How to store milk properly after expressing. How and how much to store expressed breast milk in the refrigerator and at room temperature: terms and conditions

17.09.2019

When breastfeeding, it is often necessary to feed the baby with expressed breast milk. How to store expressed breast milk so that this unique product does not lose its value? Read about it below.

By the end of the 1st week after giving birth, breast milk usually arrives in a lactating woman. It happens that the mother has so much milk that before feeding it begins to drip from the breast, and after feeding there is still a lot of it and there is a need to express it. Such milk should not be poured out. It should be kept in the freezer and then fed to the crumbs if necessary.

When do you have to feed your baby with expressed breast milk?

For health reasons of the child, it is sometimes recommended to feed him from a bottle or from a teaspoon.
If the mother goes about her business during the day (works, studies) and the baby stays with a nanny or grandmother.
During a walk or visit to the children's clinic, if it is not convenient to breastfeed.
During lactation crises (when the mother's milk becomes scarce).
During the mother's illness, if she is prescribed medications that are not allowed for breastfeeding.
If a mother leaves or leaves her baby for a few days or weeks.

Just for such cases, you need a supply of breast milk in the freezer. They will help you get through a difficult period for mom and baby.

You can store expressed breast milk

At room temperature

It is permissible to store expressed breast milk in a room in a sterile, tightly closed bottle for 3-4 hours at a temperature of 23-25 \u200b\u200bdegrees.

Those. in order to preserve breast milk until the next feeding of the baby, the mother should wash her breast with warm water, wash her hands with soap. Strain the milk into a sterile bottle, close it with a cap on top and do not place it in the refrigerator, but put it in the room if the temperature in it does not exceed 25 ºС.

Before giving milk to the baby, the bottle should be placed in any container with warm water 40-45 ºС for 5 minutes.

In a refrigerator

One day or 24 hours you can store expressed breast milk in a tightly closed sterile bottle in the refrigerator at a temperature of + 5 + 7 ° C.

Before use, place the bottle in any container with warm water 40-45 ºС for 10 minutes. Or warm up the bottle in a special warmer.

In the freezer

You can store expressed breast milk in the freezer in a sterile, tightly closed plastic container for up to six months.

The milk should first be expressed in a sterile plastic container. Close the container carefully with a lid, keep it in the refrigerator for half an hour (30 minutes). At a temperature of + 5 + 7 ° C. Then freeze the container with milk and store at -5-17 ºС.

You can add milk that has been pre-cooled in the refrigerator to the container with frozen milk several times until the amount of breast milk required for one feeding has accumulated in the container.

It is advisable to indicate the date of expressing milk on the container.

Frozen milk loses the activity of some enzymes, beneficial bacteria, but retains almost all of its beneficial qualities. This kind of breast milk is much healthier than artificial formula.

How to defrost breast milk?

A container with frozen milk from a freezer is placed in a refrigerator with a temperature of + 5 + 7 ° C for two to three hours, then heated in warm water or in a bottle warmer.

Defrosted milk can be kept in the refrigerator for no more than a day.

It is categorically impossible

Boil breast milk (including for defrosting). Boiled breast milk loses almost all useful qualities and approaches in usefulness to.
Freeze defrosted breast milk a second and third time. If they defrosted and did not give milk to the child within 24 hours, pour out the rest.

This is all about how to store expressed breast milk. I wish you health and good lactation!

Storing expressed breast milk is a great alternative to formula when the mother is unable to breastfeed her baby on time. If you learn how to store milk correctly, the child will be able to receive the most useful nutrition, specially designed for him, even in the absence of his mother. How much milk can be stored in different conditions and how to do it correctly, we will tell in this article.

What is breast milk and when do you need to store it?

Breast milk is a unique product containing about four hundred nutrients that a child needs for full growth, development and formation of immunity. Milk is balanced in composition and does not have full-fledged substitutes, even an expensive infant formula cannot compare in properties with mother's milk. Therefore, the best solution for mom and baby is breastfeeding with breastfeeding on demand.

However, there are situations when the mother cannot feed the baby in due time. Most often this happens for the following reasons:

mother's going to work or study, business trips or sessions in another city;
hospitalization;
the need to take potent drugs that are incompatible with breastfeeding due to their effect on the baby through milk;
refusal of the child from the breast;
the need to heal cracks or wounds in the nipples;
important life circumstances that force you to leave the child with a nanny or loved ones.

