Breast milk that comes out of the mother contains all the essential nutrients needed by the baby. Nowadays, many mothers who already understand the benefits of breast milk giving at least 6 months for growth and bonding between the two. Even working mothers take the time to pump breast milk for storage.
Pumped breast milk (ASI) is the best solution for working mothers. But the endurance of the breast milk after they pumped depends on the temperature and storage place. Know in detail How Long Can Breast Milk Sit Out if it is stored in some type of storage place.
How Long Can Breast Milk Sit Out?
Storage at room temperature (16 ‘ C – 29 ‘ C)
How Long Can Breast Milk Sit Out if storage at room temperature?
The normal temperature of the room can retain breast milk for up to 8 hours, but it depends on the breast milk condition, whether it is still fresh, it is frozen or heated. For details, following the durability of breast milk with storage at room temperature (16 ‘ C – 29 ‘ C):
- For fresh breast milk: 3-4 hours (optimal) 6-8 hours (in very clean conditions).
- For frozen breast milk that has been melted: 4 hours.
- For the heated breast milk: it is better to be taken immediately.
- For breast milk that has been drunk: 1 hour and discard if you have leftovers.
Storage in cooler Bag + ice cubes (4 ‘ C – 15 ‘ C)
How Long Can Breast Milk Sit Out if storage in cooler bag + ice cubes?
With storage cooler bag with ice cubes (4 ‘ C-15 ‘ C), breast milk that is still fresh can last for one day and night, following the details of the breast milk endurance after pumped in the cooler bag storage:
- For fresh breast milk: 24 hours.
- For the heated breast milk: it is not recommended to be given to infants.
- For breast milk that has been drunk: better discarded.
Refrigerator Storage (0 ‘ C – 4 ‘ C)
The breast milk stored in the refrigerator with a 0 ‘ C – 4 ‘ C can last for up to 8 days. But this endurance also depends on the breast milk condition, whether it is still fresh when stored or already heated. Here are the details:
- For fresh breast milk: 3 days (optimal) 8 days (if the condition is very clean).
- For frozen breast milk that has been disbursed: 24 hours, more than that is not known for safety.
- For the already heated breast milk: 4 hours.
- For breast milk that has been drunk: better discarded.
Fridge freezer single door (-15 ‘ C)
Freezer one door refrigerator can preserve breast milk for a maximum of two weeks. But for the rest of the breast milk that has been drunk, cannot be preserved with storage in the freezer. Here are the details:
- For fresh breast milk: 2 weeks.
- For frozen breast milk that has been melted: cannot be frozen again.
- For the already heated breast milk: should not be frozen.
- For breast milk that has been drunk: better discarded.
2-Door Refrigerator (-18 ‘ C)
With storage in a two-door freezer (-18 ‘ C) fridge, it’s the breast milk endurance you need to keep in mind:
- For fresh breast milk: 3 -6 months.
- For frozen breast milk that has been thawed: can not be frozen again.
- For the already heated breast milk: should not be frozen.
- For breast milk that has been drunk: better discarded.
Single Freezer
A single Freezer with a temperature lower than-18 ‘ C, can store fresh breast milk up to the longest durability, which is 12 months. Here are the details of the breast milk durability in a single freezer after the pump:
- For fresh breast milk: 6-12 months.
- For frozen breast milk that has been thawed: can not be frozen again.
- For milk that has been warmed: should not be frozen.
- For breast milk that has been drunk: better discarded.
How to thaw and warm breast milk
Besides containing colostrum, which is a source of immunoglobulin A for babies, breast milk also contains a variety of vitamins. The high vitamin contained in breast milk is vitamin C; Vitamins that need to be considered are B-12 vitamins. Warming breast milk in an improper manner will reduce the quality of breast milk. Therefore, please be aware of how to warm breast milk properly.
Research has been conducted related to heating food using microwaves. As a result, meat and milk that have been heated using the microwave have lost the quality of vitamin B-12 contained in it as much as 30-40%. Therefore heating the breast milk in a microwave is not recommended.
Subsequent research is a microwave effect on the good bacteria in breast milk that can fight bad bacteria. When the frozen breast milk is thawed using a microwave, then the breast milk will lose most of the good bacteria, the bacteria will die. The good bacteria that die will make breast milk become weak against the attacks of bad bacteria such as E coli. The results of the research mentioned that the high temperature frozen breast milk in the microwave could ease the multiplication of E coli bacteria by 18 times more than breast milk that did not undergo the microwave process.
Warming breast milk in a microwave, as such, is not recommended. The right way to warm the milk is to warm the breast milk and the bottle in a pan filled with warm water. Water in the pot should not be too hot because it will change the molecule of plastic bottles to store breast milk. If you can put the cloth on the base of the pan so the bottle does not directly contact with the iron pan.
Read also: Benefits of goat milk are rarely known.
Thank you very much for reading How Long Can Breast Milk Sit Out? Hopefully useful.
