[agdp07]

My wife is BF our newborn and all is going well but we want to start expressing so I can do a few of the later night feeds.We have the Medela swing breast pump but am now wondering what steriliser is best suited for our needs?I have looked at the Medela B-Well steam steriliser and the Philips Avent steam steriliser which are around the $115 each online.The Avent says you can leave things in it for 24 hours but I can't find anything about the Medela doing this?Not sure about the Microwave versions?

[meggs1]

I had an Avent and after a year or so the place where the water gets heated up got all rusty and discoloured. It was easy to use however.

[tick]

I've never sterilised my breast pump equipment. I rinse in cold water, wash in hot soapy water and rinse again in hot water then air dry, or I stick it all in the dishwasher (my preferred method). I usually rinse again in hot water after dish-washing to remove any detergent residues. Same goes for bottles. Breast milk is naturally anti-bacterial, it's a different kettle of fish entirely to formula feeding equipment.

So my two cents is, don't bother buying anything fancy. Clean and rinse your equipment well, that should do it. If you're really keen to sterilise, boiling everything in a large pot of water works fine too!

This post has been edited by tick: 29/11/2012, 06:58 AM

[Matthias' mum]

I have an Avent one as well, and it was fine, but you need to to prepare them in advance, as they are too hot to use straight away.

You can also use Miltons solution if you need to sterilise quickly - they used this in hospital. You just mix up the solution in a container and soak the pump and bottles for 10 minutes. No need to rinse, just shake excess off.

I would wait a few weeks until her supply is well established (recommendation is 6 weeks) before doing any feeds for her as it might mess with her supply. My husband loves to do a feed here and there, but we find it works best if he does an early morning one so I can sleep in, rather then overnight, as our babies were not keen on seeing anyone other then me in the night.

[gadfly271]

I do the same as tick. I just thoroughly wash everything in very hot soapy water or rinse and put it through the dishwasher. Every week or so I put everything in a big pot of water and boil for 5 minutes or so.

I'd invest in a bottle and teat brush, and if you don't have one a good draining rack. My sister bought a steriliser and didn't even use it!

[AllegraM]

I fulltime pumped with the Swing for a year and never sterilised any parts. Hot soapy water is the recommendation. Change the replaceable parts on the Swing regularly as stale milk can coagulate.

I may be wrong here but I have heard that hospitals are no longer recommending that bottles etc be sterilised as a matter of course, unless the baby is a premmie or has an immunity problem.

[laridae]

No need to sterilise as its breast milk. You don't sterilise your boobs do you?
I always just put the parts in the dishwasher, rinsed them with cold water when they came out and left them to air dry.

[futureself]

OP,the ABA has great info on expressing
https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/br...ric-breast-pump

Basically, as PPs said, you don't need to steralise the equipment but you need to rinse and wash it well.
For everything else, I have a microwave steam steraliser - so easy to use. I wash and scrub my bottles with warm, soapy water after each use and then once day pile everything in to the microwave steraliser and in 7 minutes it is done. I believe that being able to leave items in for 24 hours is standard.
I admit I do pop the pump parts in there too every few days even though I know they don't need it

[feliz6]

I also have a medela swing. Like pp I wash but don't sterilize and would boil in water if I felt it needed it I also agree with the pp who suggested you do an early morning feed. That's what we have been doing and it works for us. DH takes DS when he wakes from 5.30 and I get a good block of sleep. Sometimes when DS wakes in the night he's only half awake he's crying and wants milk but sometimes doesn't even open his eyes. He latches onto the breast quickly and I think as well as food he's getting comfort from this feed, helping him to go back to bed quickly DS can be slow to take a bottle so I think trying it at night when he's tired and only half awake isn't the best idea.

[Lokum]

We had an Avnet micriwave sterilizer which is now stuffed due to use by 3 families. I have replaced it with a $15 Kmart microwave sterilizer which works exactly the same. The micro ones are quicker, cheaper, simpler and take up less space than the other kinds.
I have also used a pot and boiling water but the pot is heavy and not wonderfully safe post c/s and sleep deprived.
I do hot soap and water, but sterilize every couple of days since my guy is still brand new.