The inability to constantly be near the baby should not be a reason to refuse breastfeeding! Breast milk can be regularly expressed and stored, creating a "milk supply" in case of mother's absence.

If a mother cannot be with her baby all the time, this does not mean that the child will not be able to receive her milk.

Dr. Komarovsky on expressed milk (video)

Storage under various conditions

You can store an irreplaceable product in different conditions: at room temperature, in the refrigerator, in a thermal bag and in the freezer. The storage duration for each method is different:

in the room, fresh milk is stored from 4 hours to a day, depending on the air temperature;
it is permissible to keep the product in the refrigerator for up to 8 days at a temperature of 0 to 4 ° C;
in the freezer, natural baby food can be stored from 2 weeks to 6 months, depending on the technical features of the device.

At room temperature

You can store milk without refrigeration in a room for no more than 24 hours.

24 hours milk is stored in a room with a temperature of up to 15 ° C;
10 hours - at 19-22 ° C;
4-6 hours at 25 ° C.

American scientists in 1987 conducted a study during which they studied the duration of storage of expressed milk at an average room temperature (22 degrees) without losing its quality. They found that due to the content of special substances in milk after 10 hours, the number of pathogenic microorganisms does not exceed the permissible level, regardless of where it was - in the room or in the refrigerator.

Storing milk in this way is possible in a situation where the mother can give milk at least twice a day.

Important! Keep containers with milk away from sunlight.

Milk stays fresh for a long time due to the content of special substances that prevent the development of microorganisms

Advantages of the storage method:

milk retains its smell and taste;
less stringent requirements for containers than freezing;
the procedure for preparing milk for use is simple - it is enough to warm it up to body temperature;
as a last resort, if it is not possible to warm the bottle, it is permissible to offer the child milk at room temperature.

Disadvantages:

short shelf life, after which the milk turns sour;
not suitable for a long absence of mom.

In a refrigerator

It is recommended to store milk in a refrigerator in situations where the mother has to be absent for a long time. This storage method is also suitable for women who cannot fully attach the baby to the breast due to painful cracks in the nipples.

Remember to write the date and time on the bottle when the milk was collected

In order for milk to be stored in the refrigerator for the prescribed period - from 4 to 8 days, you must strictly follow the storage rules:

Milk containers must be sterilized. Incorrectly prepared bottles can significantly reduce the shelf life of a priceless product.
Each portion must be signed. Be sure to indicate the date and time when the milk was collected on the milk containers.
Place the container with milk at the back of the refrigerator. Do not store bottles or jars on the refrigerator door or too close to it - temperature fluctuations in this case are contraindicated.

If you are going to store milk in the refrigerator, then don't worry when you see it stratified. This does not mean that it has deteriorated; to return a homogeneous consistency, you just need to shake the bottle.

The refrigerator door is the worst place to store milk

A negative moment, which is sometimes observed when cooling milk, is the appearance of a "soapy" taste and smell. This is due to the excess in the milk of some women, the enzyme lipase, which is involved in the breakdown of milk fat. Most babies are not worried about the new taste, but some babies do not like it and refuse the milk offered.

Method for eliminating "soapy" taste and odor

If your child refuses to eat because of an unusual taste, the product that has already been placed in storage will most likely have to be discarded. But don't despair! The soapy taste is eliminated by heating in a water bath. It is possible to properly heat milk to the required temperature, causing lipase destruction and stopping the fat breakdown process as follows:

Place the next 50 ml to 150 ml of fresh expressed milk in a heat-resistant glass beaker. You cannot warm up a larger amount at one time.
Place a glass of milk in a saucepan and pour water into it so that the water level is 2 fingers higher than the milk level.
Light the strongest fire or turn on the high-power cooker and wait for the water to boil, during which bubbles should appear in the milk.
Remove the glass from the pot as soon as the water boils.
Place the glass in a container of ice water, cover it with a clean lid or plate and wait for the milk to cool to room temperature.
After cooling down, pour the nutrient liquid into a storage container and refrigerate.
Use only durable glass that will not burst from temperature extremes.

Attention! Heating milk to high temperatures reduces the amount of nutrients, therefore, a product processed according to this technology should not be the only source of nutrition for a child.

