Breastmilk is one of God’s amazing wonders. Not only is there nothing negative about it, but it also is specifically made for your baby. If you are planning on breastfeeding, there are some important things to know about how to do it. Breastmilk is able to remain in a warm room for about 4 to 6 hours (79 degrees F or hotter). After that, you should probably dispose of it. If you have plants in your home, dump the milk there and watch what happens. I had a Mother do this and when I came to visit her. The following week, her plant that looked lifeless before had come back to life and it was all due to the breastmilk!
If you have to travel in the car, get an insulated cooler and use an ice pack to keep it cool. It should last you 24 hours, safely.
If you place your breastmilk in the refrigerator, it will last you five days. This allows you to be able to have reserves ready.
There are different types of freezers, so it is good to know how each freezer affects breastmilk. If you have a one door refrigerator, your breastmilk can be placed into the freezer for a maximum of two weeks.
If you have a two-door refrigerator, your breastmilk should be safe for 3 months.
If you have a deep freezer, used for only frozen foods, your breastmilk will last 6-12 months in 0 degrees F.
Storage Steps
First, wash your hands before pumping. There will be times where you just changed a dirty diaper and simply forgot to wash your hands afterwards. Washing is just a habit to get used to, just in case.
Make sure that you have clean and sterilized containers that have also been washed with soap and water and dried out.
Store your breastmilk into 2-4 ounce bags. Smaller amounts are better to help reduce wasting your milk, every ounce is precious!!!
Make sure to cool down your milk in the refrigerator before you place it into your freezer.
Remember, never use a microwave to reheat your breastmilk, this will destroy all the antibodies it naturally has. Also, never directly warm it up on the stove top, instead use a bottle warmer or run the bottle or storage bag under warm running water in your sink to unfreeze your breastmilk and warm it up.
Thaw your frozen breastmilk in the refrigerator and never re-freeze it.
Remember to swirl your breastmilk, don’t shake it. Breastmilk will not produce as many bubbles as formula, but why add unneeded air to your baby’s tummy?
For storage in a refrigerator, make sure to use glass containers with tight lids, hard plastic containers or special freezer bags for breastmilk, do not use disposable bottle liners.
