As what they said, breastmilk is best for babies. Once you decided to do exclusive breastfeeding, you wouldn’t want to put your milk into waste, not even a single drop. If your baby doesn’t have access to your breast for the time being, storing your milk is the best way to make sure that you will still be providing your milk for your little one. But how do we properly store a breastmilk? For how long is it good for? Let’s discuss this matter right now.
What containers should we use in storing breastmilk?
You can use breastmilk storage bags, glass bottle with anti-leak covers, plastic bottles that are safe and clean. You can either freeze, chill, refrigerate or put it in a room temperature (in a limited number of time).
Use safe and sterilized containers that are recommended and designed for breastmilk storage. Do not use thin plastic resealable sandwich bag as it might just get easily torn especially when breastmilk is frozen.
How much milk should you put in each container?
Only put the appropriate amount consumable for each feeding. If you put too much milk in each container, it will be put into waste since you can not refreeze the milk after it is being thawed or heated. The excess milk shall then be discarded if there is any.
For frozen milk, you can put it in the refrigerator so it will thaw but will remain cold. Heat it within 24 hour from the time you removed from freezer. To heat it, put milk in the feeding bottle and place it in a cup filled with hot water.
For how long are stored breastmilk good for?
Frozen milk can be stored up to 3-4 months, refrigerated milk can last up to 6-8 days, those which are stored in cooler with ice can last up to 24 hours and those that are just store in room temperature is only good up to 4-6 hours. You will know if your milk is spoiled because it will smell bad and spoiled.
After you thawed and warmed up your milk, make sure you check its temperature and see if it is something your baby can take. Not too hot, just warm and ready for consumption.
After 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding or giving only breastmilk to your baby, you can then start to introduce solid food to your little one. Ensuring that we give only what is best for our baby may require some time and effort from us. Thus, keep yourself healthy all the time to make sure too that you are providing the best “liquid gold” your body is capable of making. Enjoy breastfeeding!
Leave a Reply