How can you store breast milk, how long will it stay fresh in the refrigerator?

Situations in the family are different, sometimes the mother has to leave the baby in the care of the father or grandmother for several hours. In this case, it is very important to know how long expressed breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature. There are many problems. During normal feeding, the baby receives a product at the desired temperature, which does not come into contact with the dishes, the surrounding air, or bacteria. When the need arises, it is better to give your baby properly preserved breast milk rather than formula.

What happens when breast milk is stored?

Breastfeeding cannot be replaced by anything. You can give your baby expressed milk or a special formula; the baby will be full, but not as happy as with natural nutrition. The bottle will not convey the smell of your beloved mother, her voice, or the touch of gentle hands. When the mother is not around, the rest of the family should pay maximum attention to the baby, caress him and play with him so that the baby does not feel lonely and abandoned.

Villagers have long known about the benefits of fresh milk immediately after milking a cow or goat. Children must be poured a mug of warm, foaming drink. If the bucket sits for a couple of hours and cools down, both the taste and quality of the product will become different. The same thing happens with human milk. Its nutritional properties are preserved, but biologically active components, immunomodulators, and hormones gradually begin to degrade.

When stored briefly at room temperature, most of the beneficial characteristics remain original. If milk has been in the refrigerator for a long time, much less frozen, it no longer has the same healing power as a fresh product. The female body produces food for the baby with exactly the composition that is suitable for its age. When the product has been in the freezer for several months, the baby will have grown up, and for nutrition he will need a completely different set of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and vitamins.

Important!

If breastfeeding is not possible, do not forget a simple rule: the less time passes from pumping to eating, the healthier and more nutritious the milk will be.

How to express milk correctly?

In order for breast milk to be stored better, it is necessary to minimize its contact with microorganisms. Wash your hands and breasts thoroughly before pumping. If you are using a breast pump, sterilize the device and let it cool to body temperature. All rules of cleanliness must be observed at the pumping stage. If you simply wash the bottle and then put it in a sterilizer with milk, there will be no valuable qualities left in the product, so you need to know how to sterilize baby bottles: sudden changes in temperature also negatively affect the quality of breast milk. It is not recommended to place the product in the refrigerator immediately after expressing; let it cool to room temperature.

Sometimes a mother does not part with her baby, but for some reason cannot breastfeed him. This may be nipple injuries, or a lazy baby does not want to make an effort to suck milk from the breast; he prefers a bottle with a large hole. In such cases, there is no need to store the product.Pump when it's time to feed your newborn, and immediately give him some warm milk to eat.

If a woman has lactation problems, a relative or friend who feeds her baby can come to her aid. The best option would be if you come to her with your child and the baby eats directly from the breast. If this is not possible, try to keep the milk transportation time to a minimum. Bring the woman a sterile bottle, wrap the filled container well so that the product retains living warmth. When you return home, all you have to do is warm the milk slightly and give it to the baby right away.

Containers for the product must also be sterile. The same requirement applies to stoppers, funnels and other items used when pouring milk. Do not pour the entire volume into one container. Every mother knows how much her baby sucks in one feeding. Add about 20-30 ml in case your baby gets hungry, and fill containers intended for only one meal.

What is the best way to store breast milk?

The main requirement for containers for baby food is that they must be designed for this purpose. Do not pour products even into thoroughly washed and sterilized glass bottles and vials in which other substances were stored, and do not take containers from markets and hardware stores. Go to a pharmacy or a specialized children's goods department, they will sell you quality products and advise you on which container is best to use for each case.

Sometimes the milk needs to be kept in the bottle for just a couple of hours, and then the baby will drink it. Sometimes it is necessary to store the product for a day or even several days.Depending on this, you need to choose the most convenient container.

To store milk you can use:

• bottles made of glass or plastic;
• special containers;
• freezer bags.

Bottles are very convenient if the portion is intended to be fed several hours later. You will leave it at room temperature, and when the baby is hungry, warm it up a little, replace the plug with a nipple - and you can feed. A container is more suitable if you give your baby food from a spoon. When using containers, be sure to read the information about what temperature the material can withstand: can it be washed with hot water, sterilized in boiling water, or frozen. If there is a long separation ahead and the mother has started storing milk in advance to feed the baby in her absence, it is better to pour the valuable liquid into special bags and freeze it.

