LO has been drinking five pieces st each feeding the past few days. I heated up a bottle for this last feeding and he only drank two ounces. Normally. If he only leaves an ounce or so, I'll just dump it out. But this time there is 3 ounces...and it kills me to have to dump all of that. Do my question..can I put it back in the frig and rehest it for a future feeding? I've done some reading and have read both yes and no answers....
Re: reheating breastmilk?
Me 26, Hubs 32
Married 7.14.12
DS 10.29.13
BFP 06.20.16
R&K married 4.15.11. TTC #1 since 7.11.12
BFP #1 9.9.12 EDD 5.21.13 c/p 9.12.12 at 4 weeks 1 day
BFP #2 10.15.12 EDD 6.28.13 c/p 10.19.12 at 4 weeks.
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13dpo hcg@32, progesterone@13.7, 15dpo hcg@110, 16dpo progesterone@25.9
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Reusing expressed breastmilk
JULY 28, 2011. Posted in: MILK HANDLING/STORAGE
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Q: Should breastmilk left over from a feeding be dumped immediately (like formula), or can you save it and give it to baby later?
A: It is probably safe to save the left-over milk for use at the next feeding, but no published studies have investigated this issue. Storage of left-over milk is a different issue than storage of fresh milk because bacteria from baby’s mouth usually enters the milk once baby begins drinking. Freshly expressed milk contains live cells which kill bacteria, and one study (Pardou et al, 1994) found that some of the milk that had been refrigerated for 8 days actually had lower bacteria levels than when the milk was first expressed. Many mothers of healthy babies have saved left-over milk for longer than two hours (sometimes as long as 24-48 hours) with no problems, but whether or not the milk is safe depends on several factors.
Fresh breastmilk has the most bacteria-fighting power, followed by refrigerated milk, then previously-frozen milk. Milk that has been frozen a shorter period of time will have more anti-infective properties than milk frozen for a longer period of time. Bacteria grows more slowly in any breastmilk than it does in formula.The cleanliness of your milk expression technique (hand washing, cleaning pump parts per manufacturer instructions, washing storage containers in hot soapy water) will also affect the amount of bacteria in the milk.If your baby is sick or has immune issues, s/he will be less able to handle “normal” amounts of bacteria. In this case, you will need to follow stricter guidelines.
If you do save the milk for later use, some mothers re-refrigerate the milk and others leave it at room temperature – no studies have been done, so we don’t know whether one method is preferred. We do know that for any food, refrigeration slows bacteria growth. Milk storage guidelines do not include any warnings against rewarming milk, and many moms rewarm with no issues. Many moms smell (or taste) the milk to make sure it still smells fresh.
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