Pumping at work question

[Wugz22]

I'm returning to work in a couple weeks and I'm trying to collect tips on how to make this as successful as possible! I think I can get a small refrigerator to keep in my classroom, so how does it work with storing pumping parts in there… If I pump before school starts (8:30), I can just give my parts a quick rinse (no soap, no hot water in my classroom unfortunately), and then it's safe to store them in the fridge until I use them again at lunch? And then I can just do a quick rinse and back in the fridge for the after work pump session? Or do I need to be cleaning more thoroughly?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated! I'm a teacher and very rarely have any privacy to pump in my classroom of ALL WINDOWS, so this is going to be interesting!

 

[leigh5tom]

Hello
I'm expressing at the moment several times a day as I'm trying to increase my supply. I wash and sterilise my ounp every morning, then after each time I use it I just pop it back into the fridge without washing or rinsing or anything. I only clean and sterilise it once every 24 hours. Obviously I have a trash pot to collect milk each time though. Good luck x

 

[leigh5tom]

Goodness my spelling on my phone is awful!! Sorry!!

*pump

*Fresh pot

 

[goldstns]

Did know the supplies should be stored in fridge. Thx for that info.

 

[MommyJogger]

Goodness my spelling on my phone is awful!! Sorry!!

*pump

*Fresh pot

lol! I was a little horrified that your pumped milk was going in a 'trash pot'. Made my body seize up just thinking about throwing fresh bm in the trash.
OP: That sounds fine. You don't need to rinse, but it might make it more comfortable for you in your 2nd+ pump sessions if you do.
As for privacy, I would definitely recommend a sign to put on the door if the lock (or your memory) isn't reliable. And even if you don't always use it, having a nursing cover in the drawer to pull out if there are ragamuffins playing outside one of your windows may be useful in an emergency. If you're allowed to hang things, I know a teacher who suspended a shower curtain rod from her drop ceiling to pull a curtain on the side where her windows were located and it made her feel much more secure while pumping.
Another emergency item I would suggest keeping in your desk is a microwave sterilizer bag and extra clean bottles. On the off-chance that you accidentally leave your bottles at home or your pump parts at work and need to sterilize them the next day at work before use or you drop them on the floor and don't feel comfortable using them without sterilizing, it's good to have that tool available for the one-in-a-million time you need it.
If your pumping sessions are going to be at times you'd usually be doing something else, I'd recommend a hands-free nursing bustier (or a bra with nipple holes cut out, lol) so that you can do other things (eat, grade, write, type, etc) while you pump if you're one of us lucky ones that don't have to really focus to respond well to the pump.

 

[MommyJogger]

Did know the supplies should be stored in fridge. Thx for that info.

Only if you don't wash with soap and hot water between uses. If you don't, the pump parts have the same time and storage rules as freshly pumped breast milk from the first use. (I think it's 4 hours at room temperature?? It's been a few months since I've actually had to observe these rules, so I might not be remembering correctly, it might be longer.)

 

[Calif]

I just bring two sets of pumping parts/bottles because I am grossed out by leaving it in the fridge and using it again. Everyone goes in and out of our fridge. I actually keep my milk in a cooler in the freezer. I don't mind washing both when I get home, and I store it in the fridge all day.

 

[wanting2010]

I returned to work at 2.5 months pp and have been pumping since then (baby just turned 1). I pump 3 times a day during a 12 hour shift, and after each pump session I just put my parts into ziplocs and put them in the fridge, no rinsing or washing or anything. Then each night I wash them. I don't have a ton of time to pump, so that's one way I found to make it faster and we have had no problems doing it that way. I have a cooler bag that I put my milk bottles and parts into when I store them in the fridge since everyone I work with uses it too...it wouldn't necessarily bother me to leave it all out in the open, but I figured it would make my coworkers more comfortable!

 

[Rymel12]

I feel like I'm weird for doing this, but I feel uncomfortable washing out my pump parts in front of people at work so I fill up a plastic container with water, bring it to the privacy of my office, rinse the parts out, and toss the water outside after (my office is right next to a door). Then I clean with hot water and soap when I get home. Never did consider descretly storing the parts in the fridge. I like that idea better!

 

[MommyJogger]

I feel like I'm weird for doing this, but I feel uncomfortable washing out my pump parts in front of people at work so I fill up a plastic container with water, bring it to the privacy of my office, rinse the parts out, and toss the water outside after (my office is right next to a door). Then I clean with hot water and soap when I get home. Never did consider descretly storing the parts in the fridge. I like that idea better!

You can buy a zippered/drawstring wetbag or two for refrigerator storage and they won't be able to see the contents. Just toss the wetbag inside out in the wash when you get home. They're useful for dirty clothes storage and pool visits once you get to the stage of life where you're no longer pumping, too. I never minded people seeing my pump parts or milk and I frequently just bf at my desk, but I always personally hated how it looked for my milk or the water droplets to smear on the side of the ziplock bag-- made the parts look dirty even when they were perfectly fine. It crossed the line of my personal ick factor and might make you feel more comfortable storing something discrete in a communal refrigerator if you're feeling shy about it at all.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=wet+bag
Various price points depending on what you're most comfortable with if you decide to try it. Re-useable lunch bags work well, too, depending on whether you prefer another piece of laundry or something you have to wipe out with soap and water every evening.

 

[Rymel12]

I feel like I'm weird for doing this, but I feel uncomfortable washing out my pump parts in front of people at work so I fill up a plastic container with water, bring it to the privacy of my office, rinse the parts out, and toss the water outside after (my office is right next to a door). Then I clean with hot water and soap when I get home. Never did consider descretly storing the parts in the fridge. I like that idea better!

You can buy a zippered/drawstring wetbag or two for refrigerator storage and they won't be able to see the contents. Just toss the wetbag inside out in the wash when you get home. They're useful for dirty clothes storage and pool visits once you get to the stage of life where you're no longer pumping, too. I never minded people seeing my pump parts or milk and I frequently just bf at my desk, but I always personally hated how it looked for my milk or the water droplets to smear on the side of the ziplock bag-- made the parts look dirty even when they were perfectly fine. It crossed the line of my personal ick factor and might make you feel more comfortable storing something discrete in a communal refrigerator if you're feeling shy about it at all.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=wet+bag
Various price points depending on what you're most comfortable with if you decide to try it. Re-useable lunch bags work well, too, depending on whether you prefer another piece of laundry or something you have to wipe out with soap and water every evening.

Wow, those bags are adorable! Love that idea. Thanks!

 

[dfavbaby]

After each pump session I use the medela quick clean wipes. I make sure to wipe all the areas that touch the milk and when I get home I sterilize. The wipes save me a lot more time and are much easier to use. Hope that helps