The advantage of storing milk in the refrigerator is the preservation of the product for several days without significant changes in its properties.

Disadvantages of the storage method:

the possibility of an unpleasant aftertaste;
sometimes it becomes necessary to warm milk.

Freezer storage rules

Freezing milk may be necessary in case of prolonged absence or illness of a nursing woman. The length of time the milk remains in the freezer without losing its beneficial qualities depends on the ability of the freezing device to maintain a constant temperature without fluctuations:

milk can be stored on a freezer shelf located inside the refrigerator and does not have a separate door for 2 weeks;
in a freezer compartment with its own door - about 3-4 months;
in a separate freezer with a deep-freeze function at -19 ° C - 6 months.

Frozen milk is preserved without losing its properties only if freezing rules are strictly observed.

After you have expressed the milk, do not put it in the freezer right away, but let it cool in the refrigerator for 1.5–2 hours.
Use only sterile plastic containers or special disposable bags for freezing breast milk.
Do not store milk in the freezer in glass containers. They can burst when exposed to low temperatures.
Do not forget to sign the date of expressing and freezing milk.
Freeze milk in portions - 100-150 ml. Defrosted milk should not be stored longer than one day; the remaining product must be discarded.

Placing expressed milk in the freezer allows you to store it for as long as possible

Remember that it is not enough to freeze and store milk properly. So that it does not lose its useful properties, it must be properly defrosted.

When freezing and thawing milk, you need to adhere to the main rule: avoid sudden changes in temperature. After you have taken out a portion of milk from the freezer, you need to follow these steps:

The container with milk should be placed in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours for slow defrosting.
After the liquid has thawed, it must be taken out of the refrigerator and kept for about an hour at room temperature.
Immediately before feeding, milk is warmed up in gentle ways: in a container with warm water, under running water from the tap or in a baby food warmer.
Do not forget that after thawing, the nutritious product can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a day. Milk that has already been warmed up for feeding cannot be stored. Do not freeze milk a second time.

An important advantage of storing milk in the freezer is the ability to preserve the most valuable product for a long time.

Disadvantages:

milk can acquire an unpleasant "soapy" smell and taste (the way to eliminate them is described above);
a product that has been stored for a long time, in its composition, no longer meets the needs of an older child.

One of the unique characteristics of breast milk is that its composition changes as the baby grows. Milk expressed while feeding a two-month-old baby is no longer ideal for a baby who is 6 months old. Therefore, feeding a baby with milk that has been frozen for a long time is only necessary if there is a serious need. In any case, such milk is better suited to the baby than infant formula.

Using a thermal bag

A thermal bag with cooling elements helps keep milk a little longer than at room temperature, but not as long as in the refrigerator. The storage time of milk in this appliance varies depending on the quality of the bag, the number of cooling elements and the outside temperature.

The thermal bag can be used for the following purposes:

saving expressed milk on the road, especially in hot weather;
transportation of a portion of milk that the mother expressed while at work for subsequent placement in the refrigerator or freezer;
transportation of frozen milk;
keeping warmed milk warm (in this case, instead of an ice pack, you can put a bottle of boiling water in your bag).

Advantages of storing milk in a thermal bag:

mobility;
the ability to store not only chilled, but also warmed milk for feeding.

Disadvantages:

short storage time;
inability to maintain a constant temperature - it gradually changes.

How to store breast milk (video)

General rules

If you have a need to preserve milk for your baby, you need to know how to choose the right utensils for storing a nutritious product and prepare milk for consumption.

Choice of containers

You can store your mother's milk in a variety of containers: in bottles, jars, containers, cups, special bags. Glass, hard plastic, food grade plastic can be used as a container material. The main requirements for containers for storing milk are:

material safety;
sterility;
the presence of a measuring scale;
ease of use;
the presence of a tight-fitting lid.

It is best to store milk in a room or in the refrigerator in bottles with a lid. It can be heated directly in them without the need for transfusion of nutrient fluid. The best solution for a freezer would be plastic milk storage bags sold at the pharmacy. They are sterile, compact and can be connected directly to some breast pump models. In addition, they have a place for notes where you can enter the date of milk collection. Disposable liners in polyethylene bottles for freezing are not suitable, as they have unreliable seams that can burst during freezing or thawing.

