How long can breast milk be kept in the refrigerator?

After birth, the newborn's body needs a lot of nutrition to supply the nutrients it needs. Breast milk contains a lot of protein and a variety of nutrients that can supplement the baby's body needs, help the baby to enhance the body's resistance, etc. Breast milk can also be kept fresh. Generally, fresh breast milk can be kept fresh for about 3-4 days and needs to be kept fresh at low temperature.

How long can breast milk be kept in the refrigerator?

Breast milk can be stored for 3 to 4 days if kept fresh. If it is kept at around 25 degrees, it can only be stored for 4 hours. In addition, there are a lot of bacteria in breast milk, so it will easily deteriorate if preservation measures are not in place.

Suggested actions

It is recommended to store breast milk. Mothers must know how to use it. Choose a clean container when storing it and put it in the refrigerator for freshness. Heat it before giving it to the baby.

Precautions

When storing breast milk, it is best to use storage bags and attach labels and dates on them so that they are not easily messed up and can reduce adverse factors to the baby's health. Also, do not open and close the refrigerator door frequently.

How long can breast milk be kept in the refrigerator?

1. Breast milk can be stored for 8 days in a refrigerator at 0-4℃; if it is placed in a small freezer box in the refrigerator, it can be stored for 2 weeks.

2. If it is stored in the freezer but the door is often opened to take out items, the storage time is 3-4 months. If it is in a deep freezer, the temperature is kept below 0℃ and the door is not opened often, the shelf life can be more than 6 months.

Tips:

It's normal for stored breast milk to break down and look a little bluish, yellowish, or brown.

Adjust breastfeeding time and accumulate breast milk.

Adjust the time: 1-2 weeks before the mother goes to work, start giving the baby a psychological "vaccination". Adjust and arrange the baby's breastfeeding time according to the mother's work and rest schedule after work to give the baby an adaptation process. If your workplace is close to home, you can feed your baby before going to work, go home to breastfeed once during lunch break, and breastfeed again after get off work. Together with a few feedings at night, you can basically meet your baby's needs. If you are far from home, you can express and store breast milk in advance, ask your family to feed your baby 1-2 times, and then breastfeed when you get home at night.

To accumulate breast milk, you can express some breast milk 1-2 weeks in advance and store it for later use. Put the expressed breast milk into a container and freeze or refrigerate it.

Utensils, milk storage, thawing

1. Prepare utensils

Prepare a breast pump and milk storage utensils - it is best to use plastic products that are suitable for freezing and have good sealing, such as breast milk storage bags, followed by glass products. It is best not to use metal products, as the active factors in breast milk will adhere to glass or metal and reduce the nutrients in the breast milk.

2. Breastfeeding

You can express and store breast milk the day before or before going to work, and label the date and time of expression on the outside of the container. This way you will know the shelf life of the breast milk to avoid uncleanness and expiration that may lead to bacterial growth and digestive tract diseases. No matter how busy a mother is, she must ensure that she expresses milk every 3 hours. This can effectively prevent breast engorgement and a decrease in milk secretion, allowing breastfeeding to continue better. The expressed milk can also be stored so that the baby does not have to worry about not having breast milk. If the workplace does not have refrigeration equipment, the mother can prepare a mini refrigerator to store the food temporarily. When returning home, the baby should eat the food as soon as possible or put it in the refrigerator for refrigeration.