can someone answer a possibly stupid question about expressed milk?

[Piccalilli2]

Trying to get dd2 to take a bottle at the moment, which is not going well and the constant chucking out of unused breast millk makes me want to cry. Anyway, what I'm hoping someone can tell me is: if I warm up ebm which has been in the fridge, how soon do I have to use it? Is it within the hour, like for formula?

since breastmilk contains antibodies, etc that formula doesn't it is generally considered safe to reheat it twice. The other option is not to refrigerate it at all, and it is fine for 7/8 hours. So you could express in the morning and keep trying throughout the day.

Also, have you tried getting somebody else to give her the bottle, or giving the milk in a cup?

i always used the same rule - ie 1 hour.
the temp is perfect for the bacteria to go wild.
don't warm up so much?

omg chops - really?

things have changed since i last expressed...

You don't have to use it up within the hour as EBM contains good bacteria(?) that kill the bad bacteria (yes those are very scientific terms!) One way round the problem is to make up several very small bottles and either only heat them one at a term, serve straight from the fridge if your DD will take it like that, or do as chops suggests and not refrigerate. EBM is safe for 24 hours (LLL) at room temperature. I exclusively expressed for my DS and after the first couple of months I never put it in the fridge unless there was excess left over at the end of the day.

you could decant little bits into a bottle and only warm up that - or even try feeding it cold.

I also left mine out at room temperature for hours (didn't refrigerate eg if I expressed before bed to use for a night feed (mine were totally ebm fed because the little blighters wouldn't latch) - I just left it on the shelf in the bedroom.

Thanks! Not putting it in the fridge seems to be the way to go then, will try that with the next batch. We've tried dad giving the bottle, it's grandad's turn next! She flatly refuses to take the bottle from anyone with boobs. I'm only putting an ounce or so in the bottle at any one time but we're still chucking a lot out.

how old is she ? can you use the unused milk to make up food ? That is what I did with DS1 who flatly refused milk from any other source but me directly (and this was the kid who took a month to latch on - from one extreme to the other with him !).

Somehow chucking expressed milk is soul destroying - when you went to so much effort to make it.

I knocked over a 9oz bottle once - just as I was putting the lid on after expressing it - all over the bed too. I just sat and howled - and then had to change the bedding and dig out the formula.

Hi

I use my warmed up milk for 1 hour or just keep giving smaller bits as to not waste it.

Just CallMeDaisy x