Breast Milk – Safely Storing It for Later
If you are a mother who is able to breast feed your baby, you should count yourself lucky. Not all mothers can breastfeed, even if they want to. As a mother, one of the best things you can do for your baby is to breastfeed, because it is about more than providing the perfect nutrition for baby. With breastfeeding, each meal is a time for you to bond with baby, and it provides an opportunity for you to hold them regularly throughout the day.
As you carry on with daily life after you have your baby, you may have to leave your home in order to carry out your work duties. You may want to take your baby with you wherever you go, but this is not always an option. How can you complete your work daily when you need to keep an eye on your baby and fulfill their every need? In order to breastfeed and meet the demands of a job, you might want to opt for pumping and storing your breast milk. When your baby is hungry, your partner or babysitter can grab your milk from the refrigerator and provide a nutritional meal for your baby.
Whether you plan to work after having your baby, you are uncomfortable with breastfeeding in public, or you live a fast-paced life, there is a big chance you will need to pump breast milk in order to meet your child’s nutritional needs. Every mother who chooses to pump their breast milk for later use should know the proper, safe way to store breast milk. First, you must choose the right breast pump to suit your needs. You should then choose the method you wish to store your breast milk. It does not matter which method of pumping or storage you decide to use, understanding the safety measures of storing breast milk will ensure your baby is given a healthy meal every time.
When stored correctly, the milk can last for quite some time. There are plastic bottles and bags available in the stores that were especially made for holding and storing this kind of nutrition. You can simply put it in the freezer or refrigerator so that you are able to extend its shelf life. However, keeping it in the freezer will make the milk lose some of its nutrients, antibodies, and enzymes. This is what happens to food set aside in the same manner. But what it all comes down to is that it is still much healthier than the formula that you purchase.
To test if the milk is still fresh and safe for your child, you simply have to smell it. You should be able to store it at room temperature as well. However, its shelf life only extends to six or eight hours. Anything over that will be detrimental to your baby’s health. If you’ve followed all the rules but sometimes find that your baby does not respond to it as well as actual breastfeeding, the culprit could be the milk bottle. Your baby could have been so used to breastfeeding that they experience some difficulty in learning to suckle from the bottle. In cases like these, you can probably introduce the bottle a few times in the first 4 weeks of their lives. That way, it won’t be such a biggest adjustment for them when the time calls for it.