When you are expressing, the breast milk you express should be chilled or frozen as quickly as possible. Follow these guidelines for defrosting and warming up expressed breast milk. Follow these guidelines for defrosting breast milk when you remove it from a freezer: Thawed breast milk left at room temperature should be fed to your
baby within 2 hours or thrown away. ImportantNever re-freeze breast milk once thawed. Freshly-expressed warm milk should not be added to already cooled or frozen milk, to prevent rewarming of the already-stored milk. It is best to cool down the newly-expressed milk first before adding it to older stored milk. Warming breast milkHealthy, full-term babies can drink breast milk at room temperature or warmed to body temperature. Some healthy full-term and older babies can drink chilled milk when it is removed directly from the fridge. This is considered the safest choice. To warm your milk, place the breast milk bottle or bag into a cup, jug or bowl of lukewarm water for a few minutes to bring it to body temperature (37 degrees Celsius or 99 degrees Fahrenheit). Alternatively, use a bottle warmer. Do not allow the temperature to go above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). ImportantDo not heat breast milk in a microwave or saucepan. Heating breast milk until it is hot can destroy some of the good properties in the milk. Using a microwave to heat any fluids for your baby can lead to uneven heating. These hot spots can scald your baby's mouth. If milk has separatedYou may notice that the milk has separated into layers, with the creamier content at the top. It's better to swirl the milk in the container to mix the layers again rather than shaking the container. Shaking the container may damage some of the proteins and other components of the milk. Page last reviewed: 25 April 2022 Download Article Download Article Breast milk stored in the freezer or refrigerator may need to be warmed before your baby will accept it. Warming breast milk is easy to do, but it is important that you take precautions to make sure that the milk does not become too hot for your baby or lose beneficial properties during the warming process.
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ReferencesAbout This ArticleArticle SummaryX If you need to warm breast milk that’s been stored in the refrigerator, place the container of milk directly under warm running water. Gradually increase the temperature of the water from warm to hot, stopping before the water begins to steam. If you prefer, you can place the container into a saucepot of water that you’ve heated on the stove instead of holding it under running water. With either method, make sure the breast milk is evenly warmed by gently swirling the container or bottle, and test the temperature on your inner wrist before giving the milk to your baby. To learn how to defrost frozen breast milk, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 612,337 times. Reader Success Stories
Did this article help you?Should I warm up cold breast milk?Warming stored breast milk before serving it to your baby is a personal choice. Many babies like breast milk warm if they take it from a bottle, since breast milk is warm when babies nurse. Warming up breast milk also helps the consistency after it's been stored.
How do you warm up milk quickly?The microwave method: Pour milk into a microwave-safe container and microwave on medium-high (70%) power, stirring every 15 seconds, just until steam begins to rise from the milk. To scald milk for custards or yogurt, heat 250 mL (1 cup) on high for 2 to 2 ½ minutes.
Why can't you add warm breast milk to cold breastmilk?Mixing freshly expressed breast milk with already cooled or frozen milk is not advised because it can rewarm the older stored milk. It is best to cool freshly expressed milk before combining it with older, previously cooled or frozen milk. It is also important to consider storage duration guidelines for breast milk.
Can babies drink cold breastmilk?Is it safe to feed babies cold milk? Yes, it's safe to feed your baby cold milk. In fact, frozen breast milk can be used as a form of pain relief for teething babies!
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