Do you need to reheat breastmilk?

[babyonboard]

sorry if this is a silly question, but it makes sense that you would warm up expressed brerastmilk, however i have been told by a few people that you shouldn't, you should just let it reach room temperature.
I haven't started yet..am only 32 weeks pregnant.. but I plan to breastfeed and want dp to share the nighttime feeds. we have been given a nifty little gadget that chills the milk in one compartment and then is a bottle warmer too which we can keep in our bedroom to make life easier.

dont have to but you can

okay, so it would say be fine to take a bottle out and about and feed the baby with it?, but surely at night you can't just leave it out in the room?

They tell you that b/milk keeps for 24 hours at room temp so if you expressed that day,could be ok.
If I had a (cold) bottle in the fridge,warmed it with a jug of hot water.

You might find it less faff to just stick a boob in at night and let dh do one in the day or early evening so that you can go out/have a long bath or whatever!

its ideal if your baby can take milk at roomtemp, can save lots of hassle when out and about and theres no where ideal to reheat

a jug of hot water is the best way to heat milk

lol at moondogs "stick the boob in"

He he..guess i am yet to see!
No doubt I will take care of things during the week as he will be working so i don't mind getting up..but then I am sure even at weekends the baby will wake me up first and getting DP awake and alert enough to do a feed will be more hassle than just getting on with it..

never have, just defrosted it. can't see the point of bottle warmers

Quite bob!
Why not lie/sit down with the baby and then give him orders re chores from the comfort of your bed/armchair? That's what I did and enjoyed every minute.
Ds 15 months now and don't too much loafing around any more,believe you me.

... even better if you can get them used to EBM straight from the fridge! .

When I started giving ds EBM (at about 2 weeks or so, as he wasn't gaining weight), initially I would "warm" it nominally using hot water - but very quickly sttrated giving it to him cold!

He was very unfussy about how he got the milk and what temperature it was (just not very good at taking it direct out of my boob - altohugh we did eventually get that sorted!).

Yes! well we have agreed he will take over with the laundry (we are trying washable nappies so will be a handful!)..and we plan to buy a dishwasher and tumble dryer..despie the costs and the general badness for energy efficiency, i think any time i can have free for the baby is best!
Fortunately he is a huge fan of cooking too..he finds it the best way to wind down after work, slaving over the stove with glass of wine in hand..hehehe

And..I did wonder about why the milk had to be warm for a baby . I assumed it was easier to digest, or just because they are used to it being body temperature straight from the breast?

i'd imagine it stems from the whole bottlefeeding thing

sounds good bob. Washables aren't too much of a hassle anyway.

BoB - I think it just depends how your baby will take it - warm, room temp or fridge cold. Obviously they are used to it at body temp from the breast, but some babies are more fussy than others! I believe that EBM keeps much longer than formula, which you need to keep in the fridge and discard once you have heated it or 24 hours after making it up.The La Leche website has all sorts of useful info

thanks kristina i'll look at that site..
I am pretty confident with the washables..all our friends/family etc are giving us advice on that one too saying it's too much work, but I don't think so..would be worse having to lug rubbish out down three flights of stairs all the time because of smelly and bulky disposables imo!
plus they look so much nicer than disposables!

Thanks for starting this thread BoB! I'll be expressing for the first time once bubs is born so I'm keen to be well-informed before I start. TBH I hadn't even thought that far ahead.

LOL at Moondog! I plan to get DP to give the EBM early in the morning so I can have a bit of a lie in but it'll be boobs all night until then. Its true that mums wake up anyway, even if DP/DH feeding in the night so you don't feel the benefit. I found it quite easy to lie on my side with DS snuggled in BFing - I often slept once he latched on anyway.

Must point out here - I know MW's say you shouldn't let baby sleep with you in your bed but I couldn't help it! I was so knackered I fell asleep at one feed then woke 2 hours later to find him commencing the next feed by himself! Neither had budged an inch. I did take the legs off the bed & rolled up a towel behind his back for safety after that, & continued that way. I'm not overweight, a smoker or drugtaker so I felt the risk was minimal.

Sorry for changing the subject, BoB!

The heating thing stems from the fact that babies are used to breastmilk being at body temperature, so a little warmer than room temperature. However, ds quickly became accustomed to room temperature. You can safely leave bm out at room temperature for about 6 hours as long as it has not been frozen first (then just 1 hour). It was lovely at night as I could express, then leave it for dh to do a night feed when I had to go to work the next day.

krama..good to hear!
and no doubt I'll start a new thread regarding washables etc..
my friend says she spent the first few weeks sleeping on the sofa with babe firmly attached, supported by a v-pillow. apparantly the baby was very clngly at night and wouldnt settle so this was easier for her as she was worried about having her in bed with them. worked for her..but ebveryone has different experiences!

Jabberwocky..is that 6 hours directly after expressing or can it be refrigerated and then left out for that long?

After expressing or refrigeration, I did it both ways. I just found the guide that came with my pump.
It says:

Room temp = 10 hours (I erred on the side of caution earlier)

In the fridge = 8 days

freezer compartment in the fridge = 2 weeks

in a freezer with a seperate door = 3 - 4 months

in a seperate deep freezer = 6+ months (I have done this)

previously frozen bm = 24 hours

I pumped for 10 months with ds and did all of the above with no problems.

HTH