Moms are very kind to their children, especially newborns. This is the period when the child is not yet able to explain what is wrong, and the mother needs to be extremely attentive in order to respond in time to the needs of the baby. The question of breastfeeding now today does not cause discussions on the topic: to feed or not to breastfeed? In the minds of modern mothers there is a clear understanding that breast milk is necessary for a child. This understanding has come from knowledge and understanding of biological processes due to the large number of articles written and filmed broadcasts on this topic.
Quite a nutshell about the benefits of breast milk
Scientists have been able to prove the benefits of mother's milk for babies, it's all about the immune system. A small person who has come into the world does not yet have enough internal resources to fight the aggressive effects of the environment, his immunity is weak. In the first stages of life, mother's milk helps to strengthen the defense mechanisms of the newborn. The benefits of breast milk have become obvious to modern mothers, andthey even figured out how to freeze breast milk, in which they undoubtedly succeeded. Not a single mixture today is able to become a 100% alternative to a natural product. Why? Yes, because mother's milk can protect the child from almost all types of infections. Since a product such as milk spoils quickly, it became necessary to come up with ways to store it. In this article, we will tell you how to freeze breast milk, how to store it so that it does not lose its properties and does not deteriorate.
Why store breast milk when you can feed your baby fresh?
It would seem - here is the mother, here is the child. What problems can there be with feeding, what are these blanks for? But such a need did not arise out of the blue, it is due to the experience of many mothers who had to deal with non-standard situations. Now it is difficult to say who first came up with the idea of freezing breast milk in a bottle, but many women successfully practice this experience. It is worth saying that it is not only frozen, but simply stored in the refrigerator (very short time). Why is this needed?
- He alth problems. No one expects this, but it still happens sometimes. A breastfeeding mother becomes ill and has to take medications that may not be safe for the baby. In this case, you can feed the baby frozen food until he alth is restored.
- A long absence is a good reason. An urgent business trip that does not endure the end of maternity leave, the need for treatment in a hospital, etc. There can be many reasons, and such situations need to beready.
- Excess milk. It happens that a child does not need as much food as his mother can provide, and the excess simply pours out. When the lactation period ends, and this sometimes happens very unpredictably and unexpectedly, women think that they would like to feed the baby longer, but this is no longer possible. The problem is solved by those women who managed to think in time about how to freeze breast milk. What should be stored in and how to freeze it correctly - these are the main questions when harvesting milk for the future.
Is it possible to freeze milk, and what useful substances will remain in it after such processing?
Parents will not give their children food they are not sure about. So in the question of the quality of frozen milk, you need to dot the "i". You should not conduct experiments on your own, pediatricians have long investigated this issue and approved this method of storing a perishable product. For yourself, you can choose a convenient option for freezing breast milk and making it in every possible case, because the useful unique properties are preserved almost completely. Such a supply can be stored for several months.
We need to freeze the milk. Where to start?
If it is possible to freeze the product, why not? Now the only question that arises is how to freeze breast milk at home. In some maternity hospitals there are milk banks, this process has been worked out there, but what to doHouses? There is nothing complicated in this process, you need to create your own personal milk bank. It will help solve the little everyday issues that arise in the life of a young mother, whether it's going to the store or taking an exam. A milk bank is nothing more than a personal supply of milk stored in special bags, plastic bottles or other suitable containers.
Correct collection of breast milk
You can collect milk at any time, but it is advisable not to do this before you need to leave somewhere. The mother is worried about separation and this can provoke a decrease in milk, then it will not be possible to store it for future use. In other cases, there are no restrictions. Pumping should be done when the baby has already eaten, the mother is he althy, and the freezer containers are available. How can you freeze breast milk? In baby bottles, food plastic bags, glass jars, without filling them to the end so that they do not burst in the freezer after the expansion of the liquid. All containers must be hermetically sealed.
How to pump properly to collect milk for freezing?
As quickly as possible, this work can be done with a breast pump. The process itself is short, less traumatic than hand pumping. But there are women who are more comfortable doing this procedure manually. The chosen method has no effect on the result. How to freeze breast milk is also not a fundamental question - it’s convenient for anyone.
The main thing is to wash your hands, sterilize the dishes for storage, if they are reusable (there are special sterile bags forcollecting milk), and the breast pump itself. For sterilization, you can use a microwave or boiling. It is advisable to express milk immediately into the container in which it will be stored. By following these simple steps, you can freeze breast milk without any problems. Feedback from mothers is very convincing evidence that this is a very practical method.