Milk storage bags are ideal for freezing

Preparation for use

Before feeding the baby, the milk must be warmed up. Milk from the freezer by this time should be defrosted according to all the rules, it is advisable to keep the product from the refrigerator at room temperature for at least half an hour. Milk that is not refrigerated can be reheated immediately. This can be done in several ways:

In a container with warm water. It is enough to put the bottle in a saucepan with warm, but not hot water and sometimes shake it to evenly warm it up.
Hot tap. The bottle also needs to be shaken from time to time and the degree of heating checked.
In a special bottle warmer. Suitable for those cases when an inexperienced person remains with the child who finds it difficult to determine the correct heating temperature.

The ideal temperature for ready-to-drink milk is 36.6 ° C. It is not necessary to measure it with a thermometer, just a drop of milk on the wrist. If you feel neither cold nor warm, the product is at the optimum temperature for feeding.

Modern devices for warming up bottles allow you not to worry about milk overheating and losing its properties

Even if you are sure of the exact storage conditions, check the quality of milk before giving it to your baby. After warming, examine the bottle to light. Milk should not appear curdled. Smell it: if it has a pungent smell, then, most likely, it has begun to turn sour.

Attention! Do not use a microwave oven to heat expressed milk; do not heat it on the stove in a saucepan or boil it.

What not to do when storing breast milk:

add fresh milk to a container with a frozen product;
re-freeze milk;
mix milk that was collected on different days.

Different ways of storing breast milk have their own characteristics, pros and cons, which must be taken into account when choosing storage conditions. The main thing is to remember that the baby will receive all the necessary nutrients, vitamins and antibodies only with strict observance of the rules for storing and preparing milk.

Expression and proper storage of breast milk allows you to provide the baby with invaluable maternal nutrition, even when she does not have the opportunity to be near the baby during feeding. Therefore, the basic rules for collecting and storing milk.

Why and when can you pump?

It is not at all necessary to stop natural breastfeeding if there is a short separation from the baby. In order for the baby to receive the necessary portion of milk in the absence of the mother, you can use modern devices for collecting liquid () or else. Then it is enough to place the resulting substance in a special container and put it in the refrigerator. Thus, in the time allotted for feeding, the baby will receive the necessary portion of expressed milk, which can be taken care of by a caring spouse, grandmother or nanny.

In addition to the forced short-term separation from the child, there are many other situations when it is important for mother to know how much collected breast milk is stored:

Preservation of natural feeding. This is necessary, for example, when a nursing woman needs to undergo a course of treatment with drugs that are incompatible with natural feeding in composition. To provide your baby with healthy nutrition, you can make sure that he receives the necessary amount of breast milk during the treatment period. Moreover, subject to the basic rules of storage, portions of the milk substance can even be frozen. But in such situations it is imperative to know how much it can be saved, and what is the maximum allowable storage period.
To increase lactation. If the milk produced is not sufficient for feeding, you can stimulate lactation by expressing. In this case, the collected substance can be left in the bottle for the upcoming feeding session. The main condition here is that the more milk you can get from the breast, the more it will arrive for the next feeding.
To get rid of excess after feeding. When milk remains in the breast after a breastfeeding session, it is advisable to collect it. In the future, you can use the expressed portion if the mother needs to be absent while feeding the baby.

Suitable packaging to save food

Before talking about how much expressed breast milk should be saved, attention should be paid to the appropriate container. To prevent the liquid from souring and retaining all its unique qualities, it is necessary to use container options specifically recommended for such purposes.

For example, glass containers are best suited for refrigeration. In such a bottle at different storage temperatures, breast milk can be kept without loss of quality for up to 24 hours.

Plastic containers (transparent or opaque containers) are also considered suitable. Currently, such containers can be purchased at the pharmacy. Also a great option for storing breast milk is special bags. A huge advantage of using such containers is that they go on sale already sterilized and are safe from the point of view of cleanliness.

Short term storage

For those wondering how long expressed milk can be saved, it is worth first deciding where and how the liquid will be stored. Taking into account what conditions and at what temperature the milk will be stored, the shelf life can be different.

An interesting fact is that breast milk can be stored at room temperature for up to six hours after collection. During this time, it will not deteriorate. Therefore, if a portion of food is needed for an upcoming feeding within the next six hours, the collected substance does not need to be stored in the refrigerator.

