A common question in regards to breast pumps:
Question: In regards to cleaning the breast pump....what is the best way to do this? I have a microwave sterilizer for the bottles I have; can this be used for the parts of the breast pump that need cleaned too?
Answer: everything that comes into contact with breast milk must be cleaned. Wash first using hot soapy water and a brush. Then sterilize.
Medela don’t manufacture their own brand of sterilizer, but they do have microwave sterization bags which work the same was as a sterilizer would anyway. Alot of mothers use other brands of microwave sterilisers and dont seem to have a problem. You could also sterilize by using a saucepan, all the items need to be submerged in boiling water for 5 minutes. You could also sterilize using Cold Sterilisation tablets, such as Miltons.
Question: Also how much milk should I be expressing/reheating at one time for one feed?
Baby age of about 3 weeks, you should offer about 100mLs for a feed. Baby might not drink it all, but offer 100mL and see how they go. For more volume-age guidelines use this link:
http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-much-does-baby-drink.html
There is a lot of different tips and topics that I have written about. You can access via this page:
http://www.breastmates.co.nz/Articles_Breastfeeding_Nursing.html
You can buy all the medela products at our webstore http://www.breastmates.co.nz
