Breast Milk Storage

This is for all the bleary eyed mamas out there wondering what in the world to do with their freshly expressed breast milk- I see you, I’ve been you, you’ve got this!!

There are so many sources for information these days- friends, mommy groups, google MD….and while these sources absolutely have their value… let’s trust what science has told us about the safest methods to store breastmilk. The liquid gold can’t be wasted!

Room Temperature Milk/Freshly Expressed Milk:

• Use within 4 hours of expression.
• Leftovers from a feeding can be re-offered to your baby within 2 hours of when your baby started their bottle feed.

Refrigerator:

• Use within 4 days.
• Over the course of a day small amounts of *chilled* milk can be added to milk being stored in the fridge

Freezer:

• Use within, preferably 6 months, but 12 months is acceptable.
• Never re-freeze milk after it’s been defrosted.
• Thawed milk should be used within 24 hours of being defrosted.

We all know nursing and pumping a true labor of love! Protect the liquid gold ladies-and again, you’ve got this!