question for breastfeeding moms?

Question

my newborn is being breastfed exclussively, and I'm returning to work within 2 weeks. I started feeding him the breastmilk from the bottle so as to prepare him for that. I use the 4 oz bottle to collect milk, and also started to feed him from that, until he started to cry as if he wasn't full. I'm now putting about 6-7 oz in a bigger bottle, and he seems to be doing fine, but he does not eat all at once. how long is the milk good for after he's eaten from it.

Answer 1

How old is he? That's an enormous amount of milk for a breastfed baby to be drinking. You might try the milk calculator below and see if it gives you a more accurate starting place for his bottles.

Make sure you are using a slow flow bottle. The milk from a bottle flows differently than from the breast. When bottlefeeding, the milk will just drip out (baby has to work to STOP the flow instead of work to keep it going) and this can make it seem like baby is chugging it down. For babies who like to suck a lot, the speed of milk delivery from a bottle can leave them still wanting to suck once their belly is actually full.

There really are a couple of different ways to answer your question about how long the milk is good for once he drank out of it. Some people think that you shouldn't reuse it. Others say that it's OK because the antibodies in the milk will fight off anything that was passed into it from baby's mouth and it's still OK for a while. Depending on who you ask, it's good for 4-8 hours after you first tried to feed it. (See second link.)

Answer 2

My son is now 9 months old and I'm still pumping!I had the exact same problem with him. He would drink only about 1 ounce out of a 3 ounce bottle and then I would throw it out. Well After a months of throwing all these full bottles of precious breast milk I just started putting them back in the fridge and letting him finish them a few hours later. It still takes my son about 2 hours to finish a 6 ounce bottle! Breast milk has anti bacterial properties in it so once saliva is mixed with the breast milk in the bottle it will last much longer than artificial milk.

Answer 3

If the milk has been freshly pumped into a bottle, it can be kept for 24 hours back in the fridge, reheated then kept foranother 12 hours. If the milk has been cooled in the refridgerator and heated up for a feed, it can be kept for 12 hours, but if it has to be reheated again, throw remaining mik out after the second feed. Never heat milk more than twice. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

The following are some general breast milk storage guidelines:

At room temperature (less than 77°F) for 4 to 8 hours
At the back of a refrigerator for 3 to 8 days
At the back of a freezer for up to 3 months

Answer 5

I thought it had to be thrown out after feed, i have kept milk in warming jug for a little while after feed (20 minutes max) Just to be sure baby has had enough. Breast milk is like liquid gold, i hated having to throw it out, but its better then baby getting sick. Good luck going back to work

Answer 6

I was researching this earlier today this is what i found....

Defrost frozen breast milk in the refrigerator for several hours. Or thaw it by running the container under cool water. Don't thaw it by leaving it out at room temperature.
You can refrigerate thawed breast milk for up to 24 hours. It cannot be refrozen.
Never use a microwave oven to defrost breast milk.
Throw away any defrosted and warmed breast milk that the baby doesn't drink. Don't keep it at room temperature. Don't refrigerate it for later use.

the link to article is below

Answer 7

i heard for breastmilk 6-8hrs.best for you to ask a doctor.