How do I properly store breast milk?

1) Depending on room temp up to 12 hours, if you have a cooler bag with an ice pack then its 24 hours.

2) 8 days in the fridge, then freeze.

3) depends on the freezer but a freezer attached to a fridge with its own door about 3-6 months, a chest freezer up to 12 months.

4) Defrost in the fridge and use within 24 hours of it being completely defrosted, or defrost in a bowl of hot water if needed immediately.

Please not that the above guidelines are for determining where to store milk based on when you intend to use it. It is not meant to be taken as an absolute "use by" date. Breastmilk is not bad until it smells and tastes bad. And trust me you will know when breastmilk "smells bad"

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.htm...

Freshly expressed milk

Warm room 79°F / 25°C 4-6 hours

Room temperature 66-72°F / 19-22°C 10 hours

Insulated cooler / icepacks 60°F / 15°C 24 hours

Refrigerated Milk (Store at back, away from door)

Refrigerator (fresh milk) 32-39°F / 0-4°C 8 days

Refrigerator (thawed milk) 32-39°F / 0-4°C 24 hours

Frozen Milk (Do not refreeze! Store at back, away from door/sides)

Freezer compartment

inside refrigerator (older-style) Varies 2 weeks

Self-contained freezer unit

of a refrigerator/freezer Varies 3-6 months

Separate deep freeze 0°F / 19°C 6-12 months

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T026900.asp

Milk that has been kept in the refrigerator for eight days

Transfer to storage in the freezer, or discard.

Bacterial growth is not a problem, but milk sometimes picks up odors or flavors from the refrigerator or the container.

[...]

At room temperature 60 degrees F 15 degrees C 24 hours

At room temperature 66-72 degrees F 19-22 degrees C 10 hours

At room temperature 79 degrees F 25 degrees C 4-6 hours

In a refrigerator 32-39 degrees F 0-4 degrees C 8 days

In a freezer compartment inside a refrigerator 2 weeks

In a self-contained freezer unit of a refrigerator 3-4 months

In a separate deep freeze with a constant temperature 0 degrees F -19 degrees C 6 months or longer

http://www.mother-2-mother.com/storemilk.htm

Yes - most sources seem to indicate that you should be safe to use ALL the storage options in succession if you need to.

For example, storing freshly expressed breastmilk at room temperature for up to 10 hours, THEN in a refrigerator for up to 8 days, and THEN in a freezer for 3-12 months (depending on the type of freezer).

You're likely to get to stretch your storage times to the maximum (or even a little longer) if you don't "use up" all of your "warmer" storage - for example, you can expect a longer storage time if you freeze the milk immediately (if you know you'll want it frozen) rather than keep it at room temp for 10 hours, then refrigerate for 8 days and THEN freeze the milk.

Even though storage times may be decreased, most bf experts suggest *not* throwing out any milk before the maximum storage time unless when you warm it you notice that it has a very distinct foul smell.

HI,

To answer your four questions simply:

1. Try to get it in as soon as possible if you can't use it within 10 hours (I have kept mine out for up to 12 hours before)... I have forgotten before to put it in the fridge and put it in at about an hour after pumping and it was fine.

2. I have never frozen my fridge milk, but the LLL says it can be in the fridge for up to 8 days so I would think 8 days or less to answer your question. Generally I only keep what I will use in one or two days in the fridge and if I pump and have what I need in the fridge, I freeze the rest of what I just pumped.

3. In a normal freezer (fridge/freezer combo like most people have in their kitchens) LLL says up to four months.

4. Take a pan or large bowl and fill it with hot water and place the bag/bottle in the water. I will come in every couple of minutes and 'swirl or mix or shake' the bottle and then I dump the water and refill it with hot water until the bottle is thawed and warm. You don't want to microwave it because it can get hot spots and even though you can let it cool so baby can have it, you defeat the purpose of using breastmilk because you kill off all the antibodies by overheating it. Also don't try to use a bottle warmer for frozen milk as the bags will melt and break open. Using hot water takes about 10 minutes.

I have been going by the LeLeche League's guidelines for 9 months now and have never had a 'sour' bottle and my son is perfectly healthy.

Here is the site: http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJulAug07p168.html.

The guidelines are at the bottom of the page.

This is copied off of there:

"Human milk can be stored:

At room temperature (66-72°F, 19-22°C) for up to 10 hours.

In a refrigerator (32-39°F, 0-4°C) for up to eight days.

In a freezer compartment inside a refrigerator (variable temperature due to the door opening frequently) for up to two weeks

In a freezer compartment with a separate door (variable temperature due to the door opening frequently) for up to three to four months

In a separate deep freezer (0°F, -19°C) for up to six months or longer.

Storage and cleaning guidelines apply to healthy full-term babies and milk that is being stored for home use rather than hospital use. Follow hospital guidelines if your baby is in hospital.

Remember that the fresher your milk, the better it is. Milk that is refrigerated will have more benefits than frozen milk. However, human milk is always the superior infant food"

Hope this helped!! :)

1. within 4-8 hours. Some say longer but I'm personally not comfortable with any longer than 4-6 hours myself.

2. 3-8 days. Depends on where in teh fridge and what temp. your fridge is at.

3.Depends on teh freezer type and temp. but a regular side by side freezer refrigerator for 2-3 months. I can tell when it's gone bad by how many white splotches there are. Thats the fat breaking down. WHen the bag is 1/3 or more white blotches I toss it, which is usually closer to 4 months in my freezer.

4. You can either set the bag in the fridge to thaw. It takes almost a full 24 hours in mine to thaw completely to liquid form again. Or oyu can just run it under warm water for a few minutes (my preferred method). Then you just warm it to the proper temp and serve it. They say you can use the milk within 4 hour if you heated it up already, or 24 if thawed int eh fridge. I don't know if that means 24 hours from when you took it out of the freezer or 24 horus from when it was actually thawed completely. I err ont eh side of caution adn count from when I took it out.

http://www.kellymom.com/

has a lot of info if you need more although every source you check will vary slightly.

You have several hours before it needs to be refrigerated, it's OK to be at room temperature for longer than 5 hours! In the fridge is usually 5-7 days, in the freezer compartment of your fridge 3-5 months. When you want to thaw it, only use warm water, never on the stove or in the microwave. I went to a La Leche League conference over the weekend, and one of the speakers (Dr. Jack Newman) said that if it smells OK, it's OK to use, regardless of how long it's been out.

Go here: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T026900.asp and scroll down to the bottom for a chart on storage guidelines.

I've been BFing (and pumping at work) for a year, and I research it, so I have a lot of experience on this topic. The best system I've found for frozen storage is the Lansinoh bags. I pumped into the Medela bottles and poured into Lansinoh bags for freezing; it's easier to get an accurate ounce measurement on the bottles. When it's time to thaw, you can thaw slowly in the fridge overnight, or you can place the frozen bag in warm water to heat it up and use within minutes. Breastmilk heats up rather quickly in bags.

Milk can be stored in the freezer for 3 months. #1. yes. #2. no. #3 a couple of hours...2 max.

8 hours at room temp (freshly pumped that is)

24 hours in fridge

up to a year in the freezer

Thaw in fridge overnight or in warm water (never microwave).

im not breastfeeding but i have read about it

you should put it in the refrigerater after you finished pumping

you can put it directly in the freezer

it lasts about 6 months

just run it under warm water

put it right in th fridge unless you are going to consume right away