Determine the packaging - put stocks in the freezer
Some companies produce disposable bags that are designed just for storing breast milk. They are compact and do not take up much space. If it is hard plastic or glass, then the containers should be designed for baby food. Do not forget about labeling. It is very important to indicate the date when the milk was frozen. How to freeze breast milk is up to you. Plastic and glass can be reused, and the bags will have to be thrown away.
Special attention should be paid to freezing and storage
You need to freeze raw materials in small portions, because after defrosting everything that the child does not eat will need to be poured out. You can make blanks of different sizes and use if necessary for supplementary feeding or give as a full portion. It may be that you need to freeze breast milk after refrigeration. In this case, it is better to freeze it in the same container in which it stood in the refrigerator for no more than a day. If it needs to be poured into another container, then a sterile container should be used. Also, before freezing, you need to make sure that it has not deteriorated, has a pleasant smell and color.
When freezing, all liquids expand, this must be remembered when filling containers and leave free space. You should not add fresh milk to frozen, even if there is room left in the container, because fresh will defrost part of the frozen and, when re-frozen, it will lose its beneficial properties. Different portions of milk collected on the same day can be stored in one container. These are the basic tips on how to properly freeze breast milk at home in bags, glass and plastic containers.
Features of storing breast milk in the freezer
When it comes to freezing ordinary foods, you may not be so scrupulous, but baby food should be taken with all responsibility.
In different sources you can find some differences, here you should pay attention to why milk is stored. There are preparations for premature babies, but there are simply in milk cans. But even there there may be differences due to the fact that different refrigerators are used. At home, you can follow simple recommendations and successfully store a valuable product for 6 or more months.
Some valuable tips for caring moms
If you decide to freeze breast milk in a container, try to remove excess air from it. You need to store all containers closer to the back wall, because if you place them on the door or close to the door, then eachonce the freezer is opened, the product will be exposed to temperature differences.
If feeding is supposed to be a prepared product during the day or the next day, then it is better not to freeze it. When stored in the refrigerator, it will retain more useful substances.
If the product has already been defrosted, it cannot be refrozen. If necessary, it can still be kept in the refrigerator, but not more than a day.
How to defrost milk properly to keep all the nutrients in it?
If you plan to feed the baby with blanks, then it is better to get one container in advance and transfer it to the refrigerator so that thawing takes place gradually. If there is no time to wait, then you can hold the bag or container under a stream of warm water. Next, you need to bring the dish in a water bath to the desired temperature. Mother's milk has the same temperature as the body, so before feeding the baby, you need to check the degree of its heating on the wrist.
Heated milk that the child did not finish should be poured out, there is no point in storing it anymore.
You can't use a microwave to warm up, otherwise all your painstaking work on harvesting and storing will go down the drain. Most useful substances will simply be destroyed by exposure to radio waves.
As the child grows up, his needs for the amount of different vitamins and minerals change, and the composition of the milk toois changing. Therefore, the ideal option would be to quickly use the blanks so that the baby gets fresh portions. But if you managed to save a lot of milk until the time when normal feeding is no longer possible, then such reserves will be worth their weight in gold. No infant formula can replace breastfeeding.
What does fresh milk look like and what happens to it when it is frozen?
Fresh milk has a pleasant sweet smell. May be white or slightly creamy in color, depending on the fat content. Has a sweetish taste. You can choose at your discretion how to freeze breast milk at home, but after defrosting, a specific smell may appear. This is normal and does not affect the quality of the product. In rare cases, it happens that because of this smell, the baby refuses to drink it.
After expressing, the liquid looks homogeneous. If you leave it like that, then after a while you will notice that it has exfoliated: the fatty part rises up, and the liquid remains at the bottom. If you shake it in a bowl, it will become homogeneous again.
If you suddenly find that the product has a sour taste or smell, it must be thrown away. This indicates that the blank is gone, you can’t give it to the baby.
Features of short-term storage of the product
Short-term storage of milk is possible even without freezing, but its period is significantly reduced. This situation can arise if you need to leave for just a few hours. Then it is better to express milk immediately into the bottle from which the baby will befeed.
The bottle will need to be tightly closed, if necessary, put in the refrigerator. Raw meat or fish, raw vegetables with fruits or medicines should not be nearby.
