Milk Separation?

talknerdy2me · August 2014

When I store my milk in the refrigerator, I feel as though it separates so quickly. Then when I need to pour it into a bottle (I have a Medela pump, so I use those bottles to pump/store; DD takes a Tommee Tippee bottle to drink from) it can take forever to swish the milk around so that the thick stuff on the bottle combines with the rest again. How do you make it combine again?

kmos816 · August 2014

I shake mine in the storage bottles and then pour into the bottles my LO drinks from. Hopefully that's the right way!

talknerdy2me · August 2014

I knew you guys would have the answer. Thanks much!!

@kkaew816, shaking it seems like the natural thing to do, it's what I want to do too but had read not to shake it. It's very much a learning process

CNYBride05 · August 2014

I've been shaking breast milk for the past year. My girls are completely healthy and growing like weeds. There are so many "rules"...

BootsOrHearts · August 2014

Meh I shake mine when I'm in a hurry. If you store in bags though it's easier to mix it back in because you can kind of smoosh the sides of the back together and get the fat off the sides. If you use plastic bottles, sometimes the warmth from your hand is enough to help pull the fat off the sides and mix it back in.

brooksfam4 · August 2014

I always swirl it like a tornado motion. It mixes fine.

earichar23 · August 2014

@talknerdy2me‌ not to answer your question since PP got it but FYI Tommy Tippee produces a converter so you can pump directly from your medela into their bottles! Less bottles to clean!

kmos816 · August 2014

Wow never heard you can't shake it..... There are so many rules.....

mommatotwo2 · August 2014

It's not that you will hurt the baby if you shake your breastmilk, but your definitely destroying some if its properties. So, its best not to shake it. OP, I pumped for the 9 months of the first year that I was working and found the best way to remove the fat from the sides is to let it sit on the counter for a few minutes then hold in your hands for a minute so your body heat warms the sides then swirl and pour. I rarely ever had an issue with fat sticking after that. Alternately you can run the bottle under the warm water for 10 seconds, focusing on the fat and then swirl.

mommatotwo2 · August 2014

This

earichar23 said:
@talknerdy2me‌ not to answer your question since PP got it but FYI Tommy Tippee produces a converter so you can pump directly from your medela into their bottles! Less bottles to clean!

This is awesome in theory, but it was pretty rare that I'd ever pump exactly what I'd need in a bottle.

SV917 · August 2014

I pour the milk into drinking bottles after I pump. That way I can just warm up the bottle and the creamy part mixes right back in. When I have a little extra milk, I use the Medela 80 ml tubes for storage and a chopstick to stir the creamy part back in.

CNYBride05 · August 2014

There is no research to back up that shaking denatures BM. Kelly Mom doesn't cite that claim and I did a pretty extensive search as well.

"It is said that once breastmilk has been expressed, it is important not to shake it, especially if the milk is also to be frozen, because shaking denatures the shaped molecules of the protective proteins. We have however not found any evidence based research to support this claim. The research that does address shaking breastmilk evaluates mechanical shaking or so called vortex shaking."

I highly doubt anyone shakes a bottle of BM at mechanical speeds or with such force.

mommatotwo2 · August 2014

somerandomchick said:

This
@talknerdy2me‌ not to answer your question since PP got it but FYI Tommy Tippee produces a converter so you can pump directly from your medela into their bottles! Less bottles to clean!
This is awesome in theory, but it was pretty rare that I'd ever pump exactly what I'd need in a bottle.
You can put a BM bottle back in the fridge and reuse later... You have longer than with formula but I can't remember the exact number.

Yes, you can, but you kind of want to do that as needed, but not regularly. Not to mention, oftentimes I'd pump like 5.5 oz. My baby took 4 oz, so she'd either drink that extra 1.5 ounces when she didn't really need it, or I'd be left with a 1.5 oz bottle which is pretty much useless, because she'd be hungry for 4 oz at her next feeding- so then daycare would warm the 1.5 oz bottle back up for her and then they'd have to grab the other 4 oz bottle (if that's the amount I'd managed to put in that one) and then she'd either overeat, or we'd be stuck with another remainder bottle. It made much more sense to measure out the 4 oz per bottle that she was taking.

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