Question on Storage of milk

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Shirix

Member
Hi All,

I will be starting work in 2weeks.. Right now, i'm struggling to produce more milk so that i can store for my baby when i start work.

Every3-4hrs,i can pump only 100-120ml and this is the amt that he drinks every 3-4hrs. which means if my milk is just enough for him. No extra at all!!! :(

As my baby sleep from 11pm-6am, i wake up at 3am to pump. So now i only got 1 extra feed every day. There are few question that need you all expertise to answer.

1) How to mix milk from different timming?
2) How long can milk be store??
3) Is it better to be first in first out or first in last out??

Thanks!
 
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LynetteLoh

Member
hi shirix,

my milk flow is abt same as yours. that time when i was abt to return to work, my ds had 6 feeds a day. one of the feeds i substitute with formula so i get to keep one extra feed of bf. after some feeds, if i still have strength, i will pump. so will pump out abt 60ml more.

as to your questions
(1) i will freeze all my milk. to mix feed i will defrost in the fridge what i need. eg, if i have one packet 100ml and one packet 60ml and my baby only drink 120ml, i will defrost those 2 and poor out and warm out. don't freeze back what you have defrosted. then the 40ml i will keep until the next feed and mix with a new packet from the freezer that i defrost. i will always try to find the exact amt to defrost. like if have 70ml and 50ml, exactly 120ml, i will defrost those 2 and finish up.

(2) i read that can be stored up to 48hrs in fridge and up to 6 months in freezer.

(3) it's better to first in first out. use up the earlier batches first. when you freeze immediately after expressing, most of the nutrients are retained and bacteria growth is reduced significantly. if you've already chilled the milk in the fridge, don't freeze.

that's my expereince... hope it helps!
 
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snowbear

Well-Known Member
Hi Shirix,

If you need to mix milk from different batches, the most impt thing to take note of is that the temp of both bottles of milk must be of the same temp (i.e. you cannot mix one bottle of milk at room temp with a bottle of milk directly from the fridge).

Milk can be kept in the fridge for 48hrs and 3mths in the freezer - tat's the rough guideline given by KKH LC.

Better first in first out to prevent wastage of milk in future. Anyway, ebm kept for too long usually has a different smell and taste so bb may reject it later on. :)
 
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Shirix

Member
LynetteLoh said:
hi shirix,

my milk flow is about same as yours. that time when i was about to return to work, my dear son had 6 feeds a day. one of the feeds i substitute with formula so i get to keep one extra feed of bf. after some feeds, if i still have strength, i will pump. so will pump out about 60ml more.

as to your questions
(1) i will freeze all my milk. to mix feed i will defrost in the fridge what i need. eg, if i have one packet 100ml and one packet 60ml and my baby only drink 120ml, i will defrost those 2 and poor out and warm out. dont't freeze back what you have defrosted. then the 40ml i will keep until the next feed and mix with a new packet from the freezer that i defrost. i will always try to find the exact amt to defrost. like if have 70ml and 50ml, exactly 120ml, i will defrost those 2 and finish up.

(2) i read that can be stored up to 48hrs in fridge and up to 6 months in freezer.

(3) it's better to first in first out. use up the earlier batches first. when you freeze immediately after expressing, most of the nutrients are retained and bacteria growth is reduced significantly. if you've already chilled the milk in the fridge, dont't freeze.

that's my expereince... hope it helps!
Click to expand...
thanks Lynette. Regarding (1), how to you keep the 40ml for the next feed??
 
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Shirix

Member
snowbear said:
Hi Shirix,

If you need to mix milk from different batches, the most impt thing to take note of is that the temp of both bottles of milk must be of the same temp (i.e. you cannot mix one bottle of milk at room temp with a bottle of milk directly from the fridge).

Milk can be kept in the fridge for 48hrs and 3mths in the freezer - that's the rough guideline given by Kandang Kerbau Hospital LC.

Better first in first out to prevent wastage of milk in future. Anyway, ebm kept for too long usually has a different smell and taste so baby may reject it later on. :)
Click to expand...
Hi Snowbear,
so its ok to mix 2 bottles of milk in fridge then make it hot for baby to drink right??
 
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Shirix

Member
1) how to store freshly EBM?? i read from somewhere we have to chill EBM first and then bring up to freezer, cannot directly freeze freshly EBM. It can last about 3 months max. is this true??

