Now that you’ve got your pump, your storage bags, and your bottles, you might be wondering: How long is my milk good for? How do I warm up breastmilk? Can I add frozen milk and warm milk together? If you’re anything like me, you probably didn’t think of these questions until after you had your baby. Well, I have your quick start guide here so that you can store and use your milk easily and safely.
Step one: Pump your milk
Once you’ve decided which pump to use and you have a pumping schedule, you’re ready to get started. Find a space where you can be seated comfortably and relax, if possible. A quick tip to get your milk flowing is to massage your breast before pumping. Make sure your pump is well fitted to your breast, and take a deep breath in and relax as you exhale. Take out a photo or something that smells like your baby or simply think about how much you love your baby. This should help your milk begin to flow. You can pump for a set amount of time, like 15 to 20 minutes, but ideally, you’ll want to pump until your milk stops flowing. It’s also a great idea to try and hand express some of your milk after pumping, as your breast pump isn’t always going to get your breast completely drained. Adding hand expression to the last five minutes of your session can drain your breast well and help keep a steady supply of milk.
Step two: Decide if you're going to freeze it or refrigerate it
Breastmilk stays fresh longer than formula. This gives you some flexibility on how to store your milk. If you're planning on giving your baby the breastmilk right away or in the next couple of days then you should refrigerate it.
If it’s going to be several days or weeks before you give your baby the pumped breastmilk then you should freeze your milk. When in doubt about whether to freeze or refrigerate, always freeze.
Obviously, if you're an over producer like me, freezing your milk is the better option since you're going to make more milk than your baby is going to drink over the next few days. Check out the graphic below for storage times; here are the current guidelines according to the CDC:
Room Temperature: 4 hours
Fridge: 4 days
Freezer: 6 months
Deep Freezer: 1 year.
Step three: Pour it in your storage container of choice
You have many options when it comes to how you want to store your breastmilk. You can safely store your milk using bottles or breastmilk storage bags. Storage bags can be reusable or disposable and they can be refrigerated or frozen.
If you are planning on feeding your baby immediately, you can pump your milk straight into a bottle. I would also recommend using bottles if you are planning to refrigerate your milk. I used a milk storage container to provide a specific place to store milk.
Breastmilk storage bags can be stacked in your freezer making it easier to store large amounts of milk. There are reusable storage bags and disposable ones. Having a combination of both can be helpful. Reusable bags can save you money in the long run but will cost more upfront. I found having disposable storage bags, especially in the beginning, was a good option because I had an oversupply of milk. Early on I could have 50-60 bags of stored milk in my freezer waiting to be used and that would have been a lot of reusable bags! Later on, having reusables was better when my daughter was older and drinking more milk each day.
You should store only 3-4 ounces of your breastmilk in each of the containers. Breastfed babies don’t need to take in large amounts of breastmilk like formula-fed babies. Most breastfed babies, if overfeeding isn’t occurring, will stay around 5-6 ounces of milk or less even at one year of age. Storing in containers of 3-4 ounces prevents waste because once breastmilk is thawed it has a shorter shelf life and an even shorter period once baby drinks from it. (Make sure your daycare providers understand the breastmilk storage guidelines.)
After choosing your storage container make sure you label it. Most reusable and disposable bags have a spot to put your baby’s name, the date you pumped, and the time you finished pumping. If you are using bottles, label them with a sticker that has the same information.
Step four: Thawing/Warming
Use the first in first out rule when choosing which milk to give your baby. For frozen breastmilk you can thaw it by using warm water or place it in the fridge overnight. When you refrigerate your milk you may notice some separation happening. There may be a thick yellow creamy foam that forms at the top of your baby’s milk. Don’t worry, that is normal. After you warm the milk, simply swirl it until the milk is no longer separated.
To warm the milk before feeding, you can use a bottle warmer, hot running water, or just let the bottle sit in a container of very warm water. NEVER MICROWAVE A BOTTLE. Microwaving can cause hot spots in the bottle that can burn your baby’s mouth and it can kill the beneficial microbes in your breastmilk.
Here are the guidelines for milk once it’s thawed:
Room temp: 1-2 hours
Fridge: 24 hours
Freezer: Don’t refreeze thawed milk
Step five: After baby drinks from the bottle
Once your baby drinks from the bottle germs can enter into the milk, so your baby must drink it within an hour of starting the feeding. This is why I encourage you to only store your breastmilk in 3-4 ounces servings. Make sure that you and your childcare providers know about paced bottle feeding. Paced bottle feeding helps prevent overfeeding your baby and also minimizes bottle preference.
Common Questions
Can I mix cold milk with warm milk?
You can! I wouldn’t mix fresh milk with milk your baby has already drunk from though.
I accidentally left my frozen milk out on the counter. Do I need to toss it?
If there are still some ice crystals in the milk you can refreeze it. If it’s completely thawed but still cold, then refrigerate it and use it within 24 hours. If the breastmilk is completely thawed and has been out of the fridge for 2 hours or more then you should dump it.
So let's say you had taken the milk out of the freezer at 8 am and realized that you forgot it on the counter when you got back home at 1 pm. There’s a good chance it took about an hour to defrost and it would have been sitting out completely thawed for about 3 hours, so it’s recommended that you dump the milk.
I drank alcohol. Do I need to pump and dump?
The general rule is for every 8oz glass of wine, 16oz beer, or 4oz spirit, you should wait 2 hours before nursing. Some mothers will choose to breastfeed or pump before having a drink. Otherwise plan to have extra milk on hand if you’re going to drink more than every couple of hours. If you plan on getting intoxicated it’s best to pump every couple of hours to keep your milk supply up but dump that milk.
Do I have to warm my breastmilk before feeding my baby?
You do not. Some babies prefer warm milk while others will drink it cold.
Why does my milk smell bad if I just pumped it yesterday?
Sometimes after you’ve pumped your breastmilk you may notice a sour smell to it, making you wonder if your milk is spoiling. Your baby may even refuse to drink this milk. There are different reasons why this could be happening. It could be due to poor cleaning of breast pump equipment. Another reason could be due to high lipase in your breastmilk resulting in a sour or even fishy smell. Chemical oxidation may be causing your milk to smell bad and a diet change may be necessary. Sometimes the breastmilk will taste soapy. This breastmilk is fine to give to a baby but may need to either be mixed with fresh milk or scalded for your baby to drink it. To learn more about this you can read the La Leche League’s Article: Milk Issues: Soapy, Metallic, Sour, or Spoiled Milk?
How do I make my milk fattier?
Oh, social media, how I dislike you sometimes. Unfortunately the, “My milk is fattier than your milk,” comparison/competition is happening among mothers - especially on social media. First of all, every baby is different and has fat needs that are different. Your body is amazing and is going to produce exactly what your baby needs.
It’s always a good idea to eat a healthy well-balanced diet, but your diet will not necessarily increase the amount of fat in your breastmilk. If you want your baby to have the fattier part of your milk let them nurse often, comfort nurse, and nurse on demand. The milk towards the end of the feeding tends to have fattier molecules.
How do I pump more milk?
Make sure you are pumping every two to three hours. Hand expression after pumping with a high-quality breast pump can also help with completely emptying the breast. Continue to do frequent feedings at home when your baby is with you. You can also Take a pumping Class (exclusive pumpers click here).