How should you defrost frozen breast milk and do you need to heat it up?

Answer 1

Frozen breast milk should be defrosted at room temperature and given to baby at room temperature. You do not need to heat it up.

Answer 2

Lack of immediate access to refrigeration need not be a deterrent to expressing and storing human milk or dampen a mother's determination to continue breastfeeding if she returns to work. Research shows that human milk has an amazing capacity to resist bacterial growth, and can be kept at room temperature for up to ten hours. In a landmark study, mature human milk was expressed into clean, not sterile, containers, some stored at room temperature (19-22o C or 66 to 72o F) and some refrigerated for ten hours. The milk was then cultured to evaluate bacterial formation. No statistically significant difference was found between levels of bacteria in the milk that had been refrigerated and the milk stored at room temperature (Barger and Bull 1987).

Term Colostrum
(expressed within 6 days of delivery)
kept at room temperature 27-32 C (80.6-89.6 F) - 12 hours

Mature milk
kept at 15 C (59-60 F) - 24 hours
kept at 19-22 C (66-72 F) - 10 hours
kept at 25 C (79 F) - 4-6 hours
refrigerated 0-4 C (32-39 F) - 8 days


Frozen milk
freezer compartment located inside a refrigerator - 2 weeks
separate door refrigerator/freezer - 3 or 4 months (temperature varies because the door opens frequently)
separate deep freeze at constant -19 C (0 F) - 6 months or longer

You should defrost breastmilk in the refrigerator or by running warm water. Putting breastmilk in the microwave kills all those good antibodies that make breastmilk, breastmilk so avoid the microwave.

And no, you do not have to heat it up. Although some babies are picky and will only take warm milk. But it will not harm baby to give them cold milk.

Answer 3

NEVER use a microwave. Microwaves can destroy certain protiens and anti-bodies.

The best way is to place the frozen milk in the refrigerator until it is thawed. I recognize that this takes a long time, but it seems to keep most of the goodies in the milk intact.

If you need the milk in a hurry, hold the container of frozen milk under warm running water. Breast milk defrosts pretty quickly, but remember - baby does not like cold milk! You will need to place the bottle in warm water to heat it up.

Answer 4

NEVER use a microwave for frozen breast milk sheesh! It has fats and whey in it and will be really hot and not good for your baby as it will continue to heat up even AFTER you have taken it out of the microwave. Ignore the idiot who suggested that.

Frozen breast milk is fine, defrost in the fridge over 24 hours, then boil some water, put the water in the bowl and leave the bottled breast milk in the bowl of water for about five minutes or until luke warm (about body temperature) and that'll be fine for baby.

Answer 5

The best way to defrost anything is to take it out before hand and put it in the fridge to thaw slowly and in the right temperature.

If you are short on time you could place it in a jug of warm/hot tap water but not boiling water. This should defrost and warm it up for you.

Answer 6

breast milk should be thawed out in warm water and should be brought to body temperature for the baby. We always use a large measuring cup and put that in the microwave to warm up the water for about 1-2 minutes and then place the milk bag in it. Test the temperature the same way you would for formula by dropping a couple of drops on your arm. If you microwave breast milk it kills the nutrients in it so please don't do that.

Answer 7

i could say go forward and shop the milk refridgerated, as against freezing it. Freezing it and thawing it kills the quite a few antibodies, so as long as your mom makes use of the milk interior of 8 days of your expressing it, it is going to nevertheless be super interior the refrigerator. as a thank you to no longer waste it, have your mom warmth up small quantities at a time. That way, if the toddler continues to be hungry, she would be in a position to warmth a touch extra and if the toddler isn't hungry, she would not watse any. as an occasion, in case you have a a million month previous, warmth up approximately 2 ozof milk, then if the toddler continues to be hungry, warmth a million extra ounce. additionally, do no longer warmth breastmilk or formula interior the microwave. warmth it in heat water or use a bottle hotter. HTH!!

Answer 8

warm water DO NOT USE A MICROWAVE OVEN....it kills all the nutrients in the breast milk. either warm it on the stove in a pan of water...or run it under the tap until warm. Use the inside of your wrist to test the temp. Make sure it is warm enough but not hot....if you give it to the baby to cool then they will get a bad belly ache then you in for it

Answer 9

You defrost it naturally, without heating, and you don't need to reheat, just allow it to become warm at room temperature.

Answer 10

1. Out of the freezer (the milk, not you.)
2. A baby do not like frozen food, so you have to warm it - not to high temperature.