3
•
Refrigerate milk right away if the room, car or outside air
temperature is above 77°F or 25°C. When you are away from home,
use a lunch box size cooler with an ice pack to keep milk cool.
Breast Milk Storage
These guidelines are for a full-term, healthy baby. You may be given
different guidelines to follow.
•
Fresh
Store at room temperature (no warmer than 77°F or 25°C) for 4 to
8 hours. If the temperature is higher, cool the milk right away.
The milk can be stored in the refrigerator (32 to 39°F or 0 to
3.9°C) for 5 to 7 days.
•
Frozen
Frozen milk can be stored for 3 months in the refrigerator freezer
and 6 months in a deep freezer (0°F or –17.8°C).
Once thawed, frozen milk can be stored in the refrigerator for 24
hours.
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.