Baby

Storing Breast Milk: A Complete Guide to Breast Milk Storage

Storing breast milk can eliminate one of the few  perceived disadvantages of breast feeding, restriction. While a bottle-fed baby can be left with another family member while you’re free to do other things, a breast fed baby is tied to the breast, literally. By pumping, storing, and then bottling breast milk, your breast fed baby can be bottle fed. This is especially helpful for travel, work, attempting to increase breast milk supply, and/or any other situation that requires breast milk without your breast present.

This simple step-by-step guide on storing breast milk will cover the safety precautions, do’s and don’ts of, and the process of storing breast milk for later use.storing breast milk

Refrigeration of breast milk:

For short term storage of breast milk, refrigeration is the best route to take. Breast milk does need to be kept cold or like cow’s milk it will spoil. Breast milk does, however, spoil less quickly than regular milk due to the antibodies that are present within it. These same antibodies are what make breast milk so healthy for your baby.

Breast milk will keep three to four hours at room temperature and three to five days in the refrigerator. If you aren’t sure you’ll use the milk in this time period, it should be frozen.

Storing breast milk in the refrigerator:

-Pump and label the milk with a clear date including day, month, and year.

Once pumped, breast milk should be stored in sterile, air-tight containers. To prevent waste, use containers the average size of one feeding for your baby. This is typically two to four ounces.

-Place in refrigerator kept within the temperature ranges of 32 F to 39F (0-3.9 C) 

Don’t keep over five days at the most.

Freezing breast milk:

Freezing breast milk allows for longer-term storage and bulk reserves. This is useful in the event you become ill or require medication unsafe for breast feeding, because a stock pile of milk in the freezer allows breast feeding to continue safely during this time. As a note, if you will be feeding stored milk rather than breast feeding for any extended amount of time you will need to continue to pump and dump to retain milk supply. 
 
Freezing breast milk does destroy a certain amount of the antibodies within the milk, however, it’s still healthier than formula. Frozen breast milk will keep up to even a year if kept in the proper temperature range.

Storing breast milk in the freezer.

-Pump and label milk with a clear date.
When packaging breast milk for freezing be sure to leave some room at the top of the container as frozen liquids expand. You may find bags more convenient than plastic tubes, because they stack easily and are less prone to crack.

-Store the milk in the following temperature ranges for desired store times. 

*Two to four weeks: Can be kept in a freezer compartment within the refrigerator that has a temperature below 32 F.

*Three to four months: Can be kept in a freezer unit connected to a refrigerator with a temperature range below 0 F.

*Six months to one year: Must be stored in deep freeze. Temperature should remain below -19 F. Do not store in door.

Stored breast milk will have a different appearance than fresh milk. This is normal. The milk will separate and have layers. Thawed milk also sometimes tastes or smells soapy. This is due to the break down of fats and is also normal. Most babies don’t mind this. If milk smells rancid or you question whether its good, it’s better to throw it away.

Re-heating Breast Milk:

Frozen milk is best pulled 24 hours in advance and left to thaw in the refrigerator. It can also  be run under warm water to decrease thaw time.

Breast milk shouldn’t be reheated in the microwave. This is not only because the heating destroys some nutritional content of the milk, but because it creates hot spots and heats the milk unevenly. You can use a breast-milk warmer or simply warm some water on the stove and place the bottle within it to reheat the milk. Don’t bring breast milk up to the boiling point. Always be sure to test the temperature of the milk on the underside of your wrist before feeding it to your baby.

After the initial re-heating any remaining breast milk can be kept in the refrigerator for no longer than twenty four hours, it shouldn’t be refrozen and should be thrown away after the 24-hour mark.

Baby Poop Color Decoder: All About What Comes Out of Your Baby’s Bottom

You’re officially a parent when you’ve smelled your baby’s butt to see if they’ve pooped, and officially a smart parent if you’ve examined said poop before tossing it. Sound weird? What a baby puts out can tell you a whole lot about what’s going on inside if you know what to look for. Knowing what weird poop means can also relieve a lot of, “OMG My baby’s poop is purple!” freak-out episodes. I’m not saying to put your babies poop under a microscope, but just give it a quick look to note color and texture.

baby poop

A first poop:

Your baby’s first poop will likely look the weirdest. This poop is called Meconium and is made up of amniotic fluid, dead skin cells, and bile. Considering its ingredients, its no wonder meconium poop looks sort of like black tar. It will pass within the first 24 hours. A baby that does not pass meconium needs to be seen by a doctor right away, this could indicate an intestinal blockage.

All the colors of the rainbow:

Normal Baby Poop:

Breast fed baby poop: Yellow to Mustard
Formula bottle baby poop: Yellow to Peanut
Babies that have begun solid food: Yellow to Brown

Green Baby Poop:

Possible meanings: too much iron (may be almost black), stomach bug, allergy, jaundice, or hind/fore milk imbalance in breast fed babies (switching breasts before baby has gotten to hind milk).
Normally green poop is nothing to worry about, if it persists for an extended amount of time, you should consult your pediatrician.

