pump at work/send bottles to daycare routine questions

PotomacSt · August 2012

If you pump at work and send BM bottles to daycare/babysitter, I have a few questions. I'm trying to figure out what my routine is going to look like.

For pumping at work -

1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? (I have a Medela PISA)

2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around.

3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions?

4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment.

5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case.

For daycare-

1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more?

thanks so much!

aglenn · August 2012

PotomacSt:

1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? (I have a Medela PISA) I use 4 bottles. DS takes 4 4-oz bottles at day care. Anything extra that I pump I pour into freezer bags and take home to freeze.

2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around. I guess that would be fine, but I would probably want to cool it to be safe. My Freestyle came with a 4-bottle cooler bag with ice pack and I would use that.

3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions? No. I put mine in a bag in the fridge.

4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment. I have two sets in rotation because I will put a set in the dishwasher each night, but things don't get totally dry there. So, in the morning I will take them out and put them on a drying rack to air dry (and take the other set off the drying rack to pack and bring to work). I'm sure I could work this out to only have one set of parts, but this is my current routine and it's working fine.

5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case. I bring it home so I have it if I am sick or whatever and don't come into the office but still need to pump. I just like to have it with me.

For daycare-

1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more? I have 8 sets of bottles/nipples/caps in rotation (same dishwasher routine as for the pump parts) plus a few extras just in case.

thanks so much!

aglenn · August 2012

Mommy brain fail in my last answer above (tried to edit but it's not letting me). I actually have 12 bottles/accessories in rotation, so one set of 4 is at day care with DS, one set is with me for pumping into, and one set is in the dishwasher or on the drying rack.

jlsimon56 · August 2012

1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? I bring one more than how many times I pump. Say I pump 3x per day - I'd bring 4 bottles. First pump, I use Bottle A and Bottle B. When finished, I pour everything into Bottle A and put it in my cooler, then attach Bottle B and Bottle C to my pump. Second pump, I use Bottle B and Bottle C. When finished, I pour everything into Bottle B and put it in my cooler, then attach Bottle C and Bottle D. Etc. For awhile, I was pumping a lot at my first session (when LO started STTN) so I needed to bring extra bottles, but things evened out shortly.

2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around. I would just keep a cooler with ice packs (comes with most pumps) at your desk. That is what I do. The drive home can be hot and I like them to stay in the cooler. Also easier to carry!

3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions? I do not. I keep everything at room temp. Some moms put the parts in the fridge. I don't like cold parts! Brr!

4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment. I have 3 sets. I wash at home only. When I was pumping the most (around the 6 month mark, that growth spurt is a doozy!), I used 2 sets at work and washed both at home. I have an Ameda and the parts have to be DRY to work well so I wanted to make sure they had plenty of time overnight to airdry.

5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case. I bring it home JUST IN CASE I need to pump at home. You never know. I keep a manual at work and I only used it when my pump motor died on me! The company overnighted me a new one so I was only out that one day. I have never forgotten my pump (knock on wood, I just jinxed myself!)

For daycare-

1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more? Just buy more. I think I have 10 bottles and 10 nipples. I send four bottles each day. Nipples can get gross too - I am soaking three right now. The daycare only rinses the bottles out when they have time, so sometimes I get smelly bottles. The nipples really stink in that case. Best to have more.

jamdv3 · August 2012

Not going to answer every question, since it looks like you've got those covered from PPers, but I do want to strongly encourage to buy at least 1 extra set of pump parts. I bought mine off amazon and it really helped keep me sane! You'll be glad you did.

Good luck!

stemms8810 · August 2012

1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? (I have a Medela PISA) I have 4 bottles and pump 3x a day.

2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around. I would put it in the fridge to be safe or at least use a cooler bag with an ice pack in my office.

3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions? I don't. I rinse them or use the Medela wipes, put them in a ziploc bag and either put in the fridge or in my PISA backpack.

4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment. I don't have extra parts. I just wash them each day.

5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case. I bring mine home because I pump at 10pm for a little extra milk.

For daycare-

1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more? I have about 8 bottles and nipples. I send 4 to daycare each day so I don't necessarily have to wash each night but I usually do anyway just to keep on top of it so I don't end up with 8 to wash at one time.

Jenny952 · August 2012

PotomacSt:

1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? (I have a Medela PISA) I pump 3x so I bring 4 bottles. I use #1 and #2 for the 1st pump and dump everything into bottle #1. Then I use #2 and #3 for the 2nd pump and put it into #2, etc. The milk from bottle #1 is DD's 1st bottle for tomorrow, and so on. She gets 3 bottles at d/c. This also cuts down on how many bottles I have to wash. I use the Medela FS and DD uses Medela bottles.

