How To Care For Expressed Milk

You will definitely want to freeze some of your milk away for future use. Always freeze in bags, not bottles. If you freeze in a bottle there is a much higher likelihood that the milk will get freezer burned. Milk frozen in bags can be stored for 6-12 months in a good freezer.

You can store fresh milk for 5 hours at room temperature OR 5 days in the refrigerator OR 6 months in the freezer (12 months if you have a deep-freeze). Keep in mind that everyone’s milk spoils at a different time. For me, I could only keep it in the refrigerator for 4 days, but I could use milk from the freezer that was over 12 months old without a problem. Do not re-freeze thawed milk!

So how do you know if the milk is spoiled?
Your nose is your best tool- a funny smell is a sure sign. Also, if baby refuses to eat may also be an indicator should your sniffer fail you!

Have questions about breastfeeding or have tips of your own? Let us know!

Official Blog Launch With Prizes To Be Won

It’s official, A Mother’s Boutique has launched its very own blog. Mommy News Blog is all about sharing our breastfeeding, maternity, and parenting news and views with moms on the go. Even though we are in our first weeks of birth we still have some great content of tips, advice, and even some information about new products over at our sister site- A Mother’s Boutique.

So would you love a chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate to A Mother’s Boutique? How about five chances to win? Yes, that’s right over the next five weeks in the spirit of the holidays and to celebrate our new blog we are giving away five gift certificates to our boutique store. There will be a new winner drawn every week see below for the dates.

Ways To Enter For A $50 Gift Certificate

Leave 3 comments anywhere on this blog- Comments need to be more than just “That’s Great” or “I Agree” (and your updates telling us what you have done to qualify for the contest do not count toward the required three comments to enter the contest)

Blog About Us – love one of our articles or even this contest? Don’t forget to post a comment here linking us to the post

Tweet Tweet- After you ‘follow us’ tweet about any post including this contest and of course don’t forget to post here letting us know you did so

Facebook – let your facebook friends know all about this contest and the great tips we have to offer. You can even become a fan! Don’t forget to leave us a comment here telling us that you sent a message to your facebook friends and/or became a fan of our boutique

Spread the News – feel free to add us to your blogroll or even add a button link to your sidebar or links page. Don’t have a website or blog? That’s okay email your friends and just CC us [contest@mommynewsblog.com] on the email. We will NOT contact your friends or add them to any lists

Whew- That is a lot of ways to enter! Don’t forget to leave comments on this post letting us know you completed these different tasks. Of course you can complete the tasks more then once using different content over the next five weeks to increase your chances at winning one of the weekly gift certificates! Keep in mind you can only win once.

1st Weekly drawing is December 7th – WINNER is Amy Thompson – Congrats Amy!
2nd Weekly Drawing December 12 – WINNER is Tiffany (Life on the Road: Home Business, Homeschool and Cats!) – Congrats Tiffany!

3rd Weekly Drawing December 19th – WINNER is Ruth N. – Congrats Ruth!
4th Weekly Drawing December 26th – WINNER is Jennifer (my life with four kids) – Congrats Jennifer!
5th Weekly Drawing January 4th – WINNER is Kristin B. – Congrats Kristin!

Breastmilk Storage Tips

For those that pump in order to keep up our milk supply or because we work away from our children, breastmilk storage is always a concern. How long will it keep? What happens if I set it on the desk and forgot about it for an hour?

Here are some quick storage time tips:

• Room Temperature- 5-10 hours
• Refrigerator- 4-5 days
• Regular Freezer- 3-6 months
• Deep Freezer- 6-12 months

Some breast milk will spoil more quickly than others – that is why a range of time is given in each category.  I could only store my milk for 3-4 days in the refrigerator, but it was fine after 12 months in the freezer. Don’t forget! Once frozen milk has been thawed you have 24 hours to use it before it needs to be tossed- even if you have it in the refrigerator.