How to store expressed breast milk

It is not a secret for anyone that mother's milk is the most proper nutrition for a child, since it is precisely the mother's organism that guesses with accuracy all the desires of her crumbs. The composition of breast milk changes as the baby grows, new vitamins and trace elements necessary for the baby are added to it. Breastfeeding is the most natural and proper of all that a newborn can receive.

But there are situations when a mother needs to leave for her business and for some time leave the baby in the care of dad or grandmothers. In this case, it is necessary to express the breast milk in a bottle so that the mother does not have to feed the baby during the absence of the mother. And if you decant milk - it is relatively simple, then with the question of its proper storage, you need to figure it out.

How to decant

“Relatively simple,” we said. Let's find out how much.

The easiest option is to express the milk with a special device - the breast pump.

1. There is a wide variety of them on the market: mechanical (manual) and electrical (mains operated). The choice of this device depends entirely on your personal preferences.
2. Whatever breast pump you choose, remember that before using all its parts, it is necessary to sterilize it according to the instructions in the manual.
3. Before using the device directly, carefully read the instructions for it: strictly follow the rules of operation and storage of the device.

Of course, this method can rightly be called easy, especially if you have well-designed milk ducts. In this case, the process occurs rather quickly, and the amount of expressed milk may be enough for several feedings.

If you do not trust the device or are afraid to injure the mammary glands with your wrong actions, then you should resort to the second method of expressing milk.

Strain the milk by hand. The whole catch lies in the fact that with constant breastfeeding and a stable weight gain for the baby while expressing the milk, the mother experiences certain difficulties: as a result, only a couple of drops of milk come out, and that got through tears and pain.A logical question arises: “Why does the baby get this milk so easily when it sucks?” The fact is that at this moment the hormone oxytocin is actively produced in the mother’s body, which expands the usually narrow milk ducts in which milk is stored. This process is laid down by nature itself, therefore it occurs at the level of a reflex.

Because of this unconditioned reflex, difficulties arise when self-pumping: oxytocin is not produced, and the ducts are narrowed and it is not possible to get the right amount of food for the baby. What to do?

Aspects of self pumping

To stimulate the production of oxytocin and expand the milk ducts:

1. Try during pumping to be in direct contact with the baby: let him lie beside you and play, talk to him, then the brain will receive a signal about the proximity of the child, stimulating the production of the hormone, and the milk will go better.
2. Sometimes a light massage of the chest under a warm shower or alternately applying a warm, moist towel to one and the second chest helps: this widens the ducts.

The most effective technology for expressing milk:

1. Grasp the chest with your fingers so that the thumb and index are located above and below the chest parallel to each other (starting position: skin border and halos).
2. Carefully spend such a seizure from the chest to the nipple, collecting milk in a prepared and sterilized container. Fingers should remain in the original position.
3. At first, the milk will go tight, but after a while it will become easier to flow out of the nipple, since oxytocin will begin to be produced.
4. Alternate breasts, if one of the milk has stopped completely.
5. Never decant the milk by squeezing and twisting only the nipple: you risk serious injury. This method is suitable only for those moms who have the “ejection” of milk already due to nipple stimulation.
6. At the same time, try to decant both breasts so as not to reduce lactation: frequent expressions at evenly short intervals are ideal for this.

Milk storage

So, milk is decanted, you should think about the rules of its storage, so that during the absence of the mother the child gets fresh food, and not sour yogurt.Since breast milk combines various antibacterial and antifungal microorganisms, it can be stored for a long time.

The main terms:
At room temperature (~ 20º-22ºC), milk is stored in a completely sterile container for about six hours. In the refrigerator, the shelf life is not more than two days.

Here it should be remembered that the bottle of milk is not placed on the door of the refrigerator, but on the shelf, closer to the wall of the refrigerator: so the risk of getting fermented milk is much lower.

Milk can be stored in the freezer for a week or two. If you have the opportunity to deep-freeze, then in such conditions, the milk will retain its freshness for up to three months.

Fundamental rules

1. Do not forget to mark on the bottles / bags the date and time when the product was put in the fridge / freezer.
2. Milk left in the refrigerator or at room temperature tends to disintegrate into two layers: particles saturated with fat float to the surface, settling in a kind of sediment. This should not scare you, because it is enough to shake the bottle so that the liquid becomes homogeneous again.
3. To warm the bottle with food for the baby, put it under a stream of warm water. In no case do not resort to the help of open fire or a microwave: it will kill all that is useful in milk, and your child risks getting food poisoning.
4. Once warmed milk is prohibited to freeze again. Pour the residue.
5. The taste of milk depends on the diet of the mother. If it is bitter, sweet or salty, it should not scare you, because the liquid absorbs all the juices from the food that you take. Sour taste is what should alert you. If you have any doubts about the freshness of the milk, give it to your husband or mother to try: perhaps your fears are not unfounded, and the liquid is really gone.
6. The color of milk, like the taste, depends on the diet of the mother, so a slightly pinkish or green hue of expressed “food” should not scare you. A yellowish shade is allowed after freezing - these are heavy fats that have come to the surface.

This is a win-win option if the mother needs to leave, and the child is not possible to feed the mixture. Then pumping and storing breast milk is quite reasonable, but on a regular basis, it is still not worth practicing. Moreover, the risk of injury from constantly decanting is much greater than if the child sucks the breast on its own.

Do not forget about the rules of hygiene before you start collecting milk: rinse the breast, wash your hands and sterilize the dishes in which you will collect the "food". First of all, think about the health of your baby. Since you are breastfeeding, try to leave the baby as little as possible, but if the situation is forcing, then do the whole procedure of decanting and storing according to all the elementary rules.

Video: how to store breast milk