 Dr.
Ruth Lawrence, professor, author and researcher, serves on
Breastfeeding.com's medical advisory board. Dr. Lawrence is
a professor of pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology at the
University of Rochester. She is also director of the
university's Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center.
Dr. Lawrence has answered many of your questions on pumping and
storing breastmilk. Look for more of Dr. Lawrence's answers
to your questions next week!
Dr. Lawrence is the author of
"Breastfeeding: A Guide
for the Medical Profession," the standard medical reference
book for breastfeeding. She was one of eight doctors who
helped the American Academy of Pediatrics draft its
1997 policy
statement supporting breastfeeding.
 Can I 're-use' pumped
breastmilk?
| NAME: |
Sherri |
| BABY'S NAME: |
Kelsey |
| BABY'S AGE: |
3 weeks |
I
am pumping now because the baby will not latch on. My question
is if she acts like she's hungry I warm up about 2 ounces, she
may drink .5 oz then fall asleep. Can I save the remaining
breast milk or is it considered "no good" and must be
dumped. In addition, if the milk has been warmed up but not used
and the baby goes to sleep can it be put back in the
refrigerator to be reheated and used later?
Thank you.
Whether
you can use the remaining milk really depends on how long it
sits around. Once the baby takes the bottle, there is a certain
amount of saliva that gets in the bottle that creates bacteria
and gets saliva enzymes in the milk. This is why it isn't good
to give milk that has been sitting around. But, if it sits for
only a half hour or so, this is fine.
If the milk is warmed up but not used, it is OK to reheat the
milk once. But the more you reheat the more you decrease some of
the valuable immunologic properties of the milk. Human milk is
liquid gold, so we don't want to throw any more away than we
absolutely have to. You may try making smaller bottles (say 1
ounce rather than 2 ounces) if your baby consistently seems to
drink less. You can always give a second bottle at one feeding
if she still seems hungry.
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