Guidelines for Breast Milk Storage
Storing Your Extra Pumped Milk Safely in Freezer or Refrigerator
Aug 19, 2009
If you are one of many mothers who is planning to return to work or wants to store up extra breast milk for times that you cannot be home, you may be looking for easy and convenient ways to refrigerate or freeze it. How can you build up your milk supply and what is the best way to store it safely?
Evaluating Your Milk Supply
It is best to wait until after the first week or two until your breasts are making a good supply but not overproducing. If you begin pumping large quantities of breast milk when you are already making too much, it can only cause you to continue to overproduce milk.
Once your body has regulated itself to your baby's needs, you might find that a convenient time to pump extra breast milk is from the second breast (or the breast you finished on) since the baby is more likely to have taken less from the second breast. You can also pump from both breasts at the end of each feeding and store that amount for future use. Pumping after each feeding is also a great way to increase your milk supply if you are not making enough milk.
Storing Breast Milk at Room Temperature and Insulated Coolers
If you are saving breast milk to use for the next feeding, you can keep it at room temperature for up to 4-6 hours. If you are away from your baby and have pumped breast milk stored in an insulated cooler container, it can be saved for 24 hours.
Storing Breast Milk in a Refrigerator or Freezer
Your breast milk can be safely stored in your refrigerator for up to 8 days. The guidelines for safely freezing breast milk depend on the type of freezer you have. With a freezer compartment (small section inside a refrigerator), breast milk will keep for 2 weeks. If you have a self-contained freezer, you can store breast milk for 3-6 months. Deep freezers can safely store breast milk for 6-12 months.
One of the most convenient tools to use for frozen breast milk storage are freezer milk trays that are specifically designed to store breast milk. These freezer trays store 1-2 ounces in each section and each milk stick will easily fit through any size bottle openings so that there is no waste. Do not use ice cube trays to freeze breast milk since the plastic can break down over time.
Guidelines for Thawing Breast Milk
If you have frozen breast milk, you can thaw it in your refrigerator for 24 hours. You can also place the frozen milk into a bottle and run in under cool water. Gradually increase the temperature of the water until it is just warm. Sometimes parents assume that babies need warm breast milk, but you might be surprised that they will drink it even if it is cool.
Remember that breast milk is the hands down, healthiest way to feed your baby. Anytime you need to be away from your baby, learning about safely storing that precious supply of milk will be crucial to your baby's health.
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