Breast milk is precious and it must be taken care of. It would be such a shame to have to pour it away after so much hard work because you didn’t respect the cold chain.
Storing
Bottles, sachets… you can store milk in anything that has a hermetic seal. The storage temperature is a little more complex. These are the International Lactation Consultant Association’s recommendations:
Between 4 and 6 hours
At room temperature (<25°C).
Up to 8 days
In the refrigerator (4°C)
Do not store your milk in the door of your refrigerator. Be careful, you’ll need to clean your refrigerator every week!
Between 6 and 12 months
In the freezer (-18°C)
In this case, only fill the bottle 3/4 full.
For practicality, try to fraction your milk. For example, You can freeze it in an ice cube tray.
That way you can choose exactly how much to use.
A few rules
Remember to clean your refrigerator often.
Be mindful about storage duration. Don’t leave your milk in the refrigerator for five days then put it in the freezer to save it.
No need to worry if you express at work and you have a long commute. The milk will be just fine in a cool bag with a few ice blocks.
To warm up your frozen milk, you can use a bain-marie, a bottle warmer or hold it under a trickle of warm water. You can also let the milk defrost all on its own, in the refrigerator. Once it returns to its liquid form, give it to Baby within 24 hours.
If Baby doesn’t finish the bottle, put it quickly back in the refrigerator. Baby can come back to it for the next feed. NEVER EVER heat milk in a microwave!
What’s that smell?
Freshly expressed breast milk may begin to smell and have a particular taste. This may or may not bother Baby.
If Baby doesn’t like it, do not throw it away! All you have to do is heat your milk just after expressing it, before the lipases get to work. Heating at 60° C (140°F) (when the small bubbles on the edge of the pan form) will bring the milk back to normal. You can store this milk. Do not bring it to the boil, which would destroy all of its nutritious benefits.
Bad milk?
For those of you who have never seen breast milk before, it does NOT look at all like cow’s milk. The fat rises to the surface very quickly and you may have the impression that the whole thing has turned. Do not throw it away though:
shake it very gently so that it becomes homogeneous again. Warn anyone who may feed Baby about the milk’s composition or they might end up throwing your precious milk down the sink.
These excerpts are from My completely illustrated Breastfeeding Book.
