ow to Store Freshly Expressed Breast Milk
Freshly expressed breast milk may be kept at room temperature:
At 60 degrees F - for no longer than 24 hours;
At 66 – 72 degrees F - for no longer than 10 hours;
At 79 degrees F – for about 5 hours;
At 86 – 100 degrees F – for no longer than 4 hours.
Freshly expressed breast milk may be kept in the refrigerator conditions at temperature 32 – 39 degrees F for no longer than 8 days.
Freshly expressed breast milk may be kept in the refrigerator’s freezer for no longer than 2 weeks. In case if it is stored in a self – contained freezer, either on top of or on the side of the refrigerator, then it may be kept for no longer than 3 – 4 months. And if the breast milk is stored in a deep freezer, in which it is constantly 0 degrees F, then it may be kept for half a year, or even longer.
It should also be noted, that breast milk should better be frozen in small portions, such as 2 – 4 ounce servings, so, that there would be less waste and it would also be able to choose the amount of milk depending on the little baby’s hunger.
How to Store Thawed Breast Milk
Thawed breast milk may never be stored at room temperature.
Thawed breast milk may be stored safely enough in the refrigerator’s conditions for no longer than 24 hours before it gets spoiled and becomes no longer safe to be ingested.
Thawed breast milk may never be refrozen.
How to Defrost Breast Milk
There is nothing wrong with stored breast milk, if it got separate in its container into two part, one of which looks like cream, and the other is somewhat lighter colored milk. In addition, some human milk may even vary in color and it can be of blueish, yellowish, or even brownish color. Before feeding a baby, a woman should simply shake the milk gently so, that it will mixed back together.
Breast milk may never be defrosted or warmed up in the microwave, as it does not only create hot spots in the breast milk, which can burn the baby’s mouth, it also breaks down most of the vitamins, microelements, antibodies and other live cells, which are necessary for every growing and developing little organism.
You should always use the oldest breast milk first.
In order to defrost the breast milk, it is necessary to put the sealed bag with frozen breast milk into a bowl, filled with warm, not hot, however, water for as long as half an hour.
Or
You may also take the frozen breast milk, which you are going to use from the freezer and place it into the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it. In about nine hours it will become defrosted completely. Remember, that when defrosted, the breast milk is to be used for the nearest 24 hours.
Before you give the breast milk to your baby, you are to make sure to stir the bottle lightly in order that the fatty cream, which may rise to the top would get spread all over the bottle. However, you are not to shake the bottle in a vigorous manner.
Any thawed milk, which has not been used during the baby’s feeding session is to be thrown away.
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