How to store breast milk, what should be the breast milk storage conditions for the healthy growth of the baby? You will find the answers to your questions and more in our special news!
Bebee breast milk is the first basic food source for your baby to grow up healthy. It is recommended that you give your baby breast milk primarily through breastfeeding. If you are unable to breastfeed, you can use a breast pump to express breast milk and give it to your baby. Expressing breast milk is not an easy task for the mother. Given how precious even a drop of breast milk is, it is very important that expressed breast milk is stored safely. This is where the important question arises:
What are the storage conditions for breast milk?
The rule of 3 applies to breast milk storage. After expressing breast milk;
- 3 hours at room temperature away from the sun
- 3 days in the cooler of your refrigerator
- 3 months can be safely stored in the deep freezer section of your refrigerator.
How should breast milk be stored and used?
You can put the breast milk you have expressed in your refrigeratorYou can store it in the refrigerator or freezer compartment. For this
- You can use a medically sterilized container/bottle or breast milk storage bag specially designed for breast milk storage.
- To store your breast milk safely, you should make sure that the products you use do not contain BPS and BPA. These substances are harmful to your baby's health.
- The breast milk storage bag you use should have a double locking system against leaks.
- You should be able to use it both vertically and horizontally.
- You should be able to easily write the time and date of expressing on the breast milk storage bag or container. Because breast milk expressed first should be used first.
Tips for storing expressed breast milk:
- Do not fill bags or containers to the brim. Since milk expands when it freezes, there should be at least 2.5 cm (about 1/8 of the liquid inside) of space.
- Write on the storage bag/container the date of expressing and how many cc of breast milk you will store. Also, if your baby attends a daycare center, be sure to write your baby's name on the bag.
- If you express your breasts at work and store your milk in a shared refrigerator, make sure that the breast milk storage bag has your name on it.
- Frozen breast milk should be stored in the middle of the freezer because the temperature is most stable in the middle of the freezer. On the sides of the freezer, the temperature can fluctuate and some of the frozen milk may thaw when you don't want it to. In this case, it is not healthy to refreeze the milk.
How should frozen breast milk be thawed and warmed?
- To thaw or increase the temperature of frozen breast milk, fill a bowl with hot or lukewarm water and pour in the frozen breast milk.Place the bag/bottle with breast milk.
- To warm breast milk, make sure that the milk is strictly on fire.or boil it. Boiling will damage the nutrients in the milk.
- When thawing frozen breast milk, cream and milk layers may form on top of the milk. Before testing the temperature of the milk, stir the breast milk in a gentle circular motion so that the temperature spreads evenly. Also, gentle stirring will help to disperse the cream in the milk. Be careful not to churn the milk too quickly, as this can damage the live components in the breast milk.
- Do not use a microwave oven to heat breast milk.
How should thawed breast milk be preserved?
- Pre-frozen milk can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours after thawing.
- Breast milk must not be refrozen!
