Breastmilk Storing Question

If there is leftover breastmilk in a bottle it can be used for the next feeding only. You can't do this with formula because formula has no protective antibodies present.

You can safely store breastmilk in the fridge for up to 8 days(they have changed the guidelines within about the last year or so).

Here is a list of storage guidelines:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html

I would recommend storing in smaller amounts though just to prevent any waste.

I would say only store it in smaller amounts if she is going to be drinking out of that bottle. Once she drinks out of a bottle you cannot save the rest. However, if you take what she needs out of that bottle and save the rest (without her drinking out of it) then you can definitely store it in 8 Oz. containers. I stored mine in smaller amounts just because it was easier for me.

Oh, goodness. We used bottles for days when our son was nursing. He is a snacker and never ate more than 4 oz at a time. We'd take bottles with us to the mall in insulated containers, we'd put them back in the fridge if he didn't drink all 8 oz.

Generally speaking, formula has to be used immediately (you can make pitchers and serve from there for 24 hours).

The biggest concern with using the bottle is that the mechanism of drinking pulls air back into the bottle and allows bacteria to enter/grow. I never had a problem with my son being even remotely irritated by reusing a bottle for a day or two.

Hope that helps.

You can store it in whatever size you want. Just don't feed it to her all together or you'll have to throw away the left-overs. You can even store several pumpings together as long as the oldest one is the date you use to toss it (3-5 days). I always cooled them to the same temperature before I mixed them, too. If you freeze it, definitely use smaller bags/bottles becuase you have to use the defrosted stuff quickly.

Funny you ask this...I just started pumping again for my 9 month old and was wondering the same thing...what I've found, which you can check on kellymom.com & drsears' website. Is that freshly expressed breast milk can sit at room temp (as previous posters have mentioned) from 6-10hrs, conservative estimate is 4 hours. If you've started feeding and there is still some left over in the bottle they say you can refrigerate and it has to be used in the next four hours.

I however just use the taste and smell method personally. If I've given him freshly expressed breast milk (meaning it was never refrigerated) I put back in the fridge and just toss it by the end of the day if it wasn't used. If its been warmed or thawed and not finished I will only use it for the next feeding, if its not used at that point it's tossed. I remember reading somewhere that cows milk (pasteurized even I think) can be okay to drink for up to 24 hrs after drinking some. So my thoughts are that BM has far more antibacterial properties than that....so I'm more apt to reuse BM if it doesn't fit the 4-6 hr mark...

However, with such a young baby I think I'd err on the side of caution and just store in smaller increments and be conservative on reusing the BM.. What I do when I have a lot of milk (not very common these days) is store in the Mama's milk bags and pour from there, the amount I think he's going to need. If he needs more then pour more. But then again my pumping success has been limited these days. At the beginning I could care less, it was like I was a magic fountain and I was just over flowing with the good stuff!!

Good Luck if you have any questions for sure I'm sure your pediatrician and or lactation consultant can give you some direct advice :)

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t026900.asp#T02690

This chart tells you how long it can be stored from pumping, and also how long it can be stored after being "used"

yes, you can reuse the breast milk for the next feeding. If it's freshly pumped you don't even need to put it back in the fridge if you know she will be eating again within a few hours. Although I did store in 4oz. bottles, but then again I wasn't pumping a lot. The other posts gave good info and links. Don't let your friend make you second guess yourself, she obviously doesn't know. You're doing great, and congrats!

Just like with formula fed babies, you need to toss whatever is not consumed because bacteria from the baby's mouth will pass from the bottle nipple to the milk. So, definitely measure put what she will consume for each feeding. About 2-4 oz for a 3 week old.

I would store in smaller amounts at this age, It is said that whatever is left in the bottle needs to be tossed away. I think that is what she is getting at...we however do not do this (call us bad parents) but if it has sat out for too long give it a toss. You introduce bacteria every time he sucks on the bottle and if it sits too long it can go bad.

Think about it with yogurt have you ever had a little out of a container and then put it in the fridge only to go back and it is all watery and gross. That is because of the bacteria in your mouth.

I think continually warming and cooling BM makes it go bad faster... I am not entirely sure though because I always stored mine in 3 to 4 oz amounts when my children were really young and then increased it to 6 oz amounts when they got older. That way the BM didn't get wasted or go bad.

Updated: Might look here... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2009061414321...

Also found this:
Thawing and Feeding
* DO NOT MICROWAVE BREAST MILK!!
1. When thawing or heating breastmilk, use the least amount of heat possible.
2. Warm milk in a bowl of warm water.
3. Thaw milk slowly in the refrigerator over night whenever possible.
4. Once milk is thawed it can be stored in the refrigerated for 24 hours.
5. Once milk is warmed it can be refrigerated and offered a second time (it is ideal to change the nipple prior to re-cooling).

I am currently caring for my breastfed Grandson and the instructions I have are
the same as "PrarieRaised" gave you two answers prior to mine.
Refrigerated Brmilk can be in fridge 5-8 days. Recently pumped may be at ROOM temp for up to 6-10 hrs. Milk thawed or refrigerated may be stored in frige for reuse at next feeding if within 4-6 hrs but after that should be discarded. Keeping longer may encourage bacterial growth and the milk may loose some of the nutrients.

Yes, store in smaller because once used, her saliva gets in the milk and starts to "digest" it in the container. Same scenario with any food, for that matter.

Good luck Mama!