Hellobee Boards

I didn't change what I was doing after the report came out. As you say, the circumstances behind the incident that led to the recommendation change were very different from leaving pump parts in the fridge between pumps. I might have reconsidered if my baby was premature or immune-compromised in some way.

@Mrsbells: I have read those recommendations as well. Please note - I am not pumping atm but will be if/when we conceive again. From my research and understanding, the premature infant who set presidence for the new CDC guidelines had been an immunocompromised preemie (* beyond just having been premature).
To respond to your inquiry, I had always rinsed/washed my flanges and connective pieces after pumping (and let them air dry) and THEN I would steam them weekly (* "Steamy Sundays" ). I would clean the tubing every 2 weeks. While traveling, I would use the medella wipes and steam bags. (I'm a bit anal-retentive with cleaning things with newborns until they are about 10 mos old or so ... then I feel I can "relax" a bit. IDK why that is the magic month. 🙄🤣)

I ignored the updated guidelines. I rinsed and used the fridge for 24 hours.
My reasoning:
IF breastmilk is good for 3-5 days in the fridge in a bottle, THEN
it's fine as little watered-down residue for 24 hours in the fridge in pump parts, even if those pump parts are used for a total of an hour outside of the fridge.

@DesertDreams88: That was always my interpretation. If I could give my baby breastmilk that had been sitting out for 3-4 hrs or in the fridge for 3 days, then what difference did it make on my pump parts.

I didn't even realize the recommendation had changed. Given the case referenced though I feel good about continuing my routine. I have the wipes but don't even use them regularly. At work I rinse when able but always put my parts in the fridge between sessions.

I wash them with hot water every night and set out to dry. Then I use the microwave sterilization bags about once a week.

I EP'd and always put pump parts in the fridge. Even after reading the CDC's new recommendations I think I would as well.

The new guidelines came out while I was pumping for my daughter, who was a pretty healthy 8 month old. I continued to refrigerate between pumps because I felt that cleaning in an office bathroom was more of a risk than refrigeration and am glad all turned out okay. I did wash and steam clean every night. I would reevaluate if I had a premie or newborn but overall felt comfortable with the refrigeration routine and would probably do it again.

I hate to admit I was disgusting when it came to pump parts. Thankfully, my LO never got sick. For real.

So I work for a certain large public health agency and pumped here for 2 kids (one before the updated recs, one after). I can tell you that I still stored my pump parts in the fridge in between pumps and so did most of my fellow pumping mamas. For a full-term healthy baby who is not immunocompromised, I see no problem with this practice. If I was pumping over a 12 hour shift as a nurse or something, I would probably bring 2 sets of pump parts just to be extra safe, but the 5 hrs or so between my 1st and last pumps was safe to me. The mother of the baby who got sick also left her pump parts soaking in lukewarm water, which I definitely don't recommend. I hand-washed my pump parts and bottles but always used hot water and if they sat for too long, I rewashed them with new water & soap.

@irene: I had a little cooler bag that I stored the milk. There was a rule at my workplace about everything having to be in lunch bags of stored in fridge.

@peachykeen: you work there?! That’s awesome!
OP this exact thread was on hb when that recommendation first came out; I remember everyone said pretty much the same thing as this time

@katsupgirl: @peachykeen: @Mrsbells: @babypugs: Good to know about the technicalities of it! I work at home for the past 10+ years, and as I said I stored my pump parts in a glass bowl (transparent) in the fridge. It never came to me I could potentially "offend" someone until earlier when I really think about how I may do it when I need to use a shared fridge. You know how people get offended about anything nowadays (eg. people get offended by breastfeeding in a public area even if the mom is super discreet / covered is beyond me), so I thought someone would bound to say something about breastmilk / pump parts in the fridge. True about putting them in opague coolers that would potentially shut anyone up

@babypugs: Hahahaha good point about those "science experiments" going on in office refrigerators

@ElbieKay: this suggestion reminds me a lot of the mandate to not drink any alcohol whatsoever during pregnancy: it’s an unnecessarily extreme cautionary rule thrown at everyone to help the 1% (or whatever small minority) who can’t be trusted to use their own judgement, in this case with sanitation measures. I pump twice a day at work and keep my pump parts in a clean ziplock between sessions and apparently so do the women AT the cdc even after issuing this directive. If I had an immune-comprised preemie would I leave my pump parts festering in dirty tepid water and call it a day? No, but that has nothing to do with your actual situation or mine.