In addition, the shelf life of milk can vary significantly if stored at different room temperatures in a glass bottle:

at t up to + 20⁰ - up to 10 hours;
at t up to + 15⁰ - up to 24 hours.

The unique properties of milk will not be spoiled if you adhere to the established norms and keep it at an acceptable temperature. Therefore, you can take pre-expressed breastfeeding with you for feeding while walking or traveling. You can also use a special thermos that is designed to save the temperature of liquids.

The shelf life of breastfeed meals in the refrigerator differs slightly in length. Mothers who want to know how much milk can be kept in the refrigerator have about two days at their disposal. Provided that the substance is kept at a temperature of up to + 15⁰ in the refrigerator, it will not lose its beneficial properties.

Long-term storage

Expressed breast milk can be frozen. In this form, it is stored for two to three months. If you use special bags and put them in deep-freeze chambers, you will be able to keep food for six months. As a result of long-term storage, it will lose only a small part of its useful elements. Therefore, even frozen breast milk remains more valuable than commercial formula.

Specifying how long milk can be stored frozen, do not forget about the defrosting rules. In order not to spoil the food, it should be thawed gradually. Having taken out a portion of milk from the freezer, it should be placed in the refrigerator for a while. Then the container with food for the baby should be placed in a secluded place and heated at room temperature. In conclusion, the liquid is heated under a stream of warm water. The optimum water temperature for heating a container with milk is 35-36⁰ (no more than 37⁰).

There are also special heaters on the market, with which the process of defrosting a portion of frozen food is greatly simplified.

After thawing, breast milk can be stored for about 3 more days in the refrigerator. However, at the end of this period, the unused portion will need to be poured out, because repeated freezing is excluded.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the container with the milk collected from the breast must be signed. Indicate the container (be it a bag, container or bottle), preferably the date and time of expression. In the future, this data will be useful to you when calculating the shelf life of each portion.

Nature has endowed women with the ability to continue the human race. This is not only the birth of children, but also their subsequent feeding with breast milk. Human milk contains most of the nutrients that are so necessary in the first months of babies' lives. Therefore, moms are concerned about how to store expressed milk so that it will help the baby grow healthy.

Why Express Breast Milk

Before moving on to storage, you need to understand why you are expressing breast milk. Inexperienced mothers ignore advice on expressing, but it helps to establish lactation (the formation of milk in the breast of a nursing woman and the receipt of nutrient fluid by the baby). True, pumping must be stopped as soon as milk begins to arrive in sufficient quantity to saturate the baby during each feeding. If initially there are no problems with lactation, you should not torment yourself once again.

Sometimes a nursing mother may develop lactostasis - the process of milk stagnation in the excretory ducts of the mammary gland. It is provoked by improper attachment of crumbs to the chest, tight clothes, sleeping on the stomach and psychological stress. Usually this pathology is accompanied by a deterioration in the well-being of the mother. Often the temperature rises to 40 ° C , pain from touching one's own skin. Subsequent feedings are difficult because clogged nipples prevent milk from entering the baby's mouth. Both mothers and hungry children suffer. It is better not to bring your body to such a state, but if the trouble happens, expressing is one of the methods of resuming normal lactation. Do not self-medicate, but seek medical attention.

10 years ago, lactostasis caught me suddenly. Literally two hours in two digits on the thermometer jumped from 36.8 to 39.6 ° C , chills and terrible chest pain began. My son was hungry, but the milk did not come out, making my chest harder than stone. I will not describe the process of treatment, but previously expressed milk helped me a lot, and my son, and my husband, who ran between us trying to help.

In case of excess milk production, a manual breast pump can be used, in other cases its electric version

Have a supply of breast milk at home just in case. This is very helpful in unforeseen situations and allows mom to be absent if the need arises.

A friend of mine praised herself a thousand times for her prudence, having ended up in the hospital with an attack of cholecystitis, when her 3-month-old daughter was left at home. Firstly, the grandmother, looking after her granddaughter, used previously expressed milk. Secondly, the medicines used in Tanya's treatment did not get to her daughter.

It is no secret that many modern mothers do not sit on maternity leave for a long time, and in this case, the issue of preserving milk is especially acute. Employers are not particularly eager to let their subordinates go to feed their children several times a day. Transferring a baby to artificial nutrition if there is milk in the mother's breast is wrong.

