Token or whoever: Breastmilk question

[ohgillian]

Once I warm up refrigerated milk, how long is it good for while sitting out? I looked at my medela chart but it doesn't address this. Thanks.

[Deleted]

My hospital gave me the 5/5/5 rule: 5 hours on the counter, 5 days in the fridge, 5 months in the freezer. My understanding is this is a very conservative rule. I followed 5 hours for both refrigerated/warmed and freshly pumped milk.

[ohgillian]

Thanks!

[froggy76]

I'm pretty laid back- I'd stretch it to 8 hours. Here are the guidelines from kellymom.com:
kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/

ETA: Scratch that, after warming it, I think I usually tried to get it back in the fridge within a couple hours. But if it doesn't smell bad, it probably isn't.

[Deleted]

I'd warm it and then reoffer until it was gone; usually that was within 3-4 hours.

I have minimal bottle experience, though. DS quit them at about 4 months.

[Deleted]

The NICU said 3-4 hours. If it is truly room temp (not over 80 degrees) then I have left it out as much as 6.

[everam01]

If I freshly pumped, I'd leave it out at room temp up to 8 hours.

If I put it in the fridge and heated it up (usually didn't do this - they were ok with cold milk) I would use it within a few hours.

If I thawed it from the freezer and heated it up, I tried to use it immediately or within the hour.

[moonstone523]

QUESTION:

If it's frozen, we warm it up with hot/warm water, and she only takes a bit from the bottle, can we put the bottle back in the fridge?

What about if it's frozen, we warm it up with hot/warm water, we pour a bit in a bottle, and leave the rest in the bag. Can we put the bag back in the fridge?

Thx

[Deleted]

Dec 6, 2012 12:14:32 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

QUESTION:

If it's frozen, we warm it up with hot/warm water, and she only takes a bit from the bottle, can we put the bottle back in the fridge?

What about if it's frozen, we warm it up with hot/warm water, we pour a bit in a bottle, and leave the rest in the bag. Can we put the bag back in the fridge?

Thx

Yep, I would just use the bottle at the next feeding and toss anything left over after that for your first scenario.

For the second, also yes, just use the rest within 2 or 3 days (is what I did... don't know the "official" recommendation on this).