There are several reasons why a mom may have to extract milk from herself and then store it. Sometimes, baby is a preemie (born before the expected delivery date) and in the NICU. It could also be that baby is having problem latching on, or mommy is having problem/delay lactating (producing naturally), or mommy is injured/sore, or for some reason, mommy has to be away from the baby for a few hours or days and can’t take baby along. So in any of these circumstances, extracting using a pump becomes necessary. Here are six tips for milk storage.

1. If you’re pumping to store for later, refrigerate pumped milk as soon as possible.

Milk, like all body fluids have a short life without preservation. If it’s not refrigerated immediately, it becomes sour and that would affect the taste; it could also affect your baby’s health and digestion. The milk could even start to smell. Now also bear in mind that refrigeration if not done immediately, there is no need doing so when you remember later. It’s better to extract another which you can now do the right thing.

2. Breastmilk can be stored in the refrigerator for 72 hours and in the freezer for up to 1 to 2 weeks. (Sometimes even up to months).

This is very important; for your baby’s’ best nutrition, you should store the milk in the refrigerator section for a maximum of 72 hours. If you have to extract for long periods, let them all be in the freezer and you take them out as the need arises. You should have several bottles or storage bags as the case may be. Anyone you bring out from the freezer can’t go back to the freezer after it melts. Dispose it if baby can’t finish it. So it’s best to know the quantity your baby consumes each time and make that the storage quantity you keep.

store breast milk

3. Do not Microwave the milk.

After bringing out the milk from the freezer or refrigerator and it’s taking time to melt, the temptation comes to hasten things up and the microwave is one of the first places considered. This shouldn’t be. Please keep the milk at room temperature to allow it melt on its own. If you are worried that baby is crying because of hunger, then next time, be sure to calculate the time accordingly. Allow a few minutes for the milk to get to room temperature before baby’s feeding time.

4.  Date your milk so you know when it was pumped.

Time gets in the way for everyone and we may lose track of when the milk was extracted. A typical example when this happens a lot is when mommy is preparing for a trip in a few days’ time or she’s about to resume work after maternity leave. So in the days leading to that, she begins pumping gradually so that she can have enough for baby to use when she is away. Doing this over a period of 5 days makes it possible to mix things up. So dating them accordingly really helps.

5.  Never place frozen milk in the door of the freezer. You can accidentally cause the milk to thaw.

We have already said that if milk is frozen it can be stored for long periods, but once it melts back to liquid, it becomes unsuitable for your baby. But there’s a good chance that when there is need to make space in the freezer for something else, you could think that keeping it in the door of the freezer is enough. It isn’t.

6. Thaw breast milk in warm water rather than boiling water or in the microwave.

Like we highlighted earlier, the Microwave oven is the least place to get milk warmed up. Also it is wrong to also use hot water to defrost milk. The recommended best practice is warm water to get it to a warm temperature or simply leave it at room temperature although it may take long for a well frozen milk to fully melt. So the best practice is to use warm water. If the water you are using gets cold because it surely will after about 10-15 minutes and the milk isn’t still as it should be, change the water again to another warm water because the first one must have gotten cold as a result of the frozen milk.

7.  Never refreeze de-frozen breast milk.

Once the milk is out of the freezer, it should be consumed or disposed. In the unfortunate event of power outage, and the absence of a generator, please consider opening the freezer less often, or buying ice block pieces and pouring onto the freezer in a manner to keep it cool, or if you can, take all the milk out to a friend or neighbor who has a strong freezer or lives in an area where there’s power.

For moms interested in getting a pump, we suggest getting an electric pump that does the job quickly and quietly. There are many options out there in the market, but the Kinyo Superfast Electric Pump is one we recommend. Not only does it have a high speed capacity, it’s also very affordable considering how hard times are. You could go for either the single or double side options. This product is available on our store.

Finally, if you are a new mom, consider getting our post pregnancy shaper belt or our 3 in 1 abdominal binder. They are so nice and we have been getting a lot of positive feedback from users who bought them.

Please note that breast pumps are not a convenience product as some people actually think it is for women who are too lazy to breastfeed. This is not true. In addition to the few reasons identified above, breast pumps become necessary for a variety of reasons such as when a woman is having difficulty lactating (producing milk), or she is producing milk excessively and wishes to store some of it for feeding her baby later, or that she has an inverted nipple or a flat nipple and baby is having difficult latching on, or mommy has to resume work and wishes to continue exclusively on breast milk…and many more. These are just a few reasons why you could need a breast pump. They are increasingly popular nowadays because most moms have discovered the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding or feeding baby mainly on breast milk whether she is a working or a stay at home mom.

To learn more about any of these breastfeeding related products and also to place an order, please click on them.

The Latch Assist/Nipple Everter: (Helps women whose nipples are short or flat or bent; making it hard for baby to latch)

Nursing Bras and Maternity Bras: (Provides easy access for mom and baby to nurse. Also provides comfort for nursing moms that normal bras can’t provide) Option 1, Option 2 and Option 3.

Kinyo Single/Double Electric Breast Pumps: (helps extract breast milk for storage and suitable for women practicing exclusive breastfeeding or who have to be away from baby but still wants baby to get full nutrition of her milk)

Hands free Extraction/Pumping Bras: (Helps hold breast pumps in place in case you would be pumping for several minutes and need your hands free).

Lanolin Nipple Cream/Ointment by Lansinoh: (Soothes and heals injured, swollen, cracked or tender-bleeding nipples)

For Post pregnancy abdominal compression;

Post Pregnancy Shaper Belt

Post Pregnancy High Waist Panties

Post-Partum Compression Wear

3 in 1 Post-Pregnancy Abdominal Binder

About Mothersbond

Mothersbond is Nigeria’s No 1 Mother and child care online store and resource center. We support moms and their babies by answering questions on issues of importance to them and also sell high quality yet affordable products that aid the bonding process between mother and baby. We welcome your comments and feedback on our products and write ups. Please sign up on the home page to receive further advice, bonding tips and great products directly to your mail box. You can also ask us a question.