Tuesday 24 April 2007
Storage of Breastmilk
Can breastmilk be stored slightly more than 3 month in the freezer? Since my baby is rejecting bottle, I have some expressed breast milk, about 20oz of them sitting in my freezer reaching 3 months next week, and my baby will only be 6 month by mid May. Is it possible not to waste the milk? Vivianz
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7 comments:
It depends how you are storing the milk. If your freezer goes below 20 degrees C then you can actually keep the milk for up to 6 months.
Have you tried other ways of giving the milk other than bottle? Some babies coming up to 6 months may start to drink from a sippy cup. Once your baby starts taking solids at 6 months you can also mix your breast milk with other foods.
If your milk really does need to be used before that time, it seems a shame to waste it. Have you thought of mixing it with other foods that the rest of the family will be eating? I know one lady who used to make scones with her milk & I have heard of a restaurant that uses breastmilk in some of the foods on the menu! Some families give breastmilk to older children to drink from a cup !
Suggestions from other moms !!!
I am a mother of 6 weeks baby and will be returning to work Mid of May. I have been breastfeeding my baby directly most of the time (20% - bottled feed milk powder when I am not around) since she was borned and enjoy seeing her being fed by mommy's milk although it is time-consuming to fed her (sometimes she suck for more than an hour)
I have few questions to ask:
1) I am quite confuse how often I should feed my baby. I usually feed her when she wake up and cries or when she look for breast when people (my mum and sister) hold her. Actually, how often should I breastfeed her (6-week old baby)? Sometimes I feed her every 1.5 - 2.5 hour or sometimes can be longer as 4 hours (very rare). Any guidance?
2) Since two days ago, I felt my breasts are getting softer and seems not enough for my little one to suck. Today, after I breast feed for 40 minutes, she still cried and my mum then fed her with bottle milk (1.5 scoop milk-powder & 3 oz of water) and she finished!! And yet she cries and sleep only when I carry her. How do I know whether my milk supply is not enough? say, soft breast?
3) Sometimes I wonder my baby is sucking milk or just sucking to sleep. She can suck for more than hour and still does not release my nipple with her eyes close.
Hi Chenal, in answer to your questions:
1.Sounds like your baby is behaving quite normally for her age. Usually a baby will feed at irregular intervals and 1.5 to 2.5 with occasional 4 hour gaps is very normal in a 6 week old baby.
2.If your baby is well attached to the breast & is still hungry after feeding on both breasts, then that suggests that the supply is a little low. However as you are giving both formula & breastfeeding, your supply most likely will gradually drop. Milk supply works on demand & supply ie: the more your baby takes, the more you will make.If you are giving formula as well as breastfeeding your breasts will not receive sufficient stimulation to increase production. To increase supply you may find it helpful to breastfeed more often or to give additional stimulation by expressing.
3. Babies suckle for comfort as well as for feeding. You will notice that comfort suckling is very gentle compared to actual feeding - almost like a flutter suck. It may also help boost your supply so it is ok to let your baby do this.
How long can we store breastmilk in a fridge without putting it in the freezer? I am a working mum and I would pump everyday while at work for my baby for the next day's feed. My mum who is looking after her will pour out the milk in a smaller bottle to feed her. But sometimes there may be about 4oz left, as I will feed her once I return from work.I was wondering if I can keep the remaining milk in the fridge for the next day day for her feed when I am away at work. Would that be ok? as the milk would be about 3 days old
If the milk has been kept really cool in the back portion of the fridge then it is probably ok. In temperate climates, milk is stored in the fridge for several days. There is just some concern here re: the actual constant temperature of the fridge as many items have to be in the fridge & consequently the fridge door is also opened more frequently, thus affecting the temperature.
If your mom uses the milk in smaller quantities have you thought of storing smaller quantities in each container & then freezing the excess if you think it may not be required for several days ?
Hi, my wife and I are both a new parent to my son of 3 weeks old. Thanks so much for creating this wonderful and informative website.
After reading chenal's posting, it seems that we are not alone in facing this problem. We have been doing the same routine, spoon feed formula and breast feeding, suspect due to low milk supply.
As such, we consulted a lactation nurse in a baby friendly hospital for advise and seems that everything we are doing is fine. But just need additional steps, like making sure to rest in between feeds, which I don't think she is doing well, have regular fluid intake and pump out the milk(no matter the amount) after every feed to stimulate better milk production.
However, my wife says that in doing so, after each feed, with a rest period of 1.5-2 hours, she feels that the following feed seems to have lesser milk as the baby gets hungry quite easily and also her breast feel soft/empty prior to feeding. Is this normal?
On another part, we resorted to feeding formula in the night cause my wife feels very tired/weak if she wakes up at 2am or 4am to feed the baby eventhough that is the best time to feed the baby. Is there any advise here?
As for lying down together with the baby to feed, my wife is worried that the baby would accidentally suffocate, hence I don't think she is fully relax in feeding the baby in this position. Again, would appreciate some advise on this.
On the note of demand and supply, I keep advising my wife to keep feeding him eventhough he comes off from the breast crying but my wife says just feed with formula as sometimes she is tired from breast feeding. I tried everything possible from getting a breast feeding pillow to asking her to sit on a chair with back support (she feels comfortable breast feeding sitting on the bed without back support, hence I suspect that's why she gets tired). Any advise on how long we should keep him on the breast(eventhough my wife says she feels empty), but not fall asleep on it?
The reason we wouldn't want the baby to fall asleep on the breast whilst feeding is because the lactation nurse says that it's not good on the long run, is this true?
Again, thanks so much for creating this blog site and keep up the good work. :-)
Hi Kong Seng,
Am currently away in Uk so this will be short reply.
If despite frequent feeding & pumping the milk supply is not increasing it is possible the baby is either not properly attached or is too sleepy on the breast. You may need someone to assess the feeding to see if the attachment is good. If so, ring Santhi in the office 20951206 & she will give you an appropriate contact number until I get back. If the baby is just sleepy on the breast you may need to use techniques to help stimulate the baby to be more wakeful. It may also be helpful to use breast compression during the feeds. Try looking up Jack Newmans article on breast compression.If you go to my website www.mamalink.com.my & look under articles & then Jack Newman English there are links to 3 websites that carry all of the English articles.If your wife prefers chinese, then look under the Jack Newman Chinese articles on the website.
Night feeds are very important at this stage. If the baby is being fed formula overnight the milk supply will almost certainly decrease. Re feeding lying down - it is unlikely the baby would suffocate but it is harder to achieve good attachment initially lying down so it may be better for now to feed in a sitting position.
You are correct that fully feeding on demand is the best way to increase the supply but as stated earlier you may need to check the attachment. Frequent feeding without good attachment is not so effective.
Good luck. Good to hear from a supportive Dad. Hope some other moms will also chip in with some advice for you.
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