If you have recently had a baby and are choosing to breastfeed, you know that nursing means that you have to make advanced plans for times you aren't going to be around for feedings, such as if you have to go back to work, if you want to go out for a date, or just go out in general. You may also want to have extra breastmilk around for emergencies or other reasons. If you decide that pumping and storing breastmilk is something that you are going to want to do, you are going to need to make sure that you know how to store it so that you don't waste that breastmilk.
Use Clean Storage Containers
You want to make sure that the precious commodity that is your breastmilk is stored safely and without exposure to bacteria. To do that, you want to make sure that you always use sterile containers when you pump to store milk in. You can use reusable containers, just make sure that they go through a dishwasher on hot. That will kill off anything on the container, and if you seal it up when it comes out of the dishwasher, then nothing will get inside the container. Another option is to go with breastmilk storage bags. These are bags that you can put in your pump's collection container. The milk will go right into those bags and you can seal them up and put them in the refrigerator or freezer.
Make Sure to Date and Label
When you are storing your breast milk, you want to make sure that you list the date on which you pumped it. If you use a breastmilk storage bag, there is a space that you use a pen and write the date on directly on the package. If you are using a reusable storage container like a bottle, then you might want to use something like a piece of masking tape that you can write on. There are lots of good reasons to label the date on your stored breastmilk. One is so that you can use the oldest milk first. You always want to make sure that you put the most recent milk behind the older stuff.
If you are choosing to breastfeed your child, you want to make sure that you plan ahead as necessary. Make sure you prepare by storing your expressed breastmilk safely and securely. Visit a site like lacti-cups.com for more help.
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