Breast Milk Tips

I'm a little stressed because my doctor was out sick today. Hopefully this is divine intervention in answering my prayers about the birth of my child. Any way, while I was in Walmart I bought a few baby bottles for when I need to leave the baby with a sitter. I found some very good tips about storing breastmilk that I want to share.

"10 Tips for Pumping and Storing Breast Milk

Here are 10 tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics about safe storage of breast milk:

1. Always wash your hands before expressing or handling breast milk.
2. Store breast milk in jars with tight-fitting lids, or nursery plastic bags. Do not store milk in ordinary plastic bags or formula bags.
3. Discard all milk that has been refrigerated more than 72 hours.
4. If you freeze milk, keep it at 0 degrees for three to six months of storage.
5. Try to freeze your milk in single servings -- roughly 2 to 4 ounces -- the average amount needed for one feeding.
6. Do not add fresh milk to milk that has been frozen.
7. To thaw frozen milk, let it stand in the refrigerator, or place the container in a bowl of warm water.
8. Never use a microwave oven to defrost milk, or heat it to feed your baby. The heating is frequently uneven and can scald your baby's mouth and tongue. Plus, high heat can destroy some of the nutrients in the milk.
9. Never refreeze breast milk. Discard what your baby doesn't finish in a feeding; milk that is thawed in a refrigerator should be used in 24 hours.
10. Do not save milk from a used bottle or refrigerate what your baby didn't finish for a later feeding."

Source:http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52264