Warming Breastmilk – 3 Easy Steps!
Moms value every drop of breast milk that they produce. This is because their breast milk is crucial for the survival of their precious babies. Moms need to know how to warm up breast milk as this will allow them to effectively store and serve great-tasting breast milk to their babies.
Here are what you need to know about warming up your milk:
Why Is It Important To Warm Breast Milk?
Warming up the milk before serving will make it more palatable to the baby because natural breast milk is actually warm as it flows out of the mother’s breast.
Moms need to know how to warm frozen breast milk simply because if the milk is not heated properly, the baby might not like its taste. If the breast milk is heated too much, the nutrients within the milk will also be destroyed.
Things You Need To Prepare Before Hand
Freezing breast milk is ideal for moms who are always on the go. To help you thaw it, and to help the baby get warm, delicious milk, here is what you need to prepare:
A refrigerator – You cannot leave the milk in room temperature and you should never microwave it.- The purpose of this is not to keep the milk cold, but to help the milk gradually increase in temperature. You can also use cool running water to help the milk thaw faster.
A refrigerator – You cannot leave the milk in room temperature and you should never microwave it.
Disposable milk bags – This will contain the breast milk after pumping.- If you do not have one, you can use a sterile, sealable container. You can also use BPA-free plastic containers or bottles.
Disposable milk bags – This will contain the breast milk after pumping.
Automatic milk warmer – Milk warmers will allow you to automatically increase the temperature of the milk. You can put it inside frozen, chilled, or thawed, and it will provide you with warm milk for your baby after a few minutes.- We recommend products like the Born Free Tru-Temp Bottle Warmer and Cooler so you can warm milk for your baby with ease. If you do not have one, you can use a metal pot, water, a cooking thermometer, and a stove.
Automatic milk warmer – Milk warmers will allow you to automatically increase the temperature of the milk. You can put it inside frozen, chilled, or thawed, and it will provide you with warm milk for your baby after a few minutes.
Baby’s milk bottle – This will be used to store the warm milk for baby’s use.- You can also use a plastic container with a medicine dropper if you do not have one.
Baby’s milk bottle – This will be used to store the warm milk for baby’s use.
Rags – You can use a rag to help you hold the warm bottle and also to limit water spillage and mess.- You can use a table napkin if this is not available.
Rags – You can use a rag to help you hold the warm bottle and also to limit water spillage and mess.Follow These Steps So You Can Properly Warm Up Milk For Your Baby
Step 1: Thawing or Defrosting
Use the disposable milk bag, the refrigerator, or their alternatives for this step. Freshly pumped breast milk has to be kept in a sterile bag, scalded, and then frozen completely.
When it is time to use it, you can get a few bags of milk and then put it below in the refrigerator. This will allow the milk to thaw slowly. Let the milk sit in the refrigerator overnight. If it is to be used right away, put the bag under cool running water, then in lukewarm water.
Step 2: Warming the milk
You need to use the milk bottle, the bottle warmer, or their alternatives for this step.
After the breast milk has been thawed, you should try to transfer it into the milk bottle for easy feeding after the milk has been warmed. When using the milk warmer, you can put water into the device, turn it on, and put the baby’s milk bottle inside to start the warming process.
Otherwise, you can start by heating water in a metal pot on the stove. Let the water boil and then let it cool down for a few minutes afterward As soon as the water begins to cool down from hot to warm, you can put the bottle in the pot. Make sure that the pot is no longer on the stove.
Step 3: Serving the milk to the baby
Use the milk bottle and the rag, or their alternatives for this step. You should also use the thermometer.
Make sure that the milk has been warmed evenly, and that there are no frozen lumps of milk inside the bottle. The ideal temperature of the milk is around 98.6 F / 37 C. Test it first by putting a few drops of the warmed milk on the back of your hand so you will know if it is not too hot.
If the milk has reached the ideal temperature, you can take it out of the pot or warmer, wipe it dry with the rag, and let the baby consume it.
Conclusion
You can thaw a couple of bags of frozen milk in the morning inside the refrigerator for the tomorrow’s use. Use products like the Born Free Tru-Temp Bottle Warmer and Cooler for your convenience.
Never refreeze thawed milk simply because the milk’s antibacterial properties might have been decreased upon thawing, and because the milk might already contain a lot of bacteria. You should also never give your baby a milk bottle that is too hot as your baby’s skin and mouth can easily get burned.
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