Expressed breast milk is the milk that you get out of your breast using your hands or a sucking device. Once your milk is expressed, it can be stored in a fridge for your baby to drink later by syringe, spoon, cup or bottle. Expressing breast milk may be hard for new mothers. Here are what you should know to master it:
Why should you express your breast milk?
Sometimes, you can be around your baby when she needs to be fed. If you have expressed breast milk in your fridge, your baby is still able to have all the goodness from your breast milk. Besides, your breasts will not be uncomfortable with too much milk inside. Premature babies and babies who have some illness may not be breastfed. That is when expressed breast milk comes in handy the most.
How to express milk?
The first step of expressing milk is always to wash your hands thoroughly. Using your hand is the cheapest way since you do not need anything else beside a clean container (for example, a jug) to catch the milk, and some bags or lidded containers to store it in. However, expressing milk by hand can be challenging. The key is to put gentle pressure on the milk ducts behind your nipple, not squeezing the nipple itself. Using a pump may be easier. With an electric pump, you just need to put the suction cup over your breast, turn it on, then let it do all the work. It may take up to 45 minutes to express milk from both of your breasts. Do not worry about the time, though. Keep pumping as long as your milk still flows well. When the flow gets weak, change to the other breast. You should pump each breast twice to get most of the milk out.
How to store expressed breast milk?
Breast milk lasts the longest when put in plastic feeding bottles with tightly secured tops. Remember to note the date you express your milk on the bottle before placing it in the fridge so that you will not forget to use up the oldest ones first. Expressed breast milk can be stored up to five days at 4 degrees C. If you put it in a freezer compartment, breast milk lasts up to two weeks. If the temperature of the freezer is under 18 degrees C, your milk will stay fresh up to six months.
Frozen milk loses some of its antibodies, which is essential for your baby to fight infections. So it is advisable not to freeze milk that you intend to use within the time limits. Nevertheless, frozen breast milk is still much better for your baby than formula milk.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnose or treatment.
