Depending on the type of freezer you have, you can store breast milk for up to 6 months. During the freezing process, the milk will expand, so you must store it in small portions.
Breast milk is best stored in an insulated cooler with ice packs. This will keep the milk at a consistent temperature and will keep it fresh for up to 24 hours. This is especially helpful for day trips or other events where breastfeeding is not practical. In order to ensure that your breast milk remains safe, it is a good idea to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. The rule of six is a simple way to remember how long to store your milk.
How Long is Breast Milk Good for in a Deep Freezer?
In the back of a deep freezer, freshly extracted breast milk can be kept for up to 12 months. The best time to use frozen milk is, however, within six months.
Keep in mind that studies indicate that the amount of vitamin C lost from breast milk increases with the amount of time it is kept, whether in the freezer or refrigerator.
Breast milk can be kept for three to six months if frozen and kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) or lower, according to the Academy. Milk can be kept in these settings for up to a year, but fewer than three months is ideal, according to the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
How to Freeze Breast Milk?
Freshly expressed milk should be frozen as soon as possible to preserve its optimal quality if it won’t be used right away.
Consider storing breast milk in portions of 2 to 4 ounces. By doing this, you can avoid wasting milk that your child doesn’t consume. (If you need more, you can always acquire more.)
When freezing, leave an inch of space at the top of the container to allow for expansion. And once the milk has totally frozen, wait to tighten the container’s cover or top.
Milk should be kept in the freezer’s back, not the door. By doing this, you may better shield your milk from temperature variations.
How should Breast Milk be Thawed?
To ensure that your baby’s breast milk is safe, use caution when defrosting it:
In the refrigerator, breast milk can thaw, usually taking 12 hours. Alternately, place the bottle or bag of frozen milk under hot running water (no hotter than 99 °F or 37 °C). Avoid letting frozen breast milk thaw at normal temperature.
Previously frozen breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours after it has been fully thawed or at room temperature for no more than two hours.
Avoid using a microwave or boiling water to thaw or heat frozen breast milk. As a result, it may lose some of its protective and nutritional qualities and develop hot spots that could scald your child.
Breast milk that has been thawed and left at room temperature needs to be fed to your baby within two hours, or it needs to be thrown away.
After it has thawed, never refreeze breast milk.
How to Safely Store Breast Milk?
Your breast milk can be kept in several ways depending on when your kid will consume it:
Placing breast milk in a cool place. Your baby’s breast milk will be safe for up to 4 hours at room temperature (up to 77 degrees Fahrenheit). In order to ensure safety, experts advise covering the milk with a clean, cool towel in addition to keeping your breast milk as cool as possible. Within two hours, you should utilize or discard any remaining breastmilk if your baby has consumed some of it.
Breast milk can be kept secure for up to 24 hours if it is placed in an insulated cooler bag with totally frozen ice packs.
Refrigerator storage of breast milk. Although breast milk can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 8 days at a temperature of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, it is better to utilize it within 4 days. For the longest possible shelf life, it is best to chill or refrigerate breast milk as soon as it is expressed. If you’re adding freshly expressed milk to a container of milk that’s previously been chilled, let the milk cool before adding it.
If breastmilk needs to be warmed up after being refrigerated, put it in a small basin and run it under warm, not hot, water. Never microwave breast milk, ever. It can burn your infant if heated unevenly, and some of the healthy components in breast milk are also destroyed in the process. It should feel warm but not hot on your wrist when you test the temperature before giving it to your baby.
What Must Not be Used to Store Breast Milk?
Any old container or ice cube tray shouldn’t be used to hold milk. Any materials you employ must be of food-grade quality and BPA and BPS-free. Your container shouldn’t be used if it bears the recycle number 7, which indicates that it contains BPA.
Ascertain that the glass or plastic lids are tightly fitting. Verify that baggies have been properly sealed if you’re using them. Additionally, avoid keeping breast milk in plastic liners that fit particular bottles. Also true of sandwich bags with a zip top. These shouldn’t be kept for an extended period.
As a reminder, you might wish to temporarily switch from using frozen milk to fresh milk if your infant is sick. Although breastmilk that has been pumped and kept still has health benefits for the infant, some cells may eventually degrade.
Additionally, antibodies that protect against illnesses your infant may have recently been exposed to may be present in fresh breast milk. For this reason, using fresh breast milk rather than frozen will provide your sick infant with the greatest immune benefits.
