Electric breast pumps

[Marley&Me]

I have a Medela mini electric breast pump that I got from a friend. I need to sterilise it and the instructions say to steam sterilise it. Does this mean I can't boil it? If so, how do I sterilise it??

ETA: It also came with a 'Calma' bottle/teat. Anyone used one before?

[HotI]

which bits do you want to sterilise?

[Arimeh]

I would just wash it in warm soapy water, and rinse well - maybe pour some boiling water over it if I was in the mood.

But thats about all I would be bothered doing LOL

[Marley&Me]

I wanted to sterilise all of it. Except the electrical, of course. My friend got it from someone else for me, so i don't know where it's been!! lol
Also I have just been googling and found some stuff saying that parts have melted while boiling! What wouldn't be safe to boil?? Argh, I'm such a novice!

[Arimeh]

If it was something to do with formula then I would too - but you can really only use them for one purpose and thats all full of antibacterial stuff so I wouldn't be too concerned

I'm pretty anal when it comes to sterilising stuff to do with formula, but not breast milk.

[Marley&Me]

The box smelt like it had been kept in a kitchen with food smells so I just washed all the parts in hot soapy water. I'm hoping I won't need it straight away anyway, but just incase.

Thank you ladies

ETA: I should add, the pump came with two extra bottles and 4 teats.

[Mother Goose]

I've used the calma teat for DD2. What would you like to know?

I have an electric sterilizer from DD1 that I used for the bottles when I first got them (the thoughts of what scurries around a warehouse grosses me out).

[Marley&Me]

I'd probably sterilise the bottles and buy new teats. But thats only because I wouldn't know if they had formula in those bottles

(I hope this doesn't read like I'm against formula, I'm not, I formula fed 3 of mine and only successfully breastfed my last child out of all of them. So I'm not against any way of feeding LOL)

Even if you were I wouldn't even know! I think I was a formula baby after 2 months, mum had a bit of trouble. The teats look in good condition, maybe I will check out some new ones

I've used the calma teat for DD2. What would you like to know?

I just went on to the Medela website and researched the calma teat. I just didn't know what it was for And actually, I'm still not 100% sure.....

[Mother Goose]

It's suppose to aid colic and reflux babies but also be better in reducing lazy feeding. The baby has to suck the teat to get milk (they don't recommend using it for formula) the same way they would have to suck at the breast. If you tip a bottle upside down with a calma teat in it, the milk won't come out (in theory). Do because its not free flowing, they say that the baby is less likely to become a lazy feeder and therefore it's good for those wanting to combine feed (bottle and breast) or who can't breast feed for whatever reason but want to return to it down the track.

Because the baby controls the feed flow, it's suppose to be better for colic and reflux compared to free flow teats.


We tried my reflux baby on it (it came with the bottle and we were trying to get her to take both bottle and breast for various reasons) but she struggled with it. It seemed much harder for her to get milk from the bottle than the breast...so she refused the bottle if she knew I was around. I also felt that she sucked a lot of air in with it - therefore not helping her colic.

The theory is good. I just haven't been successful with it here.

[*beannaithe*]

We used the calma teats when my nipples were too damaged so was exclusively expressing and I was worried about my girls refusing the breast once I was healed. Don't know if it was because if them but my almost year old girls have been exclusively breastfed after about week 1 - 6 in the bottle.

[J.Bear]

Tasha to sterilize it you can boil it for 5 mins, just the three parts that screw on to the bottle (and the bottle/s) not the plastics hosey part or anything after of course.

[Eenee]

Sterilise in the microwave, that's what I do with my Medela swing parts (obviously not the electrical bits lol).