was that there might just be too much bacteria in the sink.

Would love to hear some more thoughts!

[groovyem]

I DO have a separate little tub! Absolutely nothing else touches my supplies. I have heard varying opinions on sterilizing. I don't use my dishwasher for dishes, I feel it always leaves a film, my strange personal thing! My lactation lady/aunt said.. You don't sterilize your boob do you? But definitely do your own research and at least we now have so many resources out there. Good luck to you from a mom who is on just about 6mo of only being able to pump, ugh!

[CherryBombMama]

i wash them separately in the sink, with their own scrubbie thing ... so true about not steralizing the boob! lol

[Lil'Momma]

I use the Medela sterilizing bags once a week, otherwise just hot soapy water. My lactation consultants (two different NICU's, two different hospitals) all said the same thing, and that was that they didn't need to be sterilized except for every now and then. I figure if that's okay for my preemies with their poor immune systems, then that would probably be okay for a healthy full term baby, but again I agree with PP, do your research and come up with whatever makes YOU feel better. I have a germ freak friend who washes and sterilizes before and after every pump, which means it gets sterilized, not used for two hours, then sterilized again... and she wonders why she goes through pump pieces every month.... lol

Either way, in the end I think it is up to how comfortable you feel...

[chlaal]

I almost never sterilized anything. I would rinse the horns and attached bits in warm running water at the office immediately after pumping, then let them air-dry on my desk until the next pumping (or until I left for the day, whereupon I packed them away in a desk drawer). Every Friday I took all the stuff home and washed it out by hand with hot soapy water. I also washed bottles out by hand with soap and water. That's it!

Did it this way for 9 months with #1 and about 5 months with #2, never had a problem and they are both completely healthy -- including DS who was a preemie and now is a totally normal 6.5-y-o.

FWIW.

[bclare]

What makes me comfortable is getting all of this great advice! Thanks mamas!

[bubbamummy]

I pumped exclusively for a year and I sterlized after EVERY use. So that was 8 sterlizings a day I used a BPA free mircrowave sterlizer by Born Free that took 4 mins in the microwave. It wasnt specifically designed for pump parts, but they all fit

[LilMomma83]

I think it depends on the health of your baby...

I sterilized more when mine were newborn than when they were older babies. Usually about once a week when they were newborns and hardly ever with older babies (I have an avent pump though, and that has to be sterilized pretty often just because it works better - I sterilized whenever the soft parts felt "greasy").

I have the Avent microwave steam sterilizer (can use for any brand bottles and pump parts) and it is TOTALLY worth it...SO easy. Just throw everything in the container with 7oz of water and microwave for 5mins...I also have the Avent bottle warmer which we use for all brands of bottles and that is great.

As for washing? I hot soapy water in the sink and put all the bottles and pump parts in there and scrub them with a bottle cleaner then rinse. As long as you wash them the same day they clean pretty easy. I only wash my pump parts once a day, not after each session - sometimes I rinse if I am gone all day...breastmilk can be left out for a while so I figure the milky pump parts can too ;-)

[lovebug]

interesting thread!

[mamadelbosque]

I pump very infrequently when I'm leaving DS2 with DH, which hasn't happend in a while (mostly cause' last time he apparently cried for most of the time I was gone... so now DH just comes with me and hangs out while I take/teach tae kwon do, but anyhow. I just wash my pump (cheapo hand pump) & bottles in hot soapy water. Sometimes with the other dinner/lunch dishes and sometimes by itself, just depending. I sterilized the bottles a LONG time ago shortly after we got them (their glass) but haven't done that in years.

[bubbamummy]

sterlizing doesnt seem so emphasised here in the US. In England you're instructed to sterilize EVERYTHING that comes into contact with your babies mouth/milk until 1 year.

[Anna Phor]

The IBCLC who taught the pump/return to work class that I attended told us that BM has antibiotic properties & that hot soapy water is sufficient. (Makes sense to me, given that you can leave it out at room temp for a few hours.)