Black Baby Poop: (Other than in the first 24 hours of life)
Indicates digested or old blood in stole. See a doctor.

Red/Bloody Baby poop:
Bleeding towards the anus (hence it’s not black). See a doctor if excessive. A small amount of fresh blood accompanied by hard poop may just be some minor tearing from constipation.

White/Pale Baby Poop:
Could indicate liver problems. See a doctor if persists.

Orange/Purple/Etc. Baby Poop:
Eating carrots? Prunes? Baby poop will often take on the color of their food. In the case of odd colored poops not mentioned above, try feeding them something else today and see if it changes. If odd colored poop persists after dietary changes and time, consult a doctor.

Consistency Counts:

Seedy/Curdled Baby Poop: Regular in breast feed babies.
Creamy/Peanut Buttery Baby Poop: Regular in bottle fed babies or babies that have began other foods.
Chunky/Thick/Pellet-like Baby Poop: Could indicate constipation. Try a water bottle a day, it will ease bowel movements. This should also be done if urine is very pungent.
Mucus in Baby Poop (looks like boogers in the poop): Indicates stomach bug or virus. Watch for fever and other symptoms.
Watery/Extra runny Poop: Breast fed baby poop does tend to be a bit more liquid-like, but after awhile you’ll get the hang of how watery is too watery when it comes to poops. Too watery is diarrhea. Keep good fluids and electrolytes. See a doctor if it persists.

Some random baby poop information:

-Breast fed baby poop smells sweeter. Breast fed babies also suffer from diaper rash and constipation (breast milk is a laxative) less frequently, but will poop more than a formula fed baby.

-Fruits will cause baby poop to smell sweet as well, and are the worst food when it come to creating said diaper rash. For this reason you may want to hold off on them at first, and start slow like many other foods in the first year. Some of which are even dangerous.

-A baby that poops less often is not necessarily constipated, nor is chunky poop always an indication. It’s normal for bowel movements to slow down as a baby ages, and poop to change consistency as they start on solid foods. Normal varies from baby to baby.  For instance, while a newborn may go several times a day, a six-month old may poop just once a day, if that. Grunting and/or turning red, again, is also not always a sign of constipation, some babies just do this.

-You’ll likely notice your baby’s digestive system is faster than yours, and what goes in comes out somewhat unchanged when it comes to solid foods.

So there you have it, whether you ever expected to be reading about it or not, you now know all about your baby’s poop. Welcome to parenthood.

Uncircumcised Penile Adhesion: Information and Advice for Parents

Many parents who don’t support circumcision believe that uncircumcised children can’t have penile adhesion. While this article is not aimed at supporting circumcision, it is important parents considering it, planning against it, or that have already settled against it and ran into a problem, have accurate information on uncircumcised penile adhesion. Both circumcised and uncircumcised males can suffer from adhesion or an un-retractable foreskin in the later case. You can read about adhesion in circumcised boys here.

Phimosis and adhesions:

Phimosis is a broad term used to describe an inability to retract the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis. While causes vary, the most common include infection, tight foreskin, adhesion that doesn’t naturally release, and scaring from forcible retraction or injury. Though rates of phimosis based on current research vary from about 9 to 27 percent, on average it appears about 10 percent of uncircumcised males suffer from the condition. It should be noted that at an early age, it’s normal for the foreskin to not retract; rates for phismosis are based on patients varying in age from 6 to 18. An adhesion in an uncircumcised male is the same as one in a circumcised male. The foreskin bonds to the glans of the penis to a varying degree. Several studies have found that uncircumcised males have a higher rate of penile problems after the first year of life than those who have been circumcised, though it should be noted most of these studies were done in the ’80s and have not been challenged.

What you need to know as a parent about uncircumcised penile adhesion:

If your baby is uncircumcised, his foreskin should be fused at birth. You shouldn’t forcibly retract it, as this could actually cause penile problems later on. Only clean what you can see until the foreskin easily retracts. If the urine stream is blocked by the foreskin, causing infection, pain, or bubbling, speak with your pediatrician as this is indicative of a problem. 90 percent of all children over the age of 3 have a retractable foreskin, if your child is significantly older than this he may have phimosis or adhesion. Though circumcision is one treatment, there are non-surgical alternatives including manual separation, foreskin stretching, and steroid treatment.

Weighing in on your decision to circumcise:

The rate of penile complications is about the same in both circumcised and uncircumcised males overall. Circumcised infants do tend to have a higher rate of incident in the first year, but uncircumcised males have a higher rate of medical need for complications after that point. While risk of adhesion and complication is a common stone thrown at parents that choose to circumcise, the actual documented studies on the subject don’t logically support this argument. On both sides, most complications are minor and resolve on their own.