If there is a need to express during the working day, it is better to cool the milk in a portable thermal bag or in a general refrigerator. To avoid conflicts with colleagues (not everyone likes this neighborhood with their products), additionally place the container with your breast milk in an opaque container. And don't forget to sign with your last name.

Another friend of mine, who already has four children, immediately after maternity leave starts working as an economist at a large enterprise. She expresses milk in the morning and works fruitfully, knowing that the nanny will give the youngest son a milk portion in time.

Video: what does a newborn lose without breast milk

In addition to all this, mom can set aside time to meet with friends or go shopping. And dad - to talk to his baby in private.

How to express breast milk

Our mothers and grandmothers expressed milk with their own hands, sometimes for several hours. You and I are much more fortunate. Breast pumps, sold in special sections of children's stores and pharmacies, are easy to use and do their job in minutes.

The main thing is to maintain sterility:

wash your hands thoroughly before and after expressing;
treat the breast pump with soapy water, rinsing carefully so that soap does not remain on the device;
collect milk in high-quality plastic (from medical polypropylene, sold in pharmacy chains);
do not forget to put marks on the milk container with the date and time of expression.

The container with breast milk should be placed against the back of the refrigerator and do not forget to sign

Storing expressed breast milk

If we compare the qualitative composition of breast milk and adapted milk formula, it becomes obvious why breastfeeding should be maintained as long as possible. The storage of breast milk directly depends on how soon it will be used. If you plan to consume it for several days (up to 8), it is better to simply refrigerate than freeze. With prolonged exposure to cold, the content of nutrients that affect the formation of the immune system of children decreases. However, frozen breast milk is more effective than formula for fighting many infections.

In what container should expressed milk be stored:

containers made of high-quality plastic or glass with dense walls;
specialist. milk storage bags that are sold in pharmacies.

Do not use disposable tableware, plastic bottles for juices or drinks, and containers intended for everyday household needs (cups, mugs, ladles, plastic bags, etc.) for storage. Do not fill the container to the very top, because according to physical laws, when freezing, milk can break the container from the inside, increasing in volume.

Comparison of the composition of breast milk and adapted milk formula

How to store breast milk at room temperature

Expressed breast milk can be stored at room temperature for up to 6 hours. However, it is considered optimal to use it within 4 hours of expressing. If the room is very warm, it should never be stored longer than 3 hours. As a result of research, scientists have determined the ability of human milk to cope with the growth of bacteria and not deteriorate for a long time after expression.

One famous study on this topic was published in 1987 in the International Journal of Childbirth Education. Mature milk has been expressed into clean but not sterile vessels. The milk was divided into two portions: one portion was left at room temperature (19-22 ° C or 66-72 ° F) and the other is refrigerated for 10 hours. After 10 hours, a bacterial analysis was carried out for both portions. No statistically significant difference was observed in the levels of bacteria in milk from different portions stored at different temperatures.

How to store breast milk in the refrigerator

This storage method allows you to postpone the use of breast milk for up to 8 days. But it is better not to leave it in the refrigerator for more than 3-5 days from the moment of expressing, but to use it earlier. You cannot store containers with breast milk in the side compartment (on the door); it is better to put them in a cool area of \u200b\u200bthe refrigerator - to the inner back wall.

After pre-cooling for 30 minutes, you can add a little milk to the previous batch, making sure in advance that it does not melt already cooled. It should be no more than half the volume to which it is added. And the time from the first pumping into this container should take no more than a day.

Table: Recommended storage conditions for breast milk for term babies

Milk type	Storage conditions
	Temperature	Storage period
Colostrum expressed no later than the seventh day after delivery.	26–30 ° C (room).	up to 12 o'clock, do not freeze
Mature milk.	up to 15 ° C	24 hours
	19–22 ° C	until 10 o'clock
	26 ° C	5-6 hours
	0–4 ° C (refrigerator).	up to 8 days
Frozen milk.	Up to 2 weeks on a fridge freezer shelf (without separate door).
	Up to 4 months in the freezer compartment with a separate door. Frequent opening of the freezer causes the temperature to change constantly.
	From six months and longer in stationary freezers at constant -19 ° C

How to store breast milk in the freezer

Before being placed in the freezer, the milk must be cooled first at room temperature, then in the refrigerator. It is not recommended to freeze freshly expressed, like any warm product.

