This flu season has been one to reckon with, so it’s more important than ever to keep you and your baby healthy and as far away from this illness as possible. We spoke with Molly Petersen, Certified Lactation Counselor at Lansinoh, to find out how to deeply clean breast pumps and bottles in order to avoid sickness as these items tend to pick up a lot of germs and residue.
When it comes to breast pump parts and bottles, Petersen says: “They should be washed as soon as possible after use.” She also comments that if you aren’t in an area where you can wash that quickly, simply rinsing the parts that were in contact with milk, will remove the residue until it can be cleaned all the way through.
If you’re looking to wash by hand, Petersen says, “fill a basin with soap and hot water, and scrub the parts with a brush dedicated for parts and bottles. Rinse the parts in clean water and allow them to air dry.” If you’d rather save on time, you can also wash pumps and bottles in the dishwasher. Place parts and bottles on the top rack (use a mesh bag for the smaller pump parts) and run the dishwasher with hot water and on the heated dry cycle. To get your pumps and bottles even cleaner, check if your dishwasher has a sanitizing setting, just to go that extra mile.
If both of these don’t work or you feel like you need to do more, according to Petersen, “moms can sanitize by simply boiling them.” Place all of the parts and bottles into a large pot of water and let it boil for five minutes. After the time is up, remove everything and let them air dry and then store in a sealed container so they stay clean until the next use!
To learn more, visit lansinoh.com!
