Milk Information

I sent the following in a note to the director of our day-care:

After chatting with you Monday afternoon and a conversation with an assistant last Friday, I thought it might be helpful for me to gather some information on storing human milk for you all. This information is taken from various research studies, books, internet pages, and La Leche League information. From the practices I have seen in the infant room, I'd say that the lead teacher and the staff probably already know most, if not all, of this information, but as a first-time mom I am eager to share what I learn.

Storage Guidelines - Fresh Mature milk

• kept at 25 C (79 F) - 4-6 hours


• kept at 19-22 C (66-72 F) - 10 hours


• kept at 15 C (59-60 F) - 24 hours


• refrigerated 0-4 C (32-39 F) - 8 days (since the door to the refrigerator in the infant room is opened so frequently, limiting it to 3-4 days would probably be a better guideline)

Storage Guidelines - Frozen milk

• freezer compartment located inside a refrigerator - 2 weeksk


• separate door refrigerator/freezer - 3-6 months (temperature varies because the door opens frequently)


• separate deep freeze at constant -19 C (0 F) - 6 months or longer

(I try to keep one spare bottle in the freezer in the infant room's refrigerator. If it could be kept in a separate freezer we could store it longer.)

How to Warm the Milk
Heat under warm, running water or by setting in a container of warm water; do not bring temperature of milk to boiling point; gently swirl before testing the temperature; do not use a microwave oven to heat human milk. Frozen milk can be thawed in the same way or in the refrigerator, which can take up to 12 hours. (See http://www.bflrc.com/ljs/breastfeeding/shakenot.htm for a good explanation in layman's terms of why to not shake breastmilk.)

Thawed Milk
If milk has been frozen and thawed, it can be refrigerated up to 24 hours for later use. It should not be refrozen.

Unfinished Bottles
Most lactation experts agree that milk that is not finished at one feeding may be offered at one more feeding before needing to be discarded. Human milk has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties that result in slower spoilage as compared to other foods.

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It's wise to try to stay as close to the guidelines as possible, but milk that is older than the stated safe age should not be automatically discarded. Milk that is truly bad has a very distinct sour taste and odor. Even if expressed milk is "out of date" it should still be considered safe to give a baby as long as it still has a fresh odor and/or taste.

Breastmilk digests in 96 minutes, so a breastfed baby will take more frequent feedings, and less milk per feeding, than a formula-fed baby. Because a baby nurses for reasons other than food, draining a bottle quickly may be interpreted as a sign of hunger when it is actually a sign of needing comfort and sucking or other contact. Carrying time is usually helpful for a breastfed baby in a daycare setting, so that the need for human contact can be met in ways other than feeding.

The appearance of stored milk can take on many forms. After a while the fats in the milk begin to separate from the body of it. The cream may rise to the top or settle on the sides of the storage container. Right before serving it to baby, be sure to gently swirl the milk so that the fats can be redeposited back into the rest of the milk. (See http://www.bflrc.com/ljs/breastfeeding/shakenot.htm for a good explanation in layman's terms of why to not shake breastmilk.)

Human milk has an amazing capacity to resist bacterial growth, and can be kept at room temperature for up to ten hours.

Milk to be used within eight days of expression should be refrigerated rather than frozen. Not only will the milk not need to be thawed, but the immunity factors in human milk are better preserved by refrigeration. For longer storage, milk can be frozen.

As of an October 1995 press release, human milk is not (nor has it ever been) included in federal health agencies' listings of body fluids governed by universal precautions for blood borne pathogens which would mandate handling and feeding with rubber gloves or storage in a separate refrigerator as a biohazardous material. This continues to be the current policy of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).