2) if i cannot use the freezer in office, can i just use the Medela cooler bag to chill the milk for the whole day??
 
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LynetteLoh

Member
Shirix said:
thanks Lynette. Regarding (1), how to you keep the 40ml for the next feed??
Click to expand...
I just refrigerate the remaining 40ml. coz the 100ml and 60ml are both defrosted in fridge mah... so after i pour into the bottle with correct amt i just put back 40ml into the fridge. but when you mix like that will have a bit of spillage *heart pain*
 
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LynetteLoh

Member
Shirix said:
1) how to store freshly EBM?? i read from somewhere we have to chill EBM first and then bring up to freezer, cannot directly freeze freshly EBM. It can last about 3 months max. is this true??

2) if i cannot use the freezer in office, can i just use the Medela cooler bag to chill the milk for the whole day??
Click to expand...
(1) my hubby is in catering line. he told me cannot chill then freeze. so that's what i did for my EBM. the magazine i read was can store up to 6 months. but use up faster is better la... don't store too long. i mean like we also don't like to eat frozen food right? hehehe.

(2) sometimes i need to go to other offices. so i will buy ice pack and put in my avent cooler bag. after i pump, immediately put in the cooler bag. the ice pack will keep the milk cool. usually when i have a lot of milk, i will put more ice pack. i bought the tommy tipee one. i bought it at kiddy palace. but once i reach home will quickly put it in the fridge. then i will utilise the milk by the next day. the frozen ones i use on weekends.
 
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dujuanrosa

Member
LynetteLoh said:
(1) my hubby is in catering line. he told me cannot chill then freeze. so that's what i did for my EBM. the magazine i read was can store up to 6 months. but use up faster is better ... dont't store too long. i mean like we also dont't like to eat frozen food right? hehehe.

(2) sometimes i need to go to other offices. so i will buy ice pack and put in my avent cooler bag. after i pump, immediately put in the cooler bag. the ice pack will keep the milk cool. usually when i have a lot of milk, i will put more ice pack. i bought the tommy tipee one. i bought it at kiddy palace. but once i reach home will quickly put it in the fridge. then i will utilise the milk by the next day. the frozen ones i use on weekends.
Click to expand...
Regarding (1), the advice is always to chill in fridge then freeze when you get home. If you freeze in office and tranport home in cooler bag, temp will drop and milk will start to thaw. Must never refreeze milk that has been thawed. Why did your husband say cannot chill then freeze?
 
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LynetteLoh

Member
dujuanrosa said:
Regarding (1), the advice is always to chill in fridge then freeze when you get home. If you freeze in office and tranport home in cooler bag, temp will drop and milk will start to thaw. Must never refreeze milk that has been thawed. Why did your husband say cannot chill then freeze?
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don't know... he says not good... so i just follow. but my boy ok... so ok lor. haha. i guess both methods work? coz i also know friends who chill first then freeze. but i think across the board is cannot re-freeze milk. refreezing is no no. so just do what you're comfortable with ba. if really unsure, when you give birth, make sure you ask your lactation consultant.

as for the cooler bag, when i put the ice pack, the milk doesn't freeze. the ice pack just maintains the temp of the bag. and when i reach home, the milk is same temp as the temp of the milk that's still in the fridge. but for those milk, i will definitely utilise it by the next day. if you're afraid that the milk might have been frozen, then don't freeze it when you get home. just put it in the fridge and utilise it by the next day.
 
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dujuanrosa

Member
Shirix said:
1) how to store freshly EBM?? i read from somewhere we have to chill EBM first and then bring up to freezer, cannot directly freeze freshly EBM. It can last about 3 months max. is this true??

2) if i cannot use the freezer in office, can i just use the Medela cooler bag to chill the milk for the whole day??
Click to expand...
I've always chilled the milk in office fridge then put in cooler bag and freeze it when I get home. If I pump at home, goes straight into the freezer. No need to chill first. My freezer is only for storage of EBM so temp stays pretty cold and constant. I ever fed my son milk about 6 months old and he's happy to take it and everything was ok. Bottomline - how cold your freezer is and how often you open it (must maintain constant temp as much as possible. Opening it too often will affect temp). Also, must always check milk before offering to baby, no matter how fresh it may be. Sometimes for whatever reason the bottle might not have been thoroughly cleaned and the milk is contaminated and has turned bad.