2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around. My pump came with a little cooler and freezer pack, so I put my milk in that. Milk does stay good for several hours, but I don't trust that I'll be able to get it into the fridge exactly when I get home, and some nights I want to run an errand on my way home. I'm usually gone for 9-10 hours and my ice pack is still cold when I get home.

3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions? I wipe them with the Medela wipes so I don't have to wash them in between sessions.

4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment. Yes, I wash everything - pump parts and bottles - every night. You might want to invest in extra parts if you don't want to do dishes each night and also in case of an emergency.

5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case. No, I take everything home. It's just easier for me to put everything into my bag and not have to worry about just taking the cooler home. Plus I want to wash everything that night. I let everything dry overnight and put all the parts back into my bag in the morning. I find that my parts need to be totally dry to work properly.

For daycare-

1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more? I have 7 bottles and 4 nipples. Again, I wash everything every night, and I don't find it's too much of a PITA, but if you don't want to do dishes each night, you'll need more. Personally, it doesn't bother me too much. It only takes about 15 minutes and I do it after cleaning up after dinner anyway.

thanks so much!

dam0ne4 · August 2012

PotomacSt:
If you pump at work and send BM bottles to daycare/babysitter, I have a few questions. I'm trying to figure out what my routine is going to look like.
For pumping at work -
1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? (I have a Medela PISA) I have the same pump and I bring 4 since I pump 3x a day
2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around. I don't have an office so I just put the bottles in the office fridge in the cooler bag that came with the PISA
3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions? I assumed so, so that's what I do
4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment. I don't have extras either and so far I haven't minded washing everything
5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case. I take it home. It's always at the top of my mind when I leave for work but if I ever forgot it, I work close enough to home where I could go get it if I needed to
For daycare-
1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more? I have about 10-11 bottles and 6 nipples which has been working out well
thanks so much!

natsgirl12 · August 2012

For pumping at work -

1. How many bottles do you bring to pump into? (I have a Medela PISA) I only bring one set of bottles and pour into storage bags once I have enough (I like to store 4oz at a time).

2. Since breastmilk is good at room temperature for longer than I'm at work, is it reasonable to just keep it in my office instead of putting it in the office fridge or cooler bag? I am in an office with 40-some people using one fridge, so I'd prefer to avoid the fridge if I can because I know my milk would just get shoved around. Your milk should be fine at room temperature. I can understand not wanting to put your milk in the shared fridge. I am lucky and we have a lactation room at work with a mini fridge that is only for milk.

3. Is it necessary to wash pump parts between pumping sessions? No. Though, I do store mine in the mini fridge in between sessions. Not exactly sure what the protocol is on leaving them out at room temp, but it should be fine since your milk is fine. I do wipe down the flanges with a food wipe (the baby brezza brand), which is way cheaper than those medela wipes.

4. Do you wash your pump parts at home and pack them for the next day, or do you have extra pump parts and rotate them? I don't have any extra pump parts, I'm wondering if that would be a good investment. I have two sets of parts. This is just so much easier for me. I get home and wash the parts from the day. Then I pack up the dry ones from the previous day and I am all set for the next day. If I didn't have a second set, I'd have to wait until the morning to pack the parts so that they would be dry and I'd likely forget them.

5. If you have your own office (or a safe place to keep it) do you leave your pump at work, or bring it home every night? I do have my own office and I won't be using my pump at home during the week. It's not a big deal to bring it to work and take it home every day, I'm just worried I'll forget it at home one morning. I do have a Medela Harmony too, I could keep that somewhere just in case. I could lock my pump up in a cabinet and leave it if I wanted to, but I carry it to and from work every day. I know this sounds annoying, but you just never know what the next day has in store for you. I normally wouldn't need it at home during the week...but if something keeps me from going into work one day and I didn't have my pump, I'd be in trouble. My daughter sleeps through the night and I have to pump in the morning before she wakes up or I am super uncomfortable. If my pump were at work, I'd be so sad.

For daycare-

1. How many bottles and nipples do you have? I have nine bottles but only four nipples. Would it be too much of a PITA to wash them every night or should I just buy more? Buy more. At first, I had 2 sets (I send 5 bottles a day just in case, but DD eats 2 or 3..sometimes 4). But even 2 sets was annoying. Now I have 15 bottles (3 sets). The ones I need for the next day are put together and ready to be filled. Then there are the ones left on the drying rack from the day before, which I then put together and put away. And then I wash the ones from the current day. Obviously, I probably have a few too many because she always comes home with 2-3 full bottles that get used the next day, but I'd rather have too many than too few.

thanks so much!

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