Philips AVENT shares their expressing expertise when it comes to breastfeeding a newborn.
Practical expressing tips
- Before expressing, wash your hands thoroughly and make sure that all equipment for expressing is washed, rinsed and sterilised.
- Express approximately the amount the baby takes at a feed.
- Make sure that the storage container is covered or sealed and labelled with the current date.
- Place in the body of the refrigerator where it is colder, not in the door.
- Refrigerate breast milk for no longer than 48 hours, after which time it must be used, frozen or discarded.
- Breast milk may be kept frozen for up to three months. Once the milk has been thawed, it can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. It should never be refrozen.
- Breast milk should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator, or under warm water.
- To warm breast milk, place in a bottle warmer or under a warm tap. Shake the bottle to mix, as the fat content may become separated.
Keep your milk fresh
- Always discard any milk that is left over at the end of a feed.
- Do not add fresh milk to previously expressed milk in the freezer. If you are storing milk in the fridge to add to during the day, only add milk which has been expressed into a sterile container and cooled for a few minutes under a cold tap. Milk like this can only be stored for a maximum of 48 hours.
- Transport expressed breast milk in an insulated container with an ice pack.
- Fir freezer storage, your freezer should be cold enough to keep ice cream hard.
- Milk can also be hand expressed, ask you health care practitioner for advice.
Storing your breast milk
Philips AVENT provides mothers with a convenient alternative when it comes to keeping their breast milk fresh. The Breast Milk Storage Bags provide safe and secure storage for the precious content.
Each bag can hold 180ml of breast milk and is conveniently pre-sterilized for immediate use. The bag is leak-proof due to the double zipper seal and can be stored in the fridge or freezer. It is also sturdily designed to stand up on its own and to lay flat for easy storage. The bags wide opening means filling the bag and pouring are easy tasks.
The Breast Milk Storage bag has ‘sealed and sterilised’ as well as ‘pour here’ icons clearly marked for ease of use. Each bag has a write on tab for mothers to add the name, volume, time and date of when the milk was stored; this also eliminates the risk of puncture. The bags should not be used in the microwave and ought to be disposed of after use.
Philips AVENT cares about the environment and society at large and strongly supports eco-design of products that is why these handy bags are made of BPA free material.
About the Author: There are 25 bags in the Philips AVENT Breast Milk Storage packs which are available at Baby City at a recommended retail price of R 167.97 (incl VAT).
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