Cleaning

indianaalum

How often do you have to clean the tubing on the Medela? Any tricks to getting it to dry quickly?

I cleaned it but can't seem to get the water out of the tubing. I assume it will need to be completely dry between every use. Right now, it seems to take days to dry so not sure how that will work when I  need to pump at work multiple times a day. Do I clean it between every use or is that not necessary?

 (luckily, I just started pumping to up my supply when I return back to work so there's been no need to use multiple times a day yet)

Any other tips on cleaning the medela parts while at work would also be much appreciated, as well

vvvvvfee

you do not need to clean the tubing regularly. you only need to wash it out if milk backs up into it (which shouldn't generally happen). if milk gets into it, just pull the tubes off and wash them in the sink with hot, soapy water.

generally, there will just be condensation (water) inside the tubing after you pump. you can dry it out by disconnecting the flanges/bottles and letting the pump run for a few minutes after you're done. i would generally pull off the flanges/bottles, and let the pump run while i cleaned up. just a couple of minutes should draw enough air through the tubes to completely dry them out.

as far as cleaning the other parts at work-- you don't need to. if you have a cooler bag with an ice pack, you can put the flanges, bottles, etc. into the cooler bag between pumps. you don't need to wipe or rinse them off at all. (alternatively, you can throw them in a ziploc bag and store them in a refrigerator, if one is available.) it's nice to have 2 sets of pump parts, so then at the end of the day you can put all your parts in the dishwasher and have a clean set for the next day.

jnnfrrose6

As PP said, no need to regularly clean the tubes.  I believe I read online a tip if you need to get them dry (I'll see if I can find the info again somewhere), but the general idea was to put a few drops of rubbing alcohol down the tubes.  It evaporates fairly quickly and helps clean.  They also recommended essentially spinning the tubes around over your head (like a lasso) to use centripetal force to get the water out (though I think just letting the pump run with nothing attached to the tubes would be easier).

flcl

I've never cleaned the tubing.  Like @vvvvvfee said, there really isn't a need to clean the tubing unless milk gets backed into it and that's never happened with me.  After pumping, I'll disconnect the flanges and run the pump for a minute or two to make sure there's no condensation in it.  I keep the parts in a cooler and clean them once I get home.  No need to clean them after every use.

blondie10m

If you clean them with water you are supposed to lasso them around in the air quickly to get most of the water out and then run the pump for several minutes after use to get the remaining condensation out.

Abenedict2011

I do all of the above as pp said. Let the pump run extra while I clean up, swim it around like a lasso, an if the water continues I run rubbing alcohol through them.

mommatotwo2

As PP said, there is usually no need to clean them unless milk backs into the tubing, which it should not do if you have your pump assembly put together correctly. If this does happen, you just rinse them with clear water, drip dry open ends down, and for any remaining bit of water, run the pump on high for a couple of minutes with no attachments.  You can lasso them like PP suggested which will get the majority of water out, but proceed with caution, make sure nobody is anywhere near you when you're whipping those things around, ouch. (From experience!)

One additional tip I have, if you are finding yourself getting water in your tubing each time you pump, make sure your pump parts are very dry when you start pumping.  I always gave them a good few shakes when they came out of the dishwasher before putting them on the drying rack.  I also had 3 days worth of pumping parts so that I could let them dry for plenty of time before use.

indianaalum

Thanks for tips everyone