would you use warm breast milk again?

C

carey

Registered User
Hi, I breastfeed my baby for about 30 mins on both breast and today and he was cranky and kept taking himself off my breast towards the end. So I thought he wasn't getting enough and prepare to supplement him with express breast milk. But as we are warming the milk he just felt asleep.

My question is would you still keep this milk and use it later? shall I put it back to the fridge? Thanks.
 
There are 2 views on this some say you should not expose the breastmilk to varying temperatures. Once you take it out of the fridge consume it soon after and discard the left over milk. Others say you can re- refrigerate it no more than once. Its really up to you I guess.
Just to add warming breastmilk in an microwave or stove isn't a good idea. Just hold the bottle under hot running water to bring it to room temperature or use a bottle warmer.
 
From what I read is that once you bring the milk above room temperature, you have to discard it even if you don`t use it. I know it`s a waste, but I`m sure you have a lot more where it came from:)
 
My lactation consultant told me if the baby hasn't drank the warmed breast milk at all, you could put it back in the fridge & use it again at the next feeding. But agree with geomum, won't re-frigerate it more than once.
 
agree with lylee. i have done it once. if you want to be doubly sure - just taste the milk... discard it if there's any doubt at all.
 
honestly, i can't bare the thought of throwing away my EBM, although i have a whole freezer full of it. so i have NEVER thrown away my EBM for my 1st daughter (who's now 4) & my 3 mths old.

so i do:
re-warm previously warmed milk that have been put in the fridge.
re-warm left over milk that have been drank from.
the only thing i try not to do is rewarm frozen milk that have been previously drank from. but sometimes i still had to do that.
the only thing i've never done is, refreeze defrozed milk. i try to let my baby finish the defrozed milk asap, but since she doesn't like the taste of frozen milk, i have to add 1/2 oz to every 4oz of fresh milk. so usually the frozen milk is consumed over the next 24 hrs.

carey, i remember your other thread about supplementing & that your baby always falls goes on & off at the end. that's what my 3 mth-old does, too. i notice it's because she's full but she wants to suck. so after sucking & the milk comes out, she comes off the breast, but she wants to suck, so she gets on the breast again. usually this is the time when i give her a pacifier (which i sworn i wouldn't use with my first, but boy am i glad i'm using it for my 2nd, cos they are the best invention since human!!)
 
Thank you ladies for your input. I guess since I still believe that my milk supply is not great so I treasure every drop of it but I know one should be careful with milk too.

I have got great support from the LLL so far and Sarah suggested what lylee said if the milk has not been touched by the baby, it can be re-frigerated.

This morning, I left my milk out at room temperature and thinking to discard it if he doesn't wake in an hour for it. He did wake up and we re-warm it and give it to him.

It's only the first month and I am home all the time so I try only give him milk express on the same day. I have not start freeze my milk yet.
 
there's a website where it documented a test done on the bacteria growth of leftover (previously drunk from) milk. that i saw somewhere. i forgot the link, but it basically said after the test, there was no difference in bacteria growth in the previously drunk milk and fresh ones.

and carey, even when you have an abundant supply of milk like i do, i still treasure every drop of it. it IS liquid gold, in fact, to me, it's liquid diamond (only it's not a girl's best friend, but a baby's ^^)
 
It is generally accepted by lactation consultants that if you have heated the milk but not introduced it to the baby then you can cool the milk and place it in the fridge again and heat a second time - but I wouldn't heat it a third time.

There is a good article which answer questions about milk storage by Dr. Ruth Lawrence called Storing Pumped Breastmilk at Storing Pumped Breastmilk - A Q&A Forum with Dr. Ruth Lawrence

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
i found the link
kellymom.com :: Reusing expressed breastmilk

Brusseau R. Bacterial Analysis of Refrigerated Human Milk Following Infant Feeding. May 1998.

"Summary: The number of infants who are breastfed is on the rise, as is the number of women in the workforce. Many women who choose breastfeeding after returning to work, express milk during the day and store this milk for a future feeding. When infants do not finish a bottle of expressed breastmilk, doctors recommend unfinished portions be thrown away. This study examined bacterial levels in expressed, partially consumed breastmilk that was stored for 48 hours at 4-6? C. A portion of unconsumed milk was examined as a control. Samples were taken every 12 hours for bacterial analysis. Tests were performed to identify total colony counts, pathogenic Staphylococci, coliforms and b-hemolytic Streptococci. This study showed no significant difference between bottles that were partially consumed and those that were not exposed to the baby?s mouth for 5 out of 6 participants. All milk samples had colony counts in the acceptable range of < 105 colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/ml). Although this project provides evidence that it may be safe to refeed a child a bottle of breastmilk, due to the small sample size, further tests should be performed."
 
I remember being told that once you've heated milk you've got an hour to give it to the baby (whether they've started drinking or not). Heating the milk makes bacteria multiply or some such. I treat my ebm as liquid gold but always follow this rule.
 
The guidelines keep changing as more and more research is done on the subject.

20 years ago the guidelines said to only keep expressed milk for 24 hours because this was the longest anyone had tested the milk. Now they have tested the milk for seven days and the guidelines say that you can keep the milk up to seven days. Maybe in the future they will test the milk for two weeks and then the guidelines could change again. After all they did find that after seven days the milk had fewer bacteria in it than when first pumped.

Likewise I only know of one research (quoted by joannek by Brusseau) that looked at bacteria levels after the baby had drunk from the milk. The guidelines are usually only changed when a second or third research project gives the same results.

In the past people thought of breast milk in a similar way to formula and so assumed it would go off as quickly - I think this is the reason that they started with 24 hours, then increase the guidelines to 48 and now it is at seven days. 20 years ago no one even considered that breast milk would last so long.

But it is important to remember that formula is a dead liquid and so it is easy for the bacteria to increase, especially when kept at a warm temperature (bacteria love warmth).

Breast milk, on the other hand, is a living liquid and the anti bacterial agents and antibodies in the milk keep working even after the milk is pumped out and stored. I believe it is these agents in the milk that make the bacterial counts so low even after the baby has drunk from the bottle and the milk been stored again. And remember the milk already has the antibodies for the bacteria that the baby has in his mouth.

Some of the protective agents in the milk are destroyed when the milk is frozen and so the guidelines state to use any defrosted milk within 24 hours.

More and more mothers want to continue breastfeeding and mix this with expressing and giving pumped milk to their babies. So I foresee more and more research on the topic of stored breast milk. I think that the guidelines are likely to change again in the future.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
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