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Pumping and Storage

Home > Breastfeeding Home > Pumping and Storage

• Pumping
• Storage of Breast Milk
• Additional Resources

Pumping

If you must be away from your baby, it will be important to remove milk during the times your baby normally would feed to make sure you will continue to make enough milk for him or her. Milk can be removed through a breast pump or by hand. When pumping or hand expressing milk, you can help your milk to start flowing by having a picture of your baby, a baby blanket, or other piece of your baby's clothing that has your baby's scent on it close by. You also can apply a warm, but not hot, moist compress to the breast, gently massage the breasts, or sit quietly and think of a relaxing setting. It is best to wash your hands before pumping your breast milk and to make sure the area where you are pumping is also clean. After each pumping, you can refrigerate your milk, place it in a cooler or insulated cooler pack, or freeze it in small (2 to 3 ounce) batches for the baby to be fed later. You can keep germs from getting into the milk by washing your pumping equipment with soap and water and letting it air dry.

Hospital-grade electric pumps can be rented from a lactation consultant at a local hospital or from a breastfeeding organization. These pumps are for establishing milk supply or for special situations in which the mother needs a higher-powered pump.

Storage of Breast Milk

Learn more about BPA and baby bottles from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Safely prepare and store breast milk. Use clean containers. Breast milk can be stored in glass or hard BPA-free plastic bottles with tight fitting lids and milk storage bags, which are sterile and made for freezing human milk. Do not use disposable bottle liners to store breast milk.

After pumping:

• It is best to refrigerate or chill milk right after it is expressed.
• Label the date on the storage container and always use the oldest dated milk first.
• Stored breast milk tends to separate in its container into two parts, what looks like cream rising to the top and then lighter colored milk. Human milk can look clear, bluish, yellowish, or brownish. Gently swirl the container to mix the cream back into the rest of the milk. Shaking the milk is not recommended as it can cause a breakdown of some of the milk's valuable components.

When freezing milk:

• Wait to tighten bottle caps or lids until the milk is completely frozen.
• Try to leave an inch or so from the milk to the top of the container because it will expand when freezing.
• Freeze the milk in small amounts, such as 2 to 4 ounce servings, to reduce waste if the baby does not finish all of it.

Thawing and warming up milk:

• Breast milk does not necessarily need to be warmed. Some moms prefer to take the chill off and serve at room temperature. Some moms serve it cold.
• If you want to warm the milk, never put a bottle or bag of breast milk in the microwave. Microwaving creates hot spots that could burn your baby and damage the components of the milk.
• Hold the bottle or frozen bag of milk under cool and then warm water for a few minutes until it thaws, then warm to a comfortable temperature.
• You also can allow frozen milk to thaw to room temperature on a counter or other clean surface.
• Or, heat a pan of water on the stove, remove from the heat and place the container into the warm water.
• Swirl the milk and test the temperature by dropping some on your wrist. It should be comfortably warm.
• Cool fresh milk in the refrigerator before adding it to milk that has been frozen.

¹Source: LaLeche League International (2008) Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (2004)

²Source: LaLeche League International and Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine

Additional Resources

Publications

1.   Breastfeeding: Recommendations - Proper Handling and Storage of Human Milk — The CDC provides guidelines for how to properly store fresh human breast milk for full term infants, based on research conducted on the safety of breast milk at different temperatures over time. This fact sheet also provides information on how to prepare and thaw breast milk for later use.

   http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/handling_breastmilk.htm

2. Breast Milk: How to Pump and Store it (Copyright © AAFP) — This publication explains when you should start pumping, how often and for how long you should pump, as well as how much milk you should expect to get. It also provides guidelines for storing breast milk.

   http://familydoctor.org/828.xml

3. Breastfeeding - Expressing Milk (Copyright © AAP) — This publication explains how to manually express milk and gives suggestions on selecting and using a breast pump. It also provides guidelines for storing breast milk in the refrigerator or freezer and thawing frozen milk.

   http://www.aap.org/pubed/ZZZRYZIYKRD.htm?&sub_cat=1

4. Common Concerns When Storing Human Milk (Copyright © LLLI) — This article details specific instructions for breast milk storage, as well as the visual characteristics and odor of human milk.

   http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBJulAug98p109.html

5. Human Milk Storage Information (Copyright © LLLI) — This fact sheet provides storage guidelines for breast milk. It explains what temperature to store breast milk at, what to store it in, and what to do with frozen milk, and how to thaw or reheat it.

   http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/milkstorage.html

Organizations

1.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS
2.   Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, (WIC) USDA
3.   Womenshealth.gov, OWH, HHS
4. American Academy of Pediatrics
5. Breastfeeding Basics
6. Familydoctor.org
7. International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA)
8. La Leche League International
9. National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
10. World Alliance For Breastfeeding Action

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated February 27, 2009.