Be sure to label each container with the day and time the container was filled. Do not assume that if you have prepared a portion that will be eaten in 2-3 hours, you do not need to indicate anything. Someone may accidentally spill milk or put it in the refrigerator where other bottles are already stored. In this case, there will be no way to distinguish a fresh product from one that has been stored for several days.

How long does milk stay fresh?

Experts have determined how long breast milk can be stored for a baby at different temperatures. Determine immediately which portion will be used at the next feeding, and what will be needed only tomorrow or in a few days. It is undesirable to freeze the product in vain, but in the heat it can deteriorate.

Focus on the storage time and temperature of breast milk:

• from +20 to +25⁰ C – 6 hours;
• from + 15 to +16⁰ C –1 day;
• from +3 to +6⁰ C – no longer than 7 days;
• from -18 to -24⁰ C – up to a year.

Advice

If your baby is weak or sick, do not store expressed milk for the entire recommended period. For it, the shelf life should be reduced by half.

It is best to store breast milk intended for consumption over several days in a special freshness zone of the refrigerator, where the temperature is maintained at zero. Older models do not have such a compartment; in this case, place the product under the freezer compartment closer to the back wall. It is better not to use convenient compartments for placing bottles on the door: when you look into the refrigerator several times, the milk will be affected by a sharp temperature change, which has a bad effect on the quality of the product.

When cooled, the milk takes on a different appearance: the fat rises to the surface, leaving a liquid of a less saturated color at the bottom. Before feeding, you need to shake the bottle thoroughly so that the product becomes homogeneous. The baby may refuse the pacifier - this happens because over time the taste changes; the food in the container is no longer the same as the food that the baby received from the mother’s breast. Smell and taste the milk. If you feel a sour or bitter taste, it means that it has spoiled and is unsuitable for feeding. If there is even the slightest doubt about the quality or shelf life of expressed milk, do not give it to your baby. It is better to dilute fresh formula than to feed your baby spoiled food.

Can breast milk be frozen?

When frozen, milk does not spoil for a whole year, but its beneficial properties are significantly deteriorated. If the mother has to be separated from the baby for a long time, she can create a supply of food for him. Special freezer bags are best suited for storing in the freezer.It is not advisable to fill them to the top. From a physics course we know that when a liquid turns into ice it can increase in volume. If there is no free space in the container, it may burst from strong pressure from the inside.

Advice

No one is immune from various accidents. If there is milk left in the breast after feeding, express it into bags and freeze it, then in unexpected situations the baby will have a strategic supply of food.

Clearly write the date you expressed the milk on the bag and place it on the refrigerator shelf. After 2 hours the product will have cooled down and can be placed in the freezer. Make sure that the temperature there is no higher than -18⁰ C. If you have a weak model that only maintains a temperature of about -6–8⁰ C, the milk can be used for no longer than 6 months.

Each portion should be stored in a separate container. To feed your baby, remove the bag from the freezer and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator or in a pan of cold water. Take care of the baby's nutrition in advance - thawing may take 8 hours or longer. Only when there is not a single piece of ice left in the liquid can you stir it until completely homogeneous, heat it up and give it to your baby. Do not take a portion larger than the child can eat: you cannot freeze the product a second time, you will simply have to throw it away.

It is very difficult to determine the temperature of a heated product without a thermometer, and you cannot lower the thermometer into milk. To avoid burning your baby, purchase a baby food warmer; it maintains the desired temperature - about +37⁰ C. If you don’t have such a device at hand, put the bottle in a pan with water at body temperature and use a thermometer to make sure that the liquid does not cool down or overheat.You cannot heat milk sharply, so it is better not to use a microwave or oven. Do not forget to make sure of the quality of the product: during storage, a power outage, defrosting of the refrigerator and many other unforeseen situations could occur. An unusual smell or taste indicates that the product has gone bad.

The best food for a newborn is mother's milk. Do your best to feed your baby straight from the breast at all times. In exceptional cases, it is necessary to express the nutritional fluid and leave it in the bottle until the next feeding or for several days. Even with proper storage, the product partially loses both its beneficial and taste qualities, but in any case, natural milk is better than the prepared mixture. Try not to be separated from your baby for a long time, so that at any moment, in case of any troubles, he can be comforted by such a beloved and delicious mother’s breast.