Can breast milk be heated twice?

Breast milk is an ideal way of feeding in life, but many pregnant women cannot directly breastfeed their babies due to being busy with work or other reasons. They can only squeeze out the milk and then feed it to the baby. However, everyone knows that frozen milk usually needs to be reheated before giving it to the baby. Sometimes the baby doesn’t drink it after heating it once, and I don’t know if it can be heated a second time.

Can breast milk be warmed a second time?

Generally speaking, breast milk cannot be heated a second time, as heating it a second time can be very harmful.

The dangers of heating breast milk for the second time

Breast milk cannot be heated repeatedly, as this will destroy the nutritional value of the breast milk and is not conducive to the growth and development of the baby. You need to pay attention to rest and nutrition, and avoid eating spicy and irritating foods. When heating breast milk, do not use the boiling method, but soak it in hot water. Breast milk is the food that best suits children's intestinal digestion ability. It has high nutritional value and is easily absorbed by the intestines. Generally, milk will go bad if it is heated repeatedly. Giving such milk to babies will cause gastrointestinal disorders and clinical symptoms that are harmful to their health.

1. Nutritional destruction

Breast milk cannot be heated repeatedly, as this will destroy the nutritional value of the breast milk and is not conducive to the growth and development of the baby. You need to pay attention to rest and nutrition, and avoid eating spicy and irritating foods. When heating breast milk, do not use the boiling method, but soak it in hot water. Breast milk is the food that best suits children's intestinal digestion ability. It has high nutritional value and is easily absorbed by the intestines.

2. Milk deterioration

Generally, milk will go bad if it is heated repeatedly. Giving such milk to babies will cause gastrointestinal disorders and clinical symptoms that are harmful to their health. Follow general heating guidelines when warming breast milk. If your breast milk smells or looks like it has gone bad, you should discard the excess breast milk immediately. Parents should understand that every time breast milk is heated, the beneficial substances in it will be reduced. Therefore, parents should not reheat excess breast milk too often.

3. Bacterial infection

Over time, breast milk's ability to kill bacteria also decreases. In most cases, fresh breast milk is the best at killing bacteria, breast milk in the refrigerator is second best, and frozen breast milk is the worst. The amount of time breast milk is frozen will affect its ability to kill bacteria; if breast milk is stored for too long, its ability to fight infection will almost disappear, and bacteria will slowly grow in the stored milk. Repeated heating of breast milk can easily lead to bacterial infection and diarrhea.

Precautions for storing breast milk

New mothers must wash their hands before expressing milk and use a sterilized breast pump. Breast milk can be stored in the refrigerator or frozen. The expressed milk should be placed in a sealed bottle. New mothers should not refreeze thawed breast milk, nor add fresh breast milk to frozen milk. It is best for new mothers to mark the date of stored breast milk to avoid giving the baby expired breast milk and causing the baby to become unwell.

For the health of the children, it is recommended that mothers pay attention to hygiene when feeding their babies. If you cannot feed your baby in time, be sure to put the milk in a clean quilt, refrigerate it in the refrigerator, and then drink it within 48 hours. If the baby still hasn't finished drinking it after two days, don't continue to give it to the child.