Sterilising, drying and storing pots for freezing expressed breast milk

[INeedNewShoes]

I'm a bit baffled as to what I need to do to freeze expressed breast milk safely so I'm hoping for advice from seasoned expressers!

I've been expressing since the early days to top baby up (as she is 2nd percentile and the medics insisted that I top up each feed and I didn't want to use formula.)

I have been washing the pump, storage pots and feeding bottles and then sterilising them in an electric steam steriliser, then feeding the expressed milk to her within a couple of days. For this purpose I have happily used pots that were sterilised then stored in a closed box for a few days.

I will be returning to work two evenings per week shortly and want to leave a bottle for the childminder to give baby so I'm starting to think about stocking up some breast milk in the freezer.

Now I'm not sure if the pots for freezing expressed milk need to be freshly sterilised?

Also I read not to dry the inside of bottles/pots but if I don't they end up full of water (condensation from the steam) which I don't really want to dilute the milk with. Is it ok to use clean kitchen roll to dry them with, or is there a way I can air dry them still keeping them sterile?

Any help much appreciated! Baby is 3 months old if that makes any difference.

[arbrighton]

You won't be able to dry with kitchen roll (even 'clean' is nowhere near sterile) and air drying defeats the point too.

You can get storage bags to transfer into, which take up less space in the freezer etc and are sterile ready for you.

BTW, the volume of water left from the steam is minimal- give them a good shake as you lift out the steriliser.

[arbrighton]

And you can store in the fridge up to 6 days if kept at the back, in the coldest part- just make sure it's clear what's oldest to use first etcetc

[troodiedoo]

I don't sterilise, just put bottles and pump bits in dishwasher. Dry with a clean tea towel. Keep in a big lunch box.

I use pre sterilised breast milk bags for milk storage in fridge or freezer. Get them from boots.

[troodiedoo]

I think nhs site recommends air drying. I don't do that because lot of flies about.

[INeedNewShoes]

Thanks for all the responses!

I'll stop drying everything.

What about storing sterilised pots - can you store sterilised pots in a clean box or do you always have to sterilise stuff directly before using it?

[MoHunter]

I would just shake the pots dry then use them immediately, I feel if you air dry them that is leave them open they may get contaminated? A tiny amount of sterile water remnants shouldn't hurt baby?

However when I froze BM for my DS1 I used the Lansinoh pre-sterilised breastmilk freezer bags, found them so convenient (just more pricey as single use I guess).

[McCheese]

You don't need to sterilise for breast milk. Just wash in mild washing up liquid, rinse and allow to air dry
Breast milk is good for 6 hours st room temp, 24 hours in fridge and 6 months in freezer (or 3 can't remember)