As a breastfeeding parent, your milk supply and schedule won’t always be in sync with your baby’s feeding schedule. While keeping a stash of breast milk on hand allows other caretakers to feed your baby when you’re unable to nurse, it’s important to properly store breast milk. Not only can improperly stored breast milk lose its nutritional value — it can also get your baby sick. Read on for everything you wanted to know about breast milk — at least the “How To: Breast Milk Storage” edition!
How long can breast milk stay out for and other breast milk storage guidelines
How to tell if breast milk is bad and other tips
Of course, there are a lot of details about pumping, storing, freezing, transporting, and thawing breast milk. “Make sure to store in bags or containers with tight-fitting lids and write the date on them so you can keep track of when they expire,” Dr. Lee advised. “Don’t fill it up all the way, because breast milk can expand as it freezes — you don’t want to come back to exploded milk one day.”
Here are a few more practical tips that might help with the storing and using of breast milk:
The “smell” test
Just like any other food, breast milk can go bad. Here’s a good rule of thumb: If it smells like spoiled milk, throw it out. Other signs of breast milk that is “off” are:
- Has clumps
- Doesn’t mix when swirled
- Tastes sour
Use painter’s tape as a label
Label each container with the date; if your baby goes to daycare, clearly print your child’s name on the container to make sure there are no mix-ups. For quick labeling, write the date and time (and sometimes, ounces) on painter’s tape or masking tape and stick on bottles of fresh milk. That way, you can easily remove the tape when washing and you don’t have to guess how long the breast milk has been in the fridge.
Put your newest pumped milk in the back
Label your milk with the date and ounces, and then store in chronological order by adding the freshest breast milk behind the older milk. This way, you’re clearing out the oldest milk first and don’t have to go digging because that milk is at the front.
