Storing Breast Milk

From Mommyplace.com WiKI Page

The CDC website [1] has a good article on their site with tips and rules for storing breast milk.

In general, here are some rules to follow:

1) Breast milk stored in a refrigerator is good for up to 5 days.

2) Breast milk stored in a freezer compartment of refrigerator is good for up to 2 weeks.

3) Breast milk stored in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator with a separate door for the freezer is good for 3-6 months. I erred on the side of caution and did not use anything after 3 months.

4) If you are going to add breast milk from a recent pumping to an existing container, here the rule you must follow: First let the new breast milk cool. Also, never add more (ounces) to what you are adding it to. So, it is OK to add 2 oz of new breast milk to a container in the freezer that has 3 oz. But you should not add 4oz of new breast milk to a container that has 2 oz. Also, if you are going to combine breast milk, put the oldest date on the label so that you will not have expired breast milk.

Always store breast milk in the back of the refrigerator or freezer...this is the coldest part of both.

NEVER thaw milk in a microwave. Microwaves can create inconsistent temperatures in the milk and whereas the top of the milk might feel cool to your touch, there could be a hot pocket in the middle of the container which could severley damage your baby's mouth.

If you take breast milk from the freezer and put it into the refrigerator to thaw, use that milk within 24 hours. Do not put it back into the freezer to re-freeze. In fact, never refreeze milk.

If the milk that you put in the refrigerator did not thaw completely, run the container under hot water in your sink. OR fill a pot with some hot tap water (do not boil!!) and place the container in the pot. Shake often to facilitiate faster thawing. Before you serve the milk to baby, make sure you shake it well and test for hot pockets (which are less likely to happen by just thawing under hot tap water and shaking continuously).

Do not reuse or save left over breast milk after feeding baby. Throw away whatever they did not finish. Babies have bacteria in their mouths and you should never recycle breast milk, formula, or even foods that they did not finish.