Breast milk provides important vitamins, nutrients and immunity for your little one – every drop counts. Knowing how to safely store breast milk can prevent your supply from spoiling or going to waste.
Dawn Schindler, RN, BSN, IBCLC, a lactation consultant at the Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children's Health℠, answers commonly asked questions about how to store expressed (pumped) breast milk.
¿Cuál es la mejor manera de almacenar la leche materna?
Breast milk can be stored in any clean container with a lid including:
- Bolsas de almacenamiento de leche materna (preferible a las bolsas de bocadillos o sándwiches normales).
- Botellas de vidrio o plástico con tapones.
Schindler recommends that you label each breast milk container with:
- The date and time
- The amount
"Don't rely on the bags to measure the volume of your milk accurately. It's more accurate to use the measurement in the bottle you pumped into and write that on the bag or container," Schindler says.
If your baby goes to daycare, or is being cared for in a hospital, you may need to have more information on each container, including:
- Your baby's name and date of birth
- The mother's name and date of birth
- The time and date of pumped milk
- Cualquier medicamento recetado o de venta libre que tomó la madre.
¿Durante cuánto tiempo puedo conservar la leche materna?
Los CDC (Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades) recomiendan almacenar la leche materna en el refrigerador durante un máximo de cuatro días y en un congelador profundo durante 6 a 12 meses.
Busque un lugar en la parte posterior del refrigerador donde esté más frío y tenga menos probabilidades de golpearse. En el congelador profundo, es útil mantener la leche materna junta para que sea fácil de encontrar. Dondequiera que la guarde, organice la leche con la más antigua delante para asegurarse de usarla antes de que caduque.
Un consejo que Schindler recomienda a todas las madres que deseen congelar su leche materna es congelar la leche en el volumen que su bebé esté tomando. "Don't put 8 ounces in a bag if your baby is only drinking 4 ounces at a time," she explained. “Esto ayuda a asegurarse de descongelar la cantidad correcta y evitar desperdiciar leche”.
¿Cuánto tiempo puede permanecer fuera la leche materna recién extraída?
Fresh pumped breast milk can stay out at room temperature for about four hours before it is fed to your baby or put in the refrigerator. Schindler suggests you make a note about what time you pumped so you don't forget how long it's been out.
¿Puedo mezclar leche materna de diferentes sesiones de extracción?
Yes, you can combine and store breast milk from different pumping sessions.
Schindler recommends mixing breast milk that's been in the fridge and is cold. "You can store it in a few bottles in the fridge and once it's all the same temperature, you can combine it in one bottle or a bag. Then label it with the time and date of the first (older) pumping session," she said.
¿Puedo refrigerar la leche materna después de amamantar?
According to the CDC, after you feed your baby, it's safe to store any leftover milk in the same bottle you used for feeding in your fridge for an additional two hours. After that, it's best to toss leftover milk – to avoid the risk of bacteria growing in the nipple of the bottle.
¿Cómo puedo descongelar la leche de forma segura?
Comience a descongelar la leche colocándola en el refrigerador. After there are no more chunks or ice crystals in the milk, it's considered thawed. Defrosting frozen milk in the fridge can take several hours or even up to a day.
After it's thawed, you can keep it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
If you need to defrost milk more quickly, you can thaw it in a bowl of lukewarm water. Once the milk has turned into liquid, you can warm the appropriate amount for feeding and refrigerate what you don't use for up to 24 hours.
What does safe-to-use, thawed breast milk look like?
After it's thawed, you may notice that the fatty part of the breast milk is separated from the liquid part and looks like little white chunks. You may also notice that the liquid part looks more yellow than white.
To combine any separated parts, simply swirl the milk around.
¿Qué ocurre si la leche materna huele feo después de descongelarla?
The food we eat and the enzymes in our body can change the smell of breast milk.
“La mayoría de las veces, los bebés no notan un pequeño cambio en el gusto o el olfato”, dice Schindler. "If your baby refuses defrosted milk, try mixing it with freshly expressed milk."
If you continue to notice a different smell, talk to your baby's pediatrician or with a lactation consultant.
How will I know if my breast milk is spoiled?
Spoiled breast milk smells sour or fishy, similar to spoiled cow's milk. If you smell it and recoil, it's probably gone bad.
Can babies get sick from old breast milk?
If your baby has had spoiled breast milk, they'll likely let you know. They may throw up, or have an upset stomach, diarrhea or fever. It's important to call your pediatrician if you think your baby may be sick from having spoiled breast milk.
¿Tengo que calentar la leche materna antes de amamantar?
Newborns tend to prefer warmed milk. But as babies get older, they may be fine with cooler or room temperature milk.
If your child prefers warm breast milk, you can warm milk in a cup or bowl of warm water.
¿Cómo puedo transportar de forma segura la leche materna extraída?
When you need to travel with breast milk, follow these guidelines:
- Place all the milk you need in a cooler packed tightly with ice or ice packs.
- Keep the cooler closed unless you need to get milk out.
- Keep it in a cooler, on ice, for up to 24 hours.
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Through our highly trained lactation consultants and Pediatric Milk Lab, Children's Health is dedicated to supporting breastfeeding moms in as many ways as possible.
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