And I won't advice using Medela cooler bag for whole day. Not cool enough. Some people recommend fridge-to-go. have not't tried it but apparently can chill for up to 12 hours provided surrounding temp is 24degree C or less. But by the 10th hour, I really dont't know how cool it will be.

As far as possible, put in the office fridge. I put the bags in an opaque lunchbox to be considerate to my colleagues - really, not every one wants to see EBM when they open the fridge. So some people know, but at least they dont't have to see it ;)
 
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Shirix

Member
for those milk in freezer, how to make it hot for baby to drink??
for those in fridge,i just put the milk bottles in a cup with hot water...
 
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LynetteLoh

Member
for those in freezer i will defrost soaking back in room temperature boiled water... why boiled water because the bag will be wet after soaking and boiled water is already "de-contaminated" that's why i don't use tap water. then once the milk in the bag become liquid again, i will warm up in hot water. but i will pour the milk into bottle first before i wamr up in hot water. i don't warm up the bag in hot water coz i don't know if the bags are BPA free...
 
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Shirix

Member
LynetteLoh said:
for those in freezer i will defrost soaking back in room temperature boiled water... why boiled water because the bag will be wet after soaking and boiled water is already "-contaminated" that's why i dont't use tap water. then once the milk in the bag become liquid again, i will warm up in hot water. but i will pour the milk into bottle first before i wamr up in hot water. i dont't warm up the bag in hot water coz i dont't know if the bags are BPA free...
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Lynette, I don't understand.. whats the diff between using boiled water to defrost the bag and using hot water to hotten the milk bottles?? meaning if the bag is BPA free then u can straight away make it hot in the bag then pour out in bottles??
 
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LynetteLoh

Member
hi shirix, i use the cooled boiled water to defrost first because the frozen milk cannot pour out yet mah.. then after that i pour the cold liquid milk into bottle to warm up. defrost different from warm up. after defrost, the milk is still cold. so first i defrost in cooled boiled water (change from solid hard to liquid) then i pour the defrosted cold milk into milk bottle and put into bottle warmer.

i used the pigeon milk bags. i don't know if they are BPA free. i suppose if the bags are BPA free you can immediately put the whole bag into hot water which will defrost faster and warm up at the same time.
 
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stonston

Well-Known Member
Storage in chiller (temp around 0 - 4 degrees C) = not more than 48 hours if the milk is freshly pumped (no contact with baby's mouth), not more than 24 hours if baby has drank it & you are keeping for later

Storage in HOME freezer (-15 degrees C) = if you keep it on the door, not more than 1 month. If you keep it inside a container & in the deep end of the freezer, can keep up to 2-3 months, depending on how cold you set your freezer.

Storage in CHEST freezer (-25 degrees C) = can keep up to 1.5 years or even more, depending on how good your chest freezer is.

Btw, this is industry standard for fresh unpasteurised milk, which is like our breastmilk.
 
cmeilim

cmeilim

Active Member
Just to share my experience. I just returned to work last week and was practising the pump-and-direct-latch routine for two weeks before that.

I pump today for my baby's milk tmr because we don't have space for a chest freezer at home and there is also limited space in our normal freezer. Also we read that EBM that has been frozen for too long will lose its nutrients. What's more, I smelled and tasted my EBM that was frozen for more than a month in our freezer before. Not nice...so I don't want to give that to my boy. As far as possible, we keep our EBM at most 1-2 weeks old.

I am not those who has lots and lots of milk too. My boy drinks abt 120ml every 2h during day time. On average, he needs five feeds while he's being taken care of by my mum and I am at work. So for example, on Mon, I will try to pump three times in office and two times at home (incl waking up in the middle of the nite to pump), store in the chiller and bring these to my mum on Tue. Friday's milk will be frozen since baby is with me on Sat and Sun. On Sun, i will try to pump once or twice. For Mon's feed, I will draw stocks from the frozen lot as well as from Sun's pumping. Once I reach home from office on weekday and on weekends, it's direct latch always.

Definitely first in first out.

Don't be stressed abt your milk supply. The more stressed you are, the less milk you'll produce. I was worried before too, but now I see how true this is. If you want to up your milk supply, either get your baby to latch more, even if he's not really that hungry, or else just pump more often. Either way, it sends a signal to your body and brain that there is increased demand and it follows naturally that the supply will increase.
 
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