How To Freeze Breast Milk

After you have been blessed with a baby, your real responsibility starts! Being a mom is a full time job and only after you have given birth to your baby, you can understand what sacrifices have your mother done for you. Caring for a baby is a 24/7 job and if you are a career woman, it is quite difficult to juggle work and household chores. Your husband may be an incarnation of a metro-sexual male, but he cannot help you in everything. So, anything that may help you move about in a relaxed way is worth a salute. Freezing breast milk is one such thing, which will help you provide the right nutrition to your baby, without having to take out extra time for pumping the milk every time your baby is hungry. Freezing breast milk also proves helpful when you start considering synthetic milk for your baby, because of a lack of time. Breast milk is the most important food for a baby and has rightly been termed as “liquid gold”. So, whether you are busy handling household chores or are stuck at work station, with frozen breast milk, you can rest assured that your baby will be fed properly, even when you are not at home. Read on to explore tips on how to freeze breast milk.

Freezing Breast Milk

The first thing is to take out the time to pump the maximum amount of breast milk, without being uninterrupted. You may not get much milk for the first few days, but as soon as you get a hang of it, you will know how to pump more.
The pumping time ranges from person to person and initially, it may take as much time as breastfeeding itself. However, with time, it will decrease and you may even be able to pump in ten to fifteen minutes only.
Before you start the pumping process, wash your hands and the vessel in which you will be storing the milk. Also, drink lots of water and eat a healthy diet, to keep yourself hydrated and be able to produce more milk.
After you have pumped out the milk, store it in disposable milk storage bags, as they are the safest option. You will find them in any medical store. You can also store the milk in a glass or plastic bottle, with sealable lid. You can store as much breast milk as you want, though it's best to store milk for a few days only.
After you have sealed the bag, immediately place it in freezer. It can be stored for up to three months in there. At room temperature, breast milk can be stored for up to four hours. However, avoid keeping it outside.
You may find the breast milk separated after you have frozen. It is very common and you do not need to worry at all. All you have to do is just shake the bag and it will mix again.
When you are thawing the milk for feeding, put it in the refrigerator a day before and put the bag in warm water the next day, to bring it back to the room temperature. Never, in any case, heat the milk in microwave or on stove , as it may burn your baby's tongue and it also damage the proteins in the milk.

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