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To store breast milk, taken manually or with a pump, it must be placed in a proper container, which can be purchased at pharmacies or in bottles and bags that can be sterilized at home and which must be placed in the refrigerator, freezer or freezer.
Breast milk is the most complete food for the baby, helping it to grow and avoid diseases, such as allergies and, even frozen, it is healthier than any artificial milk and, therefore, should not be wasted. Learn more at: Benefits of breast milk for the baby.
How to express breast milk
To express breast milk, a woman must:
- Get comfortable, holding the hair and removing the blouse and bra;
- Wash your hands with soap and water;
- Massage the breast with your fingertips, making circular movements around the areola;
- Express the milk, manually or with the pump. If it is manually, you should place the bottle under the breast and put some pressure on the breast, waiting for drops of milk to come out. If you use the pump, just place it on the breast and turn it on, waiting for the milk to come out.
After expressing the milk, it is essential to put the date and time it was expressed in the container, so that the woman can know if the milk is good to give to the baby.
When to express breast milk
When a woman produces enough milk, she should store it, as her milk is the best food for the baby. Thus, it is important to express milk always after the baby finishes breastfeeding and, at least, 1 month before the mother returns to work, since it serves for the body to gradually produce more milk than the one that the baby used to breastfeed.
How long can the milk be stored
Breast milk can be stored at room temperature for 4 hours, in the refrigerator for about 72 hours and in the freezer for 6 months.
It is important to avoid leaving the container containing the milk on the refrigerator door, as it is possible to avoid sudden changes in temperatures that cause faster damage to the milk and interfere with its quality.
See in more detail how long breast milk can last.
How to store
The removed milk must be placed in a proper container, which can be purchased at pharmacies, which are well closed, sealed and sterilized.
However, you can also store the milk in a sterilized glass bottle at home with a plastic lid, such as Nescafé bottles or in suitable freezer bags and placed in refrigeration places, such as a refrigerator, freezer or freezer. Learn how to sterilize at: how to sterilize baby bottles and pacifiers.
These containers should be filled, leaving 2 cm unfilled at the closing edge, and milk of different feeds can be put in the same container until the volume of the container is complete, but the date of the first milk withdrawal must be recorded.
How to thaw breast milk
To defrost breast milk, you must:
- Use the milk that has been stored for the longest time and should be used within 24 hours;
- Remove the milk from the freezer a few hours before use, allowing it to thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator;
- Heat the milk in a double boiler, placing the bottle with milk that the baby will drink in a pan with warm water and let it warm up.
If the storage container has more milk than the baby will drink, just heat the amount that will be consumed and then keep what's left in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. If this milk that was left in the refrigerator is not used within this period of time, it must be thrown away because it can no longer be frozen.
Frozen milk should not be heated on the stove or in the microwave because the heating is not uniform and can cause burns in the baby's mouth, in addition to destroying milk proteins.
How to transport frozen milk
In case the woman has expressed milk and needs to transport it from work, for example or during a trip, she should use a thermal bag and renew the ice every 24 hours.