Breast Milk Storage Guidelines
- Storage of breast milk at the back of the freezer compartment is safer as it may lose its temperature every time it is opened.
- Milk should be stored in a clean plastic breast milk bottle, glass bottles or breast milk bags. A breast milk storage bag should be thrown away after used. Breast milk storage bottles should be washed properly will very hot water and soap and then rinsed.
- The milk that has been standing will separate, causing the fat to float to the top of the milk. The milk should just be swirled together so that it can remix.
- Breast milk should never be thawed in a microwave oven.
- Breastmilk should also never be refrozen.
- Breast milk can also be stored in a portable cooler bag that contains ice packs for up to 24 hours.
- All breast milk storage containers should be marked with a date and time. A time is needed as it has been found that breast milk that is pumped in the morning hours should be fed to baby in the morning as it can be compared to an adult drinking an espresso! If you fed pumped "morning" breast milk to baby at night he will most probably struggle to sleep. "evening" Breast milk has also been found to help baby sleep.
- Fresh breast milk should be cooled down in the fridge before adding to any other milk for freezing. Milk can be layered in this way, but should be kept in quantities that will be used for one feeding.
How to thaw breast milk “defrost breast milk”
- Breast milk should be kept in the refrigerator while thawing. Milk can also be run under some warm water for a few minutes.
- Can you reheat breast milk? You should not reheat breast milk more than twice, reheating breast milk can cause the growth of harmful bacteria and can make baby sick.
- When heating breast milk, never bring the breast milk to boiling point as this will destroy its quality
- Previously thawed breast milk can be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours
- After breast milk has been thawed, it should be used within a day or two at the latest.
- Thawing temperature below
Storing breast milk temperatures
• Safe breast milk refrigeration
- 15 degrees C - 24 hrs
- 22 degrees C - 10 hrs
- 25 degrees C (Room temperature) - 4 hrs
• Freezing breast milk
- Freezer compartment on refrigerator - 2 weeks
- Separate freezer on refrigerator - 4 months
- Separate deep freezer – Up to 6 months
• Thawing breast milk
- Can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours
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