How to Thaw & Warm Breastmilk

Thawing Frozen Breast Milk

• Thaw frozen milk in a cup of warm water. This takes 5 to 10 minutes.
• You can also thaw frozen milk 8 to 12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
• Thawed milk can remain refrigerated but should be used within 24 hours.
• Do not thaw breast milk by sitting it on the counter at room temperature.
• Do not warm breast milk in a microwave oven. It can change the breast milk and reduce the quality of the milk. Microwave ovens heat the milk unevenly to cause a chance of burning your baby’s mouth.
• Do not refreeze thawed milk.

Warming Breast Milk

• Remove the milk from the refrigerator just before using.
• Warm the milk by holding the container under warm running tap water or sit it in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Rotate the bottle gently and test the warmth of the milk by placing a drop on the inside of your wrist before feeding your baby.
• Milk left over in the container after a feeding may be offered at the next feeding before discarding. Do not reheat milk that has been heated. Breast milk can safely stand at room temperature for 4 to 8 hours.
• Do not warm breast milk by sitting it on the counter at room temperature.
• Do not warm breast milk in a microwave oven. It can change the breast milk and reduce the quality of the milk. Microwave ovens heat the milk unevenly to cause a chance of burning your baby’s mouth.

Article taken from Health Info Translation