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How do you store freshly pumped breast milk?

Storing Freshly Pumped Breast Milk: A Comprehensive Guide
Storing freshly pumped breast milk is essential for maintaining its safety and nutritional quality. Understanding the best practices for storage can help ensure that your baby receives the benefits of breast milk, even when you are not available to nurse directly.
Preparation and Containers
Before you begin storing breast milk, it is crucial to ensure that all equipment is clean and sterilized. This includes breast pumps, storage bottles, and bags. Using clean glass or plastic screw-cap bottles or hard plastic storage cups with tight-fitting lids is recommended for optimal storage.
Cooling and Combining Milk
When you pump breast milk, it is best to cool it before combining it with older milk. If you are mixing freshly expressed milk with previously cooled or frozen milk, the storage duration should be based on the oldest milk’s storage time. This practice helps prevent bacterial growth and maintains the quality of the milk.
Storage Guidelines
Freshly pumped breast milk can be stored in various environments, each with specific time limits:
– Room Temperature: Freshly expressed breast milk can be safely kept at room temperature (up to 77°F or 25°C) for up to four hours. It is important to keep it away from direct sunlight and in the coolest spot available.

– Refrigerator: In the refrigerator, breast milk can last for up to four days if stored at 4°C (39°F) or lower. If your refrigerator is warmer than this, it is advisable to use the milk within three days.
– Freezer: For longer storage, breast milk can be frozen. It is best to use a freezer that maintains a temperature of 0°F (-18°C) or lower, where it can last for up to six months. However, for optimal quality, using it within three months is recommended.
Thawing and Using Frozen Milk
When thawing frozen breast milk, it is best to do so in the refrigerator or by placing the container in warm water. Never refreeze thawed breast milk, and always use it within 24 hours after thawing.
Final Tips
Always label your stored breast milk with the date it was pumped to keep track of its freshness. Following these guidelines will help ensure that your baby receives safe and nutritious breast milk, even when you are not able to nurse directly. By adhering to these practices, you can confidently store and use breast milk, providing your little one with the best possible nutrition.

Can I put freshly pumped milk in a bottle in the fridge?

After a pumping session you can store breastmilk in the fridge for up to 4 days per the CDC. Storing milk in your refrigerator is ideal if you plan on using it within the next few days or if you are building up milk to fill up a storage bag to freeze.

What is the 2 hour rule for breast milk?

If your baby did not finish the bottle, leftover milk should be used within 2 hours. Wash disassembled pump and feeding parts in a clean basin with soap and water. Do not wash directly in the sink because the germs in the sink could contaminate items.

Can I mix pumped breast milk from same day?

Women are often advised not to combine breast milk from different pumping sessions. For citing reasons such as increased bacterial contamination and temperature differences.

Can you store breast milk in bottles with nipples and cap?

Tightly cap bottles. Do not store bottles with nipples attached. Label each container with your baby’s name and the date and time the milk was expressed. Put several bottle bags in a larger airtight plastic bag to prevent them from sticking to the freezer shelf.

How long is breast milk good for a chart?

Breast Milk Temperature and Duration

Location Temperature Duration
Countertop, table Room temperature (up to 77°F or 25°C) 4 hours
Insulated cooler bag 5-39°F or -15-4°C 24 hours
Refrigerator 40°F or 4°C 4 days

How quickly can breastmilk refill?

Milk is actually produced nonstop—before, during, and after feedings—so there’s no need to wait between feedings for your breasts to refill. In fact, a long gap between feedings actually signals your breasts to make less, not more, milk.

What is the 5 5 5 rule for breast milk?

Something I recommend to moms is the 5-5-5 rule. Try and use milk within five hours at room temperature, five days in the fridge, and by five months in the freezer.

How soon after pumping does breast milk need to be refrigerated?

It’s best to chill, refrigerate, or freeze breast milk immediately after it’s expressed. If expressed milk is left out unrefrigerated, but it’s in a clean, covered container, it can sit at room temperature for between four and six hours. Milk that has been left out for longer should be thrown away.

How long does pumped breast milk last once a baby starts drinking?

Store breast milk in small batches, ideally 2 to 4 ounces to prevent waste. Any remaining breast milk left in a bottle after your baby is finished with a feeding should be used within 2 hours—or, if quickly refrigerated, used for the next feeding.

How should I store breast milk after pumping?

Freshly expressed breast milk can be stored in the back of the refrigerator for up to four days in clean conditions. However, it’s optimal to use or freeze the milk within three days. Deep freezer. Freshly expressed breast milk can be stored in the back of a deep freezer for up to 12 months.

Natasha Lunn

Tash is an IBCLC and Business Coach helping fellow IBCLCs create fun, profitable businesses that are more than just an expensive hobby. Before becoming an IBCLC and starting her private practice - The Boobala, Tash graduated as an Osteopath in 2008 and has been in Private Practice in South West Sydney. She was also a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor and Community Educator with the Australian Breastfeeding Association for 6 years. Through her business, Your Lactation Biz, Tash coaches and creates products to help new and seasoned IBCLCs build businesses that suit their personality and lifestyle.

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