Cleaning and sanitizing and hard water

[beckyrosen]

Feb 8, 2015 13:38:10 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Also, unrelated...but when I pump whyyy do the Lansinoh bags say I have like an ounce more than what the medela bottles say? Who is right?

I would trust the ounces stated on the bottles. I've noticed that too when I pump one or two ounces the bag says more. But when I pump 4 ounces the bag matches that. I think the bag just doesn't fully open/unfold when there's a smaller amount of milk in it.

[casey]

Unless your LO has special immune needs, no need to sanitize after that first round. Just got, soapy water will be fine.

The bags are horrible at measurements. Trust the bottles. Then, mark the amt on the bag. remember to freeze in useable increments.

[casey]

Feb 8, 2015 15:04:59 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

What about the hard water? is it ok to use if it leaves a film?

It shouldn't hurt anything.  If you don't like the way the build-up looks or feels, you could always sanitize or do the vinegar trick now and again.

[apsalartoll]

I don't trust the measurements on bags at all. I use a kitchen scale, with metric measurements because they are more precise. 1 gram of water (or breast milk) = 1 ml, and 30 ml = 1 ounce.

[fish8412]

I wash my pump parts with hot soapy water after every use. I boil everything once a week.

[Shoe Crazy Me]

We have really hard water, I never used vinegar and never had any problems. Just boiled everything once at the beginning.

[rmg5020]

I store my parts in the refrigerator between uses - no need to clean in between. I then sanitize at night

[audrey1787]

Our water isn't super hard but the film annoyed me so I would try to wash at work when possible. I never boiled things after the first time but I would stick the dishwasher safe parts in the dishwasher on the weekend sometimes and use vinegar in the cycle. They were rinsed well enough that there wasn't any vinegar smell left and no hard water gunk either. We used vinegar in our dishwasher on a semi regular basis anyways so it wasn't a new thing just for the pump parts.

[Deleted]

bag measurements are always inaccurate cause they don't always open all the way.

store pump parts in fridge and wash out at the end of the day. run pump for a few minutes not hooked up to you to help dry out the pump parts so you don't have the hard water spots dried in place.

no need to sterilize unless you have an immune compromised baby or premie
or if you forget to wash the pump parts all weekend and they look really funky lol.

[theresat858]

Feb 9, 2015 17:02:57 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Feb 9, 2015 16:00:27 GMT -5 @amyg said:

bag measurements are always inaccurate cause they don't always open all the way.

store pump parts in fridge and wash out at the end of the day. run pump for a few minutes not hooked up to you to help dry out the pump parts so you don't have the hard water spots dried in place.

no need to sterilize unless you have an immune compromised baby or premie
or if you forget to wash the pump parts all weekend and they look really funky lol.

Ok so before I keep it fridge should I just rinse or no need to rinse?

Don't rinse.

[Deleted]

you can rinse if you want, but there's no need to rinse. It's how moms avoid doing the pump part dishes all.the.time when pumping.

[mooncharm]

The film from hard water grosses me out on our bottles, but I don't have time to deal with it always. What I've been doing is just soaking them in a bowl of soapy water with vinegar every week or two (okay, lately I've been slacking) and then they get nice and clean! I run them through the dishwasher after that and they look gorgeous (for about one day).