Ideally we would like it if we could always provide fresh breast milk. That isn’t always possible and isn’t always convenient. Storing breast milk becomes necessary and is usually very routine for a huge majority of mothers. It will allow you to be more flexible with your schedule and the things you can do. Overall storing and freezing will make your life much easier. We will go over why and how to store your milk.

Reasons for Storing Breast Milk

The most common reason that this is needed is for women who work. If you need to spend eight hours a day at a job, you generally will need to save your milk and bring it home at the end of the day. This usually means pumping with an electric pumping machine and storing it in a plastic storage bag. These are kept cool in an insulated container until reaching home. As this becomes routine mothers tend to pump often and freeze their milk so that there will always be something on hand anytime that they aren’t there. The same goes for school.

Other common reasons that pumping and storing breast milk is necessary is for long car rides or shopping trips where it isn’t possible or convenient to feed. Generally you can’t take a baby out of a car seat without parking and most stores don’t have good places to feed. Also, sometimes, a mother just needs to get some rest. Having frozen milk stored up means that someone else can feed the baby and the baby still gets to have natural breast milk.

How Do You Store Your Breast Milk?

Exactly how you store breast milk depends mostly on how long it will need to be stored for. For same day use, you will probably just want to refrigerate it. If you need to save it for days, you should make sure to freeze it. Freezing isn’t ideal but it still provides most of the benefits. It is vastly superior to using formula.

How long can it be stored? How cold?

At room temperature it should last for about six hours. You wouldn’t want to go much more than this though. This would just be short term storage before freezing it or before using it.
It can be kept in a container with ice packs for up to 24 hours so long as it stays cold. This is usually used as temporary storage, typically after pumping at work before it can be carried home and stored. It can also be used if you need to carry it along for a long car ride or day trip.

If you keep it in a fridge it should last for about five days. It should be about 4C or 39.2 F. This would not typically be after or before being frozen. If it was frozen or you are going to freeze it you won’t want to keep it in the fridge that long. Remember, you still need to be as careful as possible to keep it clean. A refrigerator typically has a lot of other stuff in it. Just be careful to keep away from uncooked meat and eggs.

Stored breast milk will last longer if it is frozen. It can be kept in a freezer for two weeks. This is a conventional freezer that typically is just a separate compartment on a refrigerator. The safe about of time that you can store it for could be different if using a larger freezer ( see the link below ).

If you want a chart with more specific parameters:
http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/milkstorage01.pdf

If freezing leave some empty space at the top of the bottle or bag. This is important because as it freezes, it will expand. If it is filled too close to the top, it may overflow or burst. If you use bottles go for plastic bottles, not glass, This will help prevent cracking when freezing and thawing the milk. Another tip, label and date the containers when you store them. Use the oldest ones first.

Cleaning and Sterilizing Containers for Storing Breast Milk

We can’t overstate the importance of keeping any containers used for storing breast milk clean. Wash with warm soapy water or a dishwasher. Make sure to rinse carefully. All soap residue should be rinsed off. Make sure to avoid mixing soap or soap residue with the milk. If you want to make things easier you can buy a sterilizer designed specifically for this purpose. Also, remember to keep the pump clean.

Defrosting and Preparing

When you are ready to use stored breast milk, warm it up before use. Depending on how much time you have, you can defrost it in the fridge first before placing the container in warm water. If you are in more of a hurry you can go directly to the heating it with warm water phase. In either case you will want to warm it up after it has thawed. Most babies don’t like cold milk. Some will drink it but still prefer it warm.

When warming the milk, you can use running water or place it in a bowl. Ideally, you should start with cool water, then warm water. Before you open the container, make sure the outside has been dried off. Once you have defrosted a container of breast milk, don’t re-freeze it.

It is very common for breast milk to separate into different parts with the thicker components floating on top. Make sure you shake the bottle to mix it before use.

Worth the Effort

Storing breast milk is worth the effort. It will make life easier for you. Pump as often as you can. This will help keep it flowing. The more you pump, the more will be produced. Once you get into a normal habit it will be second nature and allow you to be much more flexible. It is always nice to have less to worry about.

If you want to see what other people have to say:

Tips from Baby Center
Tips from Medela
Tips from Kelly Mom