Store Breast Pump Parts in the Refrigerator Between Sessions
Breastfeeding and pumping requires a lot of logistics. You need time, you need space, you need equipment. Sometimes, after a pumping session, you just don’t feel like brushing all of those parts again . And sometimes you don’t have time because you have a meeting that starts in three minutes, or someone is knocking on the door, or a baby is crying. In such cases, you can temporarily store the parts in the refrigerator.
Julia Pelly explains for Healthline :
If you’re going to be pumping during the day, just throw your parts in the refrigerator between sessions instead of washing and replacing them every time. I found out after 6 months and countless sinks full of dirty pump parts and never came back!
While we would like to support this practice at all times for all mums, you still need to consider the potential for germ contamination, especially for the smallest and most fragile babies, as CDC Medical Officer Anna Bowen told Parents.com :
“While it may be okay to cool down used pump parts between uses if the pump kit is clean, cleaning the pump kit after each use is safest and is especially important for babies under two to three months old who are prematurely born or have a weakened immune system.” says Dr. Bowen.
CDC also recommends washing your hands before handling pump parts or pumped milk, using a dedicated parts brush and sink (not in the kitchen sink with a sponge used for family dishes), and air drying the parts. For added protection, you can boil or steam the disinfection parts (or start a dishwasher disinfection cycle).
But as a last resort, between pumping sessions, keeping parts refrigerated is certainly better than leaving them at room temperature or even allowing them to soak in water, which can be a breeding ground for germs.