How to Reheat Refrigerated Breast Milk?
From the refrigerator, warm breast milk:
Obtain breast milk from the refrigerator, and reserve it.
Use a microwave or a teakettle to warm the water. Fill a mug or basin with extremely warm (not boiling) water.
Breast milk should be placed in a bowl of warm water in a sealed bag or bottle. For warming, the milk should be kept in a sealed container.
Breast milk should be left in warm water for 1-2 minutes to attain the proper temperature.
Pour breast milk into a bottle with clean hands or, if it is already in a bottle, tighten the bottle nipple.
If the fat has separated, swirl the breast milk rather than shake it to incorporate it.
Check the temperature of the breast milk before giving it to your child in a bottle. Pouring a little on your wrist will accomplish this. It should be cozy but not sweltering.
Avoid sticking your finger into the milk bottle to avoid contaminating the milk with bacteria.
Holding the sealed milk container under hot water from the faucet can also warm it. This requires more time and water. Your hand could get burned or scalded.
In the Freezer
Frozen breast milk should be taken out of the freezer and allowed to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before being heated. Then, follow the same directions to reheat the breast milk that has been chilled.
You can heat breast milk straight from the freezer using the same technique you would use to heat it from the refrigerator if all you have is frozen milk and you need milk right soon. The only distinction is that you must soak it for at least 15 minutes in warm water.
What are the Signs that Indicate Spoiled Breast Milk?
It’s possible that your breast milk won’t look, taste, or smell exactly how you want it to when you first start expressing, pumping, and storing it.
And this may cause you to reconsider providing it to your infant.
What you might see is this:
Odor. While breast milk often has a neutral smell, this isn’t always the case. La Leche League International claims that the aroma of pumped or expressed milk has been compared to that of soap, metal, fish, or rotten.
Taste. There are many different flavors of breast milk, many of which are influenced by your diet. This study, for instance, shows that mothers who often consume bitter meals may pass on their palate to their offspring. In some cases, breast milk can taste sour or “off.”
Sight. The colors of breast milk vary greatly. Colostrum, the initial milk you make, typically has a golden color before turning into mature, whiter milk. Breast milk can separate into layers if it is kept at ambient temperature or in the refrigerator. However, this does not necessarily imply that it is ruined. What does spoilt breast milk appear like, then? Even after you combine it, if it still looks lumpy or divided, it may already be spoilt.
However, breast milk is not always bad for your baby just because it has a distinct flavor, appearance, or odor. Breast milk is quite resilient and works well as a long-term storage option.
And if you’re concerned about a noticeable change in taste, smell, or sight, solutions can be found!
What will Happen if you Consume Spoiled Milk?
You may notice a marked increase in crying and agitation if your baby drank spoiled breast milk.
They may vomit out the spoiled breast in the first half an hour to an hour. Once they vomit out the spoiled breast milk, they probably will be okay as spoiled breast milk is out of their body.
You may also see frequent vomiting followed by diarrhea. And if you see your baby puking frequently, you need to visit your pediatrician as it may lead to dehydration.
Most babies are fine if they have accidentally drunk spoiled breast milk. Minor vomiting is expected.
But it is best to avoid giving the baby spoiled breast milk. And to prevent such an accident, it is important to follow breast milk storage guidelines.
Reference: How Do Human Milk Oligosaccharides Fight Bad Bacteria?
A biofilm is a type of defense mechanism and method of cell invasion produced by pathogens. Pathogenic bacterial cells can develop into a condition called biofilm, which protects them from drugs and can result in antibiotic resistance. In other terms, a biofilm is a place where microbial cells adhere to one another and to a surface. A visible biofilm is tooth plaque.
Tools are required to prevent the behaviors of pathogenic bacteria that can encourage antibiotic resistance because it has become a severe hazard to human health. Since HMOs have already been demonstrated to possess antiadhesive antibacterial properties, let’s examine how they might be utilized as biofilm disruptors.
Conclusion
Whether you’re storing breast milk in the freezer or the refrigerator, it’s important to label the containers. Besides helping to avoid waste, labels help you sort your milk.
The best option for breast milk storage is a hard plastic container with a lid. This type of container will provide the most protection from the elements. Alternatively, you can store your breast milk in clear plastic bottles. Make sure the bottles have a solid screw cap. This will prevent any leaks.
