How to pump breast milk and store them?

Hi mama! - freshly expressed breastmilk is good for 4 hours at room temperature, up to 4 days in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer. If it is frozen and thawed, then it should be consumed within 2 hours if you thawed to room temperature, and within 1 day if you thaw in the fridge. You can search up "breast milk storage rules"! - for storage, it is completely dependent on how you're setting up your schedule. No significant difference whether you store after every pump or end of day, just make sure that if you are accumulating breastmilk in a bottle that the first pump in that bottle is within the last 4 days. - storing in the fridge is for if you are accumulating to put into storage bags one shot or if you are planning to feed to baby soon. Freezer if you are creating an emergency stash / using for other purposes like milk bath in the future. - yes breastmilk will be solid when taken out of freezer. You can transfer frozen milk (solid) into the fridge one day before so that it's thawed, then transfer the cold milk (liquid) into a bottle and pop it into the bottle warmer within the next 24 hours for consumption (once it's warm need to consume within 2 hours). - dismantle all the parts of your breast pump, then just use a brush (either a silicone one or bottle brush from Dr browns / Philips Avent / Hegen) and gentle soap (I use Bzu Bzu if you need recommendations) to wash everything and then put all parts into the steriliser! If you look up your brand's manual, there should also be instructions on which parts need to / can be sterilised. - I personally sterilise after every use for hygienic reasons, but there are people who use the fridge hack where they put their unwashed pumps into a ziplock bag into fridge then just take out for next use and sterilise at least once a day (minimum). Note that this is for full term babies though! If your baby was born premature or with other medical conditions, consult your doctors! Typically it would mean you need to sterilise everything after every use as their immune system is a little more undeveloped. Hope this makes things clearer for you!!

This is what I did for mine. Just nice supply for the day - Pump into bottle directly > store in fridge > warm up directly. Oversupply - Pump into bottle > transfer to storage bag > freeze. I usually just freeze max 100ml each bags, regardless lesser than that (because I know it exceeds baby’s daily intake) I don’t like to wait till end of day to combine. The longer it is stored out of freezer, the stronger the smell as well. To defrost frozen bm (start with the oldest milk) 1) Bring down the night before, let it thaw in fridge. Transfer to bottle, put in warmer. 2) Thaw under running water, transfer to bottle, put in warmer. Wash Take out all the parts (including flange inserts), wash like how you wash your bottles. It’s up to your own preference, some people don’t have time so they pump and store the pump parts in the fridge (put in ziplock) to use for another 1-2 more pump sessions. I have 2 to rotate so I wash after every use then pop in the sterilizer. Hope this helps!

To add on to the other mommas' answers - store your bm deep in the fridge/freezer, not near the door - dont forget the date you pumped. Jot it down in marker on the plastic - since we still forget easily, best to faster transfer into storage bags into the freezer rather than keep in the bottle in the fridge. I've wasted a lot of milk cos I've forgotten about them and they went stale after a few days 😭

Do note that the longer the bm is kept, it may smell unpleasant, though it’s harmless, but baby may reject it. So my advice is, try not to make a huge stash and keep them for too long.

hope this article will help https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/pregnancy-feeding-your-baby-breastfeeding