At very low temperatures, milk remains usable for up to 12 months after it has been expressed. But it is advisable not to store it for more than six months. And be sure to pay attention to the dates on the container, which one to use first.

Special bags for storing breast milk in the freezer

Please note that with each freezing day, the vitamin content in breast milk decreases. And with age, the child needs a new high-quality composition of milk. That is, feeding a half-year-old toddler with milk expressed a month after his birth, you will not give him the necessary substances for development and growth.

An isolated case of such a replacement for fresh milk is not scary, but the systematic feeding of long-frozen food raises concerns. Although I have never heard of women who are so inattentive to the health of babies, I consider it my duty to warn.

There is no point in filling the chamber with your milk, 5–6 servings are enough for unforeseen situations. It is preferable to place milk in the freezer in special storage bags, they do not take up much space.

Video: how to store breast milk

Warming up chilled or frozen breast milk

Breast milk from the freezer is usually thawed in the refrigerator and stored there for up to 12 hours. It can also be defrosted by placing the container in a container of hot water (maximum 60 ° C , in no case boiling water).

Re-freezing of breast milk is prohibited! Pour out the leftovers not eaten by the child without regret.

Resist the temptation to reheat or microwave. This method is bad in that it is rarely possible to do without overheating, but the lion's share of useful components is guaranteed to be lost. If you need milk urgently, defrost it under cool, then warm running water, or place it in a bowl of warm water.

If fat delamination is found, do not shake the container with milk, but shake it slightly and everything will return to its place.

Doctor Komarovsky on pumping milk by nursing mothers

The famous pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky is an authority for many mothers. His opinion is appreciated, and advice is listened to. In a program dedicated to breastfeeding, the doctor simply could not get around the topic of expressed milk, answering questions from studio guests. Evgeny Olegovich said that correctly expressed and stored milk does not lose its beneficial properties. At the same time, I noticed that you still don't need to rush to go to work while breastfeeding. The storage recommendations voiced by Komarovsky are the same as those listed above.

Video: Dr. Komarovsky talks about the properties of expressed milk

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in preserving the beneficial properties of expressed milk. But your children will receive from it what they need to help them grow and develop, just like those who drink milk from their mother's breast.

A mother who feeds her newborn baby with her own breast milk provides the baby with good immunity and frees herself up the time it takes to sterilize the bottles. But there are situations when a woman needs to express milk for further feeding.

4 reasons why you need to express

Use breast milk is much better than artificial formula, but only if the responsible mother knows how to store expressed breast milk and observes all the nuances of storing natural and healthy food for the baby.

Naturally, breastfeeding directly is much more convenient for the mother and emotionally more beneficial for the baby. When it is necessary to express breast milk, a woman decides for a variety of reasons, the most common of which are:

Forced absence of mom for a long time... A woman can undergo treatment, go to work or leave home to deal with necessary issues. In such situations, the burden of feeding is laid on the next of kin, and if there are several bottles of breast milk in stock, then you do not have to worry about the baby's satiety and his health.
Breast and nipple problems in a nursing mother... Cracks in the nipples are very painful, and when the baby suckles for half an hour or more, the wounds heal for a very long time. By transferring the baby to a bottle of breast milk, it will be possible to heal the nipples in two to three days.
Child refusal from breast... Some babies have a weak sucking reflex and therefore it is easier for him to drink from a bottle.
Insufficient lactation... Constant pumping stimulates the mammary glands, which leads to the production of the required volume of milk. Having drained even a few milliliters of milk, a mother will be able to feed her baby with it in the next feeding.

Expressed breast milk can be given to a baby for several months. How much expressed milk is stored is the main question that worries a nursing mother.

Subject to all storage conditions milk does not spoil in the freezer for up to six months and retains all the nutrients and trace elements necessary for the body.

Many mothers use expressed milk to cook porridge for their baby.

6 important steps in pumping

There are breast pump models that pump milk directly into bottles

Before placing milk for storage, it must be correctly expressed.

The quality of milk depends on adherence to all stages of expression, its taste and sterility.

You can express milk from your breast using your hands or a breast pump. If you decide to use a breast pump, then you need to buy one that includes boiling and sterilization.
Hands and breasts should be washed with soap and water before expressing.
Express milk only in a clean, washed container.
Containers with milk must be marked with the date and time. This is necessary in order not to make a mistake with the storage period in the future.
Do not fill the container to the brim. When frozen, milk expands and may overflow over the rim of the bottle.
You do not need to boil milk before freezing.

