January 2011 Moms

freezing BM

OK, I am going to try & pump and freeze breast milk but from what i understand you can't put BM in microwave??  Does it just thaw????  I am confused on this...

TIA

Re: freezing BM

  • I've been told you can't put it in the microwave either.  I plan to thaw in the refrigerator then heat via the bottle warmer or stove top boiling water method.
  • You're not supposed to put any liquid you'd give a baby in the microwave, because microwaving can lead to hot spots and such.

    To me, this totally seems like a scam engineered to sell bottle warmers, but hey.  And if you don't use a bottle warmer, you're supposed to get out a saucepan of boiling water and heat the bottle in the water until it reaches the proper temperature like it's a creme brulee or some sh*t.

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  • I got a suggestion for freezing BM and in that method it is frozen flat (3-4 oz at a time) and then you can thaw it pretty easy (she says) under running hot water or just move it to the fridge.  A bonus would be if you are traveling somewhere you could just put that days BM in the diaper bag and it should thaw pretty well.....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4nr7hxToiY it should be a video titled "a spimple breast milk storage tecnique"

  • When I babysat for my friend, she had the BM thawing and I fed the LO right from the fridge - he was 7m old (not sure if that made a difference). I think room temp is fine for the bottle.
  • imagebroccolitree:

    You're not supposed to put any liquid you'd give a baby in the microwave, because microwaving can lead to hot spots and such.

    To me, this totally seems like a scam engineered to sell bottle warmers, but hey.  And if you don't use a bottle warmer, you're supposed to get out a saucepan of boiling water and heat the bottle in the water until it reaches the proper temperature like it's a creme brulee or some sh*t.

    I thought the microwave turned it bad or something of that nature.  Although I have heard about the hotspots.  It seems shaking the bottle would eliminate that... 

  • imagewmramsel:
    imagebroccolitree:

    You're not supposed to put any liquid you'd give a baby in the microwave, because microwaving can lead to hot spots and such.

    To me, this totally seems like a scam engineered to sell bottle warmers, but hey.  And if you don't use a bottle warmer, you're supposed to get out a saucepan of boiling water and heat the bottle in the water until it reaches the proper temperature like it's a creme brulee or some sh*t.

    I thought the microwave turned it bad or something of that nature.  Although I have heard about the hotspots.  It seems shaking the bottle would eliminate that... 

    I've seen my brother burn my niece with her sippy cup because the lid had a little bit of milk that heated more than the rest of the milk. I think that wouldn't have happened if he would have heated the milk without the lid and shaken it after.

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  • I was told not to freeze or microwave my BM.  It can last up to a week in a fridge (so, for me there's no need to freeze it anyway). 

    Freezing and microwaving BM both kill antibodies.  So, that sort of defeats the purpose of BF-ing.  Also, shaking it will just add air bubbles and make your baby gassy, just stir it.

  • You should not microwave breast milk. You can either place it in the fridge to thaw it or you can place it in warm water. If I warmed cold breast milk in bottle I would fill a drinking glass with hot water, put the bottle in and then continue to run the hot water till the milk was warm.

    Also, you cannot refreeze milk, once you thaw it, it needs to be used within 48 hrs. You can also reheat breast milk once within 24 hrs. So if you make a bottle and LO only drinks half, you can put it back in the fridge and then reheat it again a few hours later. And one more thing, you are always supposed to swirl breast milk, not shake it, shaking it breaks up the proteins.

    And kellymom.com is an awesome website for info on BM, I looked up a ton of stuff there when I was BF ds.

  • My bil used to watch dd when I went back to work. He would put hot water in a mug then put the bag of breast milk in it to defrost and warm up. I only freeze 3-4 oz per bag because they defrost faster and warm faster. Check out kellymom.com it has great info from pumping to freezing milk. How long milk is good depending on what you need and breast feeding problems.
  • imageKrisRenee:

    I was told not to freeze or microwave my BM.  It can last up to a week in a fridge (so, for me there's no need to freeze it anyway). 

    Freezing and microwaving BM both kill antibodies.  So, that sort of defeats the purpose of BF-ing.  Also, shaking it will just add air bubbles and make your baby gassy, just stir it.

    Hmm

    Forget the fact that breast milk is perfectly adapted to YOUR baby. Or that the infant isn't being exposed to BPA's. Oh, and forget the money savings, and health benefits to the mother. 

    There seems to a lot of confusion here.

    1-freezing breastmilk is fine. Of course, ideally you baby would be getting milk straight from the bewb. Frozen/thawed breast milk is still and excellent option.

    2-You are right about microwaves killing antibodies. That being said, placing the bm in boiling water isn't really that great of an idea either. Breastmilk is pretty thawable and should warm right up under some warm running water. 

    3-You aren't supposed to microwave formula. However, if you do microwave it, be sure to shake it up and then squirt a bit out onto your wrist to check the temperate/get any in the nipple out. 

    annnnd.

     

    imagehoundbaby:

    You should not microwave breast milk. You can either place it in the fridge to thaw it or you can place it in warm water. If I warmed cold breast milk in bottle I would fill a drinking glass with hot water, put the bottle in and then continue to run the hot water till the milk was warm.

    Also, you cannot refreeze milk, once you thaw it, it needs to be used within 48 hrs. You can also reheat breast milk once within 24 hrs. So if you make a bottle and LO only drinks half, you can put it back in the fridge and then reheat it again a few hours later. And one more thing, you are always supposed to swirl breast milk, not shake it, shaking it breaks up the proteins.

    And kellymom.com is an awesome website for info on BM, I looked up a ton of stuff there when I was BF ds.

    THIS.

  • My LC at our BF class said if you freeze BM (which is totally fine and suggested for middle of night feedings with dad) you should not put in microwave.  She says grab a coffee mug and fill with water, microwave the water for about 12 seconds then place the frozen bag of BM in the water.  Pull out the bag and check to see if it's thawed, it probably won't be so heat the water up for another 7 seconds and dip again.  She says babies like milk room temp so it doesn't need to be warmed.
  • If you store it in bags, it thaws within minutes in warm running water!!  Or even in a bowl of warm water!  It's not a pain at all!  I liked the lansinoh bags because they were taller so the milk froze in a thinner sheet (does that make sense?) so it thawed quicker!

     

  • imagebroccolitree:

    You're not supposed to put any liquid you'd give a baby in the microwave, because microwaving can lead to hot spots and such.

    To me, this totally seems like a scam engineered to sell bottle warmers, but hey.  And if you don't use a bottle warmer, you're supposed to get out a saucepan of boiling water and heat the bottle in the water until it reaches the proper temperature like it's a creme brulee or some sh*t.

    No actually it makes perfect sense. It's simply a risk you don't want to take with the baby because they can get burnt. Is it also a scam engineered towards the use of using hot water to warm the milk?

  • imagebroccolitree:

    You're not supposed to put any liquid you'd give a baby in the microwave, because microwaving can lead to hot spots and such.

    To me, this totally seems like a scam engineered to sell bottle warmers, but hey.  And if you don't use a bottle warmer, you're supposed to get out a saucepan of boiling water and heat the bottle in the water until it reaches the proper temperature like it's a creme brulee or some sh*t.

    LOL.

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