Guide to Saving Breast Milk to Stay Durable

Medical Video: Breast Milk Storage Guidelines | CloudMom

Breast milk is the baby's best food until he is able to eat other foods. For you working mothers and still want to give exclusive breastfeeding to their babies, storing breast milk at home is the best way, so work is not a reason that prevents you from giving exclusive breastfeeding to your baby.

However, do not carelessly store milk and prepare it for your baby. Incorrect treatment can cause your baby to get diarrhea or other infectious diseases.

How to store breast milk?

Can not be careless in terms of storing breast milk, several things must be considered. Breast milk is a clean and sterile food for babies if the baby feeds directly into the mother's breast. However, if the milk is put in a bottle to be stored, then the cleanliness of the milk bottle must be considered.

In storing breast milk, what must be considered is:

Use clean and sterile bottles or ASI storage containers. Choose a plastic bottle or plastic breast milk bag (BPA free) Glass bottles can crack.
Label each ASI bag or bottle. Write the date when you pumped and stored the milk. Use a pen or marker with ink that is waterproof so it doesn't disappear quickly. This is useful for knowing which milk should be used first. Use ASI that has been stored first.
In addition to bottles, your ASI pump must also be clean. When finished using, clean the pump with warm water and soap, then rinse and dry with air.
Don't forget to always wash your hands with soap before pumping breast milk and storing it.
Keep all objects in contact with breast milk clean to reduce the possibility of bacteria developing in the stored milk.

Store breast milk in several bottles for one gift. Milk in bottles should not be given many times. Therefore, keep the milk in the bottle in just a small amount according to the ability of the baby in one drink. Maybe you can start from 60-120 ml of breast milk in one bottle, or it can be less than that amount. This amount can increase according to the ability to drink babies.

How long can breast milk be stored?

How long you can store breast milk depends on where you store the milk and when you will give it to the baby. If you plan to give it in the next few days, you can store the milk in the refrigerator only, no need to put it in freezer. Store breast milk inside freezer can damage the composition of breast milk which serves to fight infection. However, still frozen breast milk is better for your baby compared to formula milk.

Some places to store breast milk are:

Room temperature (not more than 25 degrees Celsius). Breast milk can be placed in any corner of your home, but must be in a clean place. The milk that has just been pumped and put into the bottle can be stored at room temperature for 6 hours. However, it is better if you use it in less than 4 hours. If the room temperature is rather hot, you should limit your use of breast milk to only 4 hours after the milk is pumped.
Cool box. Freshly pumped milk can be stored inside cool box with ice cubes within 1 day.
Refrigerator (temperature 4 degrees Celsius or lower). New breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 days. However, you should use ASI no more than the third day of storage.
Freezer (temperature of -18 degrees Celsius or lower). Breast milk can be stored inside freezer up to 6 months.

Research shows that the longer you store milk, in the refrigerator or in freezer, the more vitamin C is lost from the milk. Therefore, do not store your milk for too long, adjust it to your baby's needs. The faster the milk is used, the more often you pump breast milk so that more milk is produced by your breasts and breast milk is smooth.

How do you serve breast milk from a bottle?

Breast milk is stored in freezer cannot be given directly to the baby because it is still frozen. For that, you need to thaw frozen breast milk first before giving it to your baby. Select ASI with an earlier date. You can cool the milk by placing it in the refrigerator until frozen breastmilk melts, more or less takes 12 hours. Avoid liquefying frozen breast milk in room temperature.

For faster results, you can place the frozen milk bottle in a bowl of warm water. Don't warm breast milk frozen inside microwave or on the stove. Some studies have shown that rapid warming of frozen breast milk can affect antibodies in breast milk. In addition, you should avoid freezing the milk again after the milk has melted. Some experts recommend removing the liquefied breast milk within 24 hours.

Liquefied milk may have a different smell and color than the milk that has just been pumped because there is a breakdown of fat in milk during storage. This is not a problem, you can still give it to your baby. If the milk appears to be two separate layers, you can shake it first. However, if your baby rejects it, you should consider shortening the storage time for breast milk.

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