Where to store expressed breast milk?

If you decide to express and store milk, you need to choose the right container.

Plastic, ordinary bottles are not suitable for these purposes.

In order to maintain complete sterility, human milk is placed and stored:

In medical containers made of polypropylene with hermetically sealed lids. You can buy such containers in pharmacies or by looking at the specialized section of the online store.

These containers are labeled to indicate that food can be placed in and frozen.

In glass bottles and baby food jars. Such containers must be sterile, and their lids must be tight.

Purchase special bags produced specifically for storing breast milk.

These bags are sold sterile, tightly sealed, and many of them can be directly attached to the breast pump. On the outside of the packages there is a special information field for writing the date and time.

Another undoubted the advantage of such containers is the small volume of the freezer required for their storage.

Expressed milk is usually bluish in color, but may turn pink or greenish. Color changes depend on.

You cannot store milk if the mother is already being treated with drugs., since it is not known what processes will occur during long-term storage. They do not express or store milk if the mother is sick, drank alcohol before, or cannot give up the bad habit of smoking. It is also necessary to transfer expression to prepare milk for storage when the milk becomes pinkish due to the ingress of blood trace elements from cracks in the nipples.

Dr. Komarovsky advises choose different containers for storing expressed milk... If you only need to feed the baby, then you only need from 30 to 70 ml. If you plan to replace whole feeds with expressed breast milk, then the bottle should contain between 120 and 180 ml.

How and how much to store?

How to store expressed breast milk? Another question that requires a detailed explanation.

Cooked in containers milk can be stored directly in the room, in the refrigerator or freezer, naturally, the timing of its exposure will be different.

Expressed breast milk at room temperature, reaching 25 degrees, milk can be kept in a clean container for up to 6 hours. If the temperature is not higher than 22 degrees, then storage reaches 10 hours.
In the refrigerator, on shelves where the temperature is maintained at 0-4 degrees, milk is stored for up to 8 days. Remember no need to put it in the door.
In a freezer located directly in the refrigerator, that is, without a separate door, human milk remains sterile for two weeks.
In freezers with a separate door, milk can be stored for up to 4 months.
In freezers with deep freezing and temperatures up to minus 19 degrees, human milk retains all its properties and sterility for six months.

If you need to take expressed breast milk with you on the road in summer, you need to purchase special portable refrigerators. Storage in such containers depends on the temperature inside the chamber.

Try to breastfeed your baby for as long as possible and the chances of seeing will be minimal.

The main parameter for the safe storage of expressed milk is the creation of the necessary conditions.

Before freezing in the freezer, the container with milk must be pre-cooled for two to three hours in the refrigerator and only then placed in the deep freeze chamber.

How to properly prepare such milk for feeding?

Stored in the fridge or freezer milk must be warmed up before feeding and it must be done correctly.

Unfrozen milk is heated in a special heater or in a container with hot water. It is not recommended to do this in a microwave oven, as some of the beneficial microorganisms die, and individual layers of milk become very hot and can burn the baby.
Taken out of the freezer frozen milk is first kept in the refrigerator so that it melts. This will preserve all the beneficial trace elements. After the milk has melted, it is also heated in water or in a heater right in the container.
After heating, the milk must be shaken well to mix all the particles uniformly. When frozen, the fattest part of the milk is collected in the bottle from above, and the liquid remains below. Stirring milk, achieve its homogeneity.
After warming up, it is necessary to determine whether the milk is suitable for consumption. If a the product has deteriorated, it will smell sour.
In some cases, after freezing, milk acquires a soapy smell arising from the separation of fatty acids. You can get rid of this smell by boiling. Such milk will retain its nutritional value, but will lose some of the necessary trace elements.

Thawed milk is not re-frozen, it is stored for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. If the baby has not drunk the milk completely, then it must be drained immediately, without leaving it for the next feeding.

Storage of breast milk creates additional convenience for the mother and the whole family.

When expressing and storing it is important to always maintain cleanliness and all conditions for safe aging product. Despite the convenience and sterility, pediatricians advise the use of frozen milk in cases where this is really necessary.