Breastmilk Question:

[mamac]

How long is thawed breastmilk good for if not refrigerated? The paper dcm gave me says it is good for 24 hours after being thawed.

What happens when I thaw it, put it in a bottle and dcb only drinks an ounce or so? Can I refrigerate it and reheat it or can I leave it out for a certain length of time and then finish it off? Or do I just toss it? Dcb still has a tendency to want to snack occasionally and not go through an entire bottle all at once.

[Lil'DinoEggs]

Check your regs. In my regs, any bottle that is heated must be finished within the hour. Personally, I was fast and loose with my bm, but I try do throw away a bottle that been dethawed for an hour. Can you ask mom to only make 2 oz bags instead of 4 oz or however much she is making?

[Cradle2crayons]

I thaw the frozen bag and out it in the fridge. I write the date and time down so I know when exactly it was thawed. Is good 24 hours after thawing but it still has to be refrigerated.

It usually only takes me a day or two to figure out approximately how much the baby will drink at one time so I don't waste the breastmilk.

[TwinKristi]

No once it's thawed and reheated it's done. I always do small 2-3oz bottles unless baby drinks a specific amount consistently.

Milk storage & handling

[MNMum]

Here are a couple of good sources:

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/

http://www.llli.org/faq/milkstorage.html

If the breastmilk has not touched babies mouth, it is probably safe a couple of hours.

My rule of thumb is 1 hour after babies mouth has touched the nipple. Bacteria is then exposed to the milk. However, milk that has never been frozen would likely be safer longer, due to the antibodies in the never frozen milk.

In the hospital, we will warm thawed milk and put it on the pump to give to preemies for up to 2 hours (we used to do up to 4, but our practice has changed).

Thawed milk should be refrigerated until needed.

[Cradle2crayons]

Here are a couple of good sources:

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/

http://www.llli.org/faq/milkstorage.html

If the breastmilk has not touched babies mouth, it is probably safe a couple of hours.

My rule of thumb is 1 hour after babies mouth has touched the nipple. Bacteria is then exposed to the milk. However, milk that has never been frozen would likely be safer longer, due to the antibodies in the never frozen milk.

In the hospital, we will warm thawed milk and put it on the pump to give to preemies for up to 2 hours (we used to do up to 4, but our practice has changed).

Thawed milk should be refrigerated until needed.

yep yep. We would thaw the frozen milk. Then we would calculate the rate times two and draw that up in a new syringe every two hours and put it on the pump.