Breast Milk Storage Guidelines
Use the following guidelines for storing expressed breast milk. Note: this is better viewed from a desktop or computer.
| Milk Storage Guidelines | Room Temperature | Cooler With 3 Frozen Ice Packs | Refrigerator | Self-Contained Refrigerator Freezer Unit(Typical Kitchen Refrigerator) | Deep Freezer |
| Freshly Expressed Milk | Don’t Leave Milk Sitting Out Longer Than 4 HoursRoom Temp Should Be Between 66-72 Degrees | Milk Is Good for 24 Hours as Long as the Milk Temp Remains at or Below 59 Degrees. | Milk Stored at 32-39 degrees in the Refrigerator is good for 5-7 Days. | Milk Stored at the back of the freezer is good for 3-4 months as long as the milk stays frozen. | Milk Stored at 0 degrees in a deep freezer is good for 6-12 months as long as the milk stays frozen. |
| Thawed Breastmilk (Frozen) | Not Recommended | Not Recommended | Milk is Good for 24 hours in the refrigerator after it is thawed. Discard after 24 hours. | Never Refreeze previously thawed milk | Never Refreeze previously thawed milk |
How to Properly Store Expressed Breastmilk
There are several ways for mother’s to store breastmilk to keep it from getting contaminated while it is in storage.
- Storage Bags – Transfer milk into breast milk storage bags. These bags are made especially for storing breast milk. It is best to store these flat in the freezer, then transferred to a storage bin. Freezing the bags flat will help maximize your freezer space.
- Breast Milk Storage Trays – These trays are designed to freeze the milk, similar to making ice cubes. Each cube is roughly an ounce of milk. Once the milk is frozen, many mother’s transfer the cubes into other storage devices. This method allows mother’s to only defrost the amount of milk that a baby will drink in a session. These can also be used for storing fresh pureed baby food.
- Storage Bottles – There are bottles that are designed for storing breast milk. Storage bottles are different than regular baby bottles, they have a closed lid without a nipple. The closed lid system help to protect the milk from possible contamination and keeps it fresh.
Thawing and Warming Breastmilk Safely
- Frozen Milk – Warm the milk by running it under cool water or thaw it in the refrigerator.
- Thawed Milk – To warm thawed or fresh milk safely: run under warm water for a few minutes, warm water on the store and place bottle/storage bag into pot of water that has been removed from the heat source, or microwave a cup full of water in the microwave and place bottle into cup. Never directly microwave a bottle or storage bag to warm breastmilk. This can result in severe burns to your baby’s mouth and it destroy’s the milk components.
Originally Written 7/11/12
Do you feed your baby fresh or frozen breastmilk?