How to defrost breast milk?

Content

Ways
Why not boil?
Why it is better not to heat in the microwave?
How to understand that milk has gone bad?
Tips

Freezing Breast Milk will help a nursing mother, who has to be away from the baby for some time and does not want to deprive the baby of valuable food, which is women's milk. In the freezer, Camerono can be stored for several months. But in order for the food after storage in frozen form to be useful for the crumbs, it is important to know how to defrost it properly.

Ways

If you need to feed the baby from a bottle of pre-frozen breast milk, then the preparatory stage will include defrosting and heating.

Heated breast milk — Milk heating is a crucial stage on which the nutritional value of milk depends.

It can be heated in the following ways.

In the water bath

A bottle of milk should be placed in a container with water that is on the stove. With this method, it heats up quickly enough, however, it is rather difficult to control how much the liquid heats up. In addition, this method can be heated only bottles that tolerate boiling.

Pros: economical and fast way.

Minuses: Due to the complexity of temperature control, overheating and destruction of nutrients is possible. Only dishes that can be boiled and not containing bisphenol-A can be placed in the water bath.

Never put milk in a saucepan on the stove, as it heats up too quickly. In this case, the destruction of the necessary substances for the baby is almost guaranteed.

Warming up breast milk in a water bath — If you need to quickly heat up the milk and there is no preheater, heat the milk in the water bath.

Under the stream of hot water or in a container with hot water

Pros: very convenient and low-cost option of heating.

Minus: long period of defrosting and bringing to the desired temperature.

Warming up breast milk with hot water — Heating with water will take a lot of time.

In the heater

The pros Such a method is the ability to bring the temperature of milk to the one you need without overheating and rather quickly with the preservation of useful substances.

Minus is not only the purchase of the heater, but also the need for compatibility of this device with bottles.

Warming up breast milk in a bottle warmer — If you leave often and cannot breastfeed your baby, buying a heater will be a very good decision.

The most convenient way to defrost human milk is to use a bottle warmer. Since its acquisition will be expensive, this method is not suitable for everyone.

The most preferred and affordable option of defrosting, if there is no finance for the purchase of a bottle warmer, - placing the container with frozen milk in hot water (up to +37 degrees). It is recommended to hold the container first in cold water (alternatively, hold the container for about 12 hours in the refrigerator), then in water at room temperature and finally in hot water until the product has completely melted.

Why not boil?

Boiling worsens the properties of mother's milk, destroying vitamins and other beneficial substances in its composition.

Why it is better not to heat in the microwave?

It is not recommended to heat the milk in a microwave oven due to the complexity of temperature control and the possibility of overheating of the milk, as a result of which vitamins and other beneficial substances are destroyed.In addition, as a result of the uneven heating of the liquid, the hot areas formed can burn the baby.

How to understand that milk has gone bad?

Mom can be alerted by the separation of milk into layers - more liquid at the bottom and fatter at the top. This is normal and worry that the milk is spoiled, it is not necessary. Stir gently to ensure uniformity.

Breast milk - layers — When storing breast milk is divided into layers, this is normal

Know that the appearance and composition may depend on the time when mom was decanting him, and on the mother's diet. The color of the milk cannot be judged on its qualitative composition and benefits for crumbs.

The spoiled milk has an unpleasant rancid smell and sour taste. Mom should try and smell it defrosted, and if she did not like the taste and smell, this product should be poured.

Tips

Before giving thawed milk to a baby, always check its temperature, after mixing the contents of the container.

Drop on hand - breast milk temperature — Always stir the preheated milk and taste its temperature before giving it to the baby.

Do not forget that the repeated freezing of breast milk, which has already been frozen before and has now been defrosted, is not recommended. For this reason, it is better to pick up small containers for freezing so that they can hold a portion for approximately one feeding (from 60 to 120 ml).
In the thawed form it can be kept in the refrigerator for 48 hours, and without a refrigerator - up to 5 hours.
Choose to defrost the milk that was harvested earlier. It is better not to store the frozen product for a long time, since as the crumbs grow, the composition of mother's milk changes, adapting to the new needs of the baby.