Breast milk is believed to be healthiest food for infants. It has natural components that prevent the child from various diseases. Generally, it is advised to give fresh breast milk to child as much as possible, but many times there are circumstances that call for moms to store their milk and give their child that stored breast milk.

Reheating the Breast Milk

 

There are times when working moms need to go to their work place or are suffering from some physical problems or it is required to monitor the feeds of the child and in these cases breast milk can be stored to feed the child. Now, the question is that can the breast milk be reheated? Read on to find out.

Points to be Considered while Reheating the Breast Milk:

Well, yes! You may reheat the breast milk before giving it to the baby. However, you need to keep the following things in mind:

  • Breast milk should not be reheated more than twice as this would lead to developing bacteria in it which of course is not safe for infants.
  • You must not reheat the milk in the microwave. You must also ensure that you don’t reheat it directly on the stove. The proper way of reheating the breast milk is to take some warm water and place the bowl or glass of milk in it. You must see to it that the water is just warm and not boiling hot.
  • As mentioned above, though it is fine to reheat the breast milk twice however you must understand that the reheated breast milk would not be as healthy as the fresh breast milk. Every time you reheat this nutritional mother’s milk it loses a part of its immunologic properties. So if possible try feeding your baby with fresh milk as much as possible.
  • Another important thing that needs to be kept in mind, if you want to reheat and use the breast milk again is that you must keep this milk in the refrigerator within half an hour. If you keep it out for a longer duration then the bacteria may begin to form because of the saliva that goes into it while feeding the baby.
  • You must also shake the container properly before reheating the milk. This is because when you store breast milk in the fridge, the fats in the milk separate from it. Thus, you must shake it properly to mix it.
  • Needless to say, that the breast milk you intend to reheat to feed your little one should be stored in a clean and hygienic bottle for his/ her safety.
  • Re-heating breast milk and freezing the same milk again is not at all advisable. The bags that are used to store the milk should be discarded and the bottles that are used to store the milk should be cleaned and rinsed with soap and water perfectly for further use.
  • Just as the other milk, breast milk also develops a foul smell if it spoils. So it is advisable to smell it once before or even after you reheat it to check if it is fine or not.

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