Breast Milk Question

[Deleted]

I have breast milk in the fridge that I need to feed the baby tonight. It's tough spending 5-10 minutes while he is hangry at 4am to warm the bottle.

The milk was all put in the fridge right after pumping. Can I take it out to warm at room temp a couple of hours ahead, or is that not safe?

Anyway I can avoid a screaming baby in the middle of the night?

[mannah]

Yes I think you can take it out and leave at room temp for 4-6 hours.

[sjh722]

I think it would be fine at room temp for a few hours.

[Deleted]

Technically it's only supposed to be out of the fridge for 2 hours but I have used it out longer than that. Just give it a little smell before you give it to him, you'll be able to tell if it's bad.

[huskymom]

Have you tried giving it cold? The first time I gave a BM bottle, I forgot to warm it bc we had been supplementing with formula so we just stuck with cold bottles and did the same with DD2.

You could also just run it under hot water quickly to take the chill out.

[madisen]

I'm with huskymom . Both my kids only got cold bottles and never had an issue with it.

[sparty04]

I did that... As soon as he finished a bottle, I'd take the next one out of the fridge

[gretchenindisguise]

I always thought breastmilk was fine at room temp for 6 hours, so I've never hesitated to take it out of the fridge to let it warm to room temp before feeding. We are still at a point where it's 4ish hours between feeds. It's never been a problem.

[azurely]

Ditto huskymom and madisen. C doesn't like cold bottles straight out of the fridge as well, but he'll drink it cold if he's really hungry. We usually just warm his bottles enough to take the chill off. We either run his bottle under hot water, put it into a bowl of hot water, or stick it into the bottle warmer for a minute.

[azurely]

If you'll be giving MOTN bottles often, you could get something like this:
www.amazon.com/The-First-Years-Bottle-Warmer/dp/B000056HMB

[JayhawkGirl]

Are you pumping right before bed? If so, I just kept the MOTN bottle out and didn't put it in the fridge. I pumped around 10:30 and she took it around 2:30.

[Deleted]

Mar 15, 2015 0:30:09 GMT -5 JayhawkGirl said:

Are you pumping right before bed? If so, I just kept the MOTN bottle out and didn't put it in the fridge. I pumped around 10:30 and she took it around 2:30.

At this point, I usually pump at 10, 1, 4 and 7 and give bottles at all those times. At the moment I'm not producing enough because of my mastitis and have to use my extra from the fridge.

[linz]

I've pumped and added milk from fridge if I've come up short and left it on the counter. I also pump at 9 and they eat at 2/3 am. Our kitchen stays pretty cool too.

[rbp]

Mar 14, 2015 21:47:15 GMT -5 ladybug said:

Technically it's only supposed to be out of the fridge for 2 hours but I have used it out longer than that. Just give it a little smell before you give it to him, you'll be able to tell if it's bad.

Where did you read this? I've always read six hours.

[JayhawkGirl]

Ah, gotcha. I'm sorry you had mastitis. Hang in there!!!!

[Deleted]

Mar 15, 2015 3:43:44 GMT -5 rbp said:

Mar 14, 2015 21:47:15 GMT -5 ladybug said:

Technically it's only supposed to be out of the fridge for 2 hours but I have used it out longer than that. Just give it a little smell before you give it to him, you'll be able to tell if it's bad.

Where did you read this? I've always read six hours.

Well I thought I read it on kellymom but now I can't find it. So maybe I am wrong. I do know 6 hours is okay for freshly pumped milk but I thought that once it was cooled that changed. Sorry if I am wrong. I swear I read something about it going bad faster once it's been cooled.

[winemaker06]

Mar 15, 2015 5:24:09 GMT -5 ladybug said:

Mar 15, 2015 3:43:44 GMT -5 rbp said:

Where did you read this? I've always read six hours.

Well I thought I read it on kellymom but now I can't find it. So maybe I am wrong. I do know 6 hours is okay for freshly pumped milk but I thought that once it was cooled that changed. Sorry if I am wrong. I swear I read something about it going bad faster once it's been cooled.

This is what I followed. Freshly pumped can stay out for awhile, but after being refrigerated it's a shorter time. 2 hours is about what I followed.

Like some OPs, we were mean and our kid only got cold bottles!