Is it okay for babies to eat frozen breast milk?

Generally, a mother's breast milk is sufficient to sustain the baby's diet, but some pregnant mothers have very little breast milk due to physical reasons, which is not enough for the baby. Some mothers have a lot of breast milk, so much that their babies can't even finish it, but the breast milk is swollen and it's very uncomfortable. Many people choose to squeeze out the breast milk and put it in a fresh-keeping bag, then put it in the refrigerator, and take it out when the baby wants to drink it. So is it good for babies to drink frozen breast milk frequently?

Fresh breast milk is the best food for babies, which is beyond doubt. But what if breast milk is refrigerated or frozen? Will it be no longer suitable for babies due to the loss of nutrients?

A study divided donated fresh breast milk into groups and stored them at -20°C for 1, 3, 6, and 9 months, as well as refrigerated for 72 hours and then frozen at -20°C for 1-9 months.

The final conclusion is that the decrease in the pH value of breast milk is related to the total number of bacteria, while the main nutrients and immune activity components are not affected. Furthermore, whether or not refrigeration occurs before storage has little effect, so these data support freezing and refrigeration of breast milk for up to 9 months.

Some studies also believe that freezing at -20℃ for 3 months will lead to a reduction in fat and calories, as well as a loss of vitamin C. But even so, the nutrients in breast milk are enough to maintain the growth and development of the baby. In other words, even though freezing destroys some of the components of breast milk, it is still the best food for babies and is better than formula.

However, it is not recommended to pump milk in the early stages of breastfeeding just to store food for later work. Breast milk is a magical food. Its nutritional content changes continuously as the baby grows, thus meeting the baby's growth needs at different stages. For example, the colostrum in the first few days contains more immune active ingredients, and the content of lactose and minerals in transitional milk changes. It is not until 4-6 weeks that breast milk is considered to be fully mature milk, and the composition at this time is basically stable.

So can I pump out and store milk at this time? This is also not recommended, because frequent nipple stimulation may cause harm to the mother herself, which is not worth the loss.

If you feel breast pain, can you extract the milk and store it? Generally speaking, mothers may experience breast engorgement in the early stages of breastfeeding when milk production has not yet stabilized. At this time, breast milk is not yet mature and its nutritional content is still changing. If you pump and store the milk and feed it to the baby later, not only will the nutritional content not meet the baby's needs at this time, but the constant stimulation of the breasts may cause the breasts to mistakenly think that the baby needs a larger amount, resulting in more milk secretion and more severe swelling and pain for the mother.

The correct approach is to extract a small amount of milk to relieve the pain when the bloating and pain are obvious. Slowly, when the mother's milk production and the baby's milk production reach a balance, there will be no more feeling of breast engorgement.

Although frozen breast milk is still the best food for babies, it will still destroy some of the active ingredients, so it is best to store it in the refrigerator, unless the breast milk must be stored for more than 3 days, then it should be frozen.

1. Storing breast milk in small batches

Regardless of whether breast milk is refrigerated or frozen, it should be stored in small batches, with 60-120 ml per portion recommended. Some storage bags are larger in size, ranging from 150ml, 180ml, to 240ml. They can also be adjusted according to the amount of milk the baby drinks each time, but they cannot exceed the maximum capacity of the storage bag (breast milk will increase in volume when frozen). The basic principle of storage is that the baby can finish a bag of milk at one time, or multiple bags of milk at one time, and try not to have any leftover milk to avoid waste.

2. Storage of breast milk at room temperature

Fresh breast milk at room temperature (19-26°C) can be stored for 4 hours. Although under ideal conditions, that is, if the breast pump and breast milk storage device are kept clean enough, breast milk can be stored for 6-8 hours, if you want to store it for a longer time, it is recommended to refrigerate it.