How to Handle

[Cozy_Kids_Childcare]

I have a 5 month old dcg who is breastfed. Her mom insist that if her daughter only drinks 2-3oz of a 5oz bottle that I put the bottle back in the fridge and heat it up again later to reduce wasted milk. She has requested this three different times in the last two weeks. I told her that I am not comfortable with doing that and that I will put the top back on the bottle and give the baby 15-20 and I try to feed her again if she still has not drank the entire bottle by an hour I usually toss the milk. The 3 times she has requested this I just happen to have not yet tossed out the milk. Would you toss out the milk or put it back for a later feeding? I have printed out the guidelines and tried to show her where it is stated that you should never reuse milk for a later feeding. I have even text message my friend who is a peds doctor while she was here to confirm that I was correct with only letting the bottle sit out an hour. I am half tempted to just toss the milk out and not even tell her any different. I don't want to be untruthful, but sometimes with first time parents it is just better to leave well enough alone. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

[Solandia]

I have a 5 month old dcg who is breastfed. Her mom insist that if her daughter only drinks 2-3oz of a 5oz bottle that I put the bottle back in the fridge and heat it up again later to reduce wasted milk. She has requested this three different times in the last two weeks. I told her that I am not comfortable with doing that and that I will put the top back on the bottle and give the baby 15-20 and I try to feed her again if she still has not drank the entire bottle by an hour I usually toss the milk. The 3 times she has requested this I just happen to have not yet tossed out the milk. Would you toss out the milk or put it back for a later feeding? I have printed out the guidelines and tried to show her where it is stated that you should never reuse milk for a later feeding. I have even text message my friend who is a peds doctor while she was here to confirm that I was correct with only letting the bottle sit out an hour. I am half tempted to just toss the milk out and not even tell her any different. I don't want to be untruthful, but sometimes with first time parents it is just better to leave well enough alone. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

Just have her send more bottles, but in amounts of 2.5-3 oz each.

I agree with the mom, though...breastmilk is a lot more 'forgiving' in rewarming & using later. It has some anti-microbial properties that formula doesn't have. Daycare regs haven't kept up with info for breastmilk...and to be completely honest...it is hard enough get care providers (in general) to follow food safety guidelines, much less have different guidelines for formula vs. breastmilk, then add on top that many mom that don't pump enough, mix the two together. So I wouldn't anticipate guidelines changing anytime soon.

[JustAMom]

I would definitely have her send smaller bottles. When I was pumping, the max I ever sent in a bottle was 4 oz, and I pumped until my daughter was 15 months old. That said, it is generally said that breast milk can safely be re-heated once. More info here: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/m...expressedmilk/.

[cheerfuldom]

I would definitely have her send smaller bottles. When I was pumping, the max I ever sent in a bottle was 4 oz, and I pumped until my daughter was 15 months old. That said, it is generally said that breast milk can safely be re-heated once. More info here: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/m...expressedmilk/.

I also use the guidelines on kellymom

[JenNJ]

I used the KellyMom guidelines as well. For a daycare client, I would follow that as well. If mom doesn't want the milk tossed, she needs to send in smaller bottles. I request bottles of 3 oz until the child is taking the whole amount and still hungry for more.

You can't compromise food safety for her request, but I do understand where she is coming from. The only solution is for her to divide the milk into smaller amounts.

[Cozy_Kids_Childcare]

I would definitely have her send smaller bottles. When I was pumping, the max I ever sent in a bottle was 4 oz, and I pumped until my daughter was 15 months old. That said, it is generally said that breast milk can safely be re-heated once. More info here: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/m...expressedmilk/.

Thank you for this information... I was on the CDC site earlier today to find something that I could use to give me the warm fuzzy about the reheating the 2nd time. I just don't want to do anything that could possibly make the baby sick. My daughter would never take a bottle and since I was home with her from the day she was born I didn't have to worry about it. My son I just pumped until my job was to demanding and i was not able to pump often enough.

[Blackcat31]

You could also send a PM to MNMum (https://www.daycare.com/forum/member.php?u=129396) as she is a lactation consultant so she would definitely know.

[EchoMom]

I can understand why she doesn't want to waste the breastmilk, maybe it's like gold to her if she doesn't make much and it's a hassle to pump and it would be discouraging to pump that just to have it thrown away.

I agree though, sending it in smaller portions would be the best idea. I had a mom who sent breastmilk though, and I did put the unused portion back in the fridge for later and then would just slightly rewarm it in a bowl of warm water later.

[BumbleBee]

I have a 5 month old dcg who is breastfed. Her mom insist that if her daughter only drinks 2-3oz of a 5oz bottle that I put the bottle back in the fridge and heat it up again later to reduce wasted milk. She has requested this three different times in the last two weeks. I told her that I am not comfortable with doing that and that I will put the top back on the bottle and give the baby 15-20 and I try to feed her again if she still has not drank the entire bottle by an hour I usually toss the milk. The 3 times she has requested this I just happen to have not yet tossed out the milk. Would you toss out the milk or put it back for a later feeding? I have printed out the guidelines and tried to show her where it is stated that you should never reuse milk for a later feeding. I have even text message my friend who is a peds doctor while she was here to confirm that I was correct with only letting the bottle sit out an hour. I am half tempted to just toss the milk out and not even tell her any different. I don't want to be untruthful, but sometimes with first time parents it is just better to leave well enough alone. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

I don't know what the regulations are where you're at, but here we cannot put it back in the fridge and reheat it again later. Once it has been heated, it has to be used within an hour or we toss it.

I would suggest either having mom send more bottles with 3 oz. Each or tell her you need a doctors note saying it's ok.

[Kiki]

I have breast feeding mommas send milk in storage bags, they have measurements on them, and you can pour into the bottle what you are going to use right away, and put the rest back into the fridge for later use.
We have a one hour/toss rule here, so that really works better for me than the prepared bottles.
I'd just ask her if she can do that, it shouldn't be much harder for her than preparing the bottles for you each day.