If you are a mother, then providing your baby with breast milk is your direct responsibility, as this is an ideal nutritional option for your baby. Although it is a perishable product, storing it is quite simple if you follow some rules.
How much breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator and in what capacity to do it
Naturally, milk must be stored in a hermetically sealed container. Disposable plastic bags and containers are great for this. They are of two types, and each of them has both advantages and disadvantages:
- soft containers (plastic bags);
- rigid containers made of plastic or glass.
Plastic disposable bags are very easy to store, but in order to feed the baby, milk has to be poured into bottles. A huge advantage in such packages is that they can be frozen and compactly distributed in the freezer. They are also often signed on how much breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator. They are better at protecting milk components. And since most manufacturers of such bags specialize in other baby products, some models can be directly connected to your breast pump.
Rigid plastic or glass containers can also be directly connected to the breast pump. They can be frozen in the same way as plastic bags, but only if you know how much breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator. Of course, they take up much more space than packages, but they have other advantages. When using a plastic or glass container, milk does not need to be poured anywhere, cook and boil other dishes. Just change the lid on the nipple and give the baby a warm meal.
Milk storage
How much breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator? Every third breastfeeding mother asks this question. The table below shows how much breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator, at room temperature and in the freezer. Print it, hang it on the refrigerator and do not forget to sign the date of freezing on the container.
The best ways to heat milk
Excessive heat and boiling destroy milk enzymes, immune properties and other valuable and very important components. Therefore, you need to heat the milk correctly. Follow these rules so as not to harm him:
- Defrost milk with a “water bath”. To do this, simply leave the container in a bowl of warm water until it defrosts itself and warms up to the desired temperature.
- Do not heat milk on the stove. Thus, you can easily overheat it, and accidentally boil
- Do not heat this valuable product in the microwave. Even if it seems to you that it is at the optimum temperature, inside you may find “hot spots” where it has overheated and become useless. Moreover, you should not give such milk to the baby, since the “microwave” does not heat evenly and the crumbs may burn.
Storage of milk by time
How much milk is stored at room temperature | Up to 20 hours |
In a room in hot weather | 3 to 5 hours |
how much expressed milk can be stored in the refrigerator | Up to 1 week |
In the freezer | Up to 7–18 months |
- Human milk, like any other milk that does not undergo processing, has the property of exfoliating, and you may see the following picture: cream on top and almost water on the bottom. In this case, panic is not worth it, just shake the container.