Hi My LO will turn 4 months next week. I am working and EBFing. I express and keep in the fridge and when required my Mom warms and gives it. The problem here is we are able to feed him only 2 ounces at a time. The remaining milk I keep in room temp and feed him. As its too hot AC is on the entire day and the milk becomes cool. Can I feed this milk? Should I buy a bottle warmer to keep the remaining milk. When he is awake he demands feed every half an hour. We have 4 ounce feeding bottles. Please advise the usage of bottle warmer. Regards Rani
I used a warmer to warm milk the first time with DD1. I think you can use a warmer and it does help. But i'm not sure on re-warming the milk, other mommies should be able to guide you in this.
I would suggest not to keep the breast milk at room temperature for too long. I think you can keep it out for 2 hrs at room temperature. If your LO drinks only 2 ounces at time, then why take the extra milk outside? Bottle warmer is to warm the cold milk and not to keep the milk warm. Check out www.kellymom.com for storage and usage of breastmilk. I don;t think feeding every half hour is a good idea. He will get into an habit which might be hard to break. At 4 months you should be able to stretch out the feedings atleast every 2-3 hrs. JMO!
Hi Sudha & Shukri, Thanks you for your immediate response. I am not able to feed him 4 ounce at 1 feed. Doctor says feed him on demand. We keep for 2 hrs and discard the remaining milk.:rant Regards Rani
Hi Rani, Wen i used to store my expressed milk, i used to maintain 2-3 bottles.Initially i faced problem like urs.So i used to fill in 2 bottles and refrigerate and as and wen required take and feed my LO . Id u are sure abt the amt of milk ur baby drinks each time, u can keep tat much in a bottle and the rest store in diff bottle...in this way u need not have the confusion whether to keep the milk outside and feed the next time. My Ped had adviced me to use the expressed milk(Maybe u know these info, just posting for mothers who are not aware) if kept at room temprature- within 8 hrs kept in fridge - within 24 hrs
Rani, Don't waste breastmilk by dumping. Breastmilk is liquid gold. Since you know that your LO drinks only 2 ounces at time then fill the bottle with only 2 ounces and refrigerate the remaining. Take out the milk from the fridge as and when required. Also, it's o.k if you are not able to feed him 4 ounces at a time. Even I agree on feeding on demand but every half hour at 4 months seems a bit too much. Try to increase the time between feedings by every 5-10 mins. For eg. if he is used to drinking every 30 mins stretch it out for every 40 mins. Increase the 10 mins intervals slowly. After a point your LO will start drinking more at one feeding. Good luck!