How to get rid of leftover milk

During the breastfeeding period, some mothers have abundant milk, and the baby cannot finish the excess milk. At this time, it is necessary to empty the milk in time to avoid the milk clogging the mammary glands, and even easily cause mastitis. In order to empty the milk, in addition to squeezing it by hand, the best way is to buy a breast pump, which can completely empty the unfinished milk. Let's take a look at this aspect.

Pour

Some mothers think that excess breast milk is useless and just throw it away. In fact, it is quite a waste. However, it is okay to pour it out directly in the following situations: when you are out and cannot store breast milk, you have to pour it out yourself if you don't want to drink it; it is not recommended to re-freeze and store breast milk that has been thawed but not finished by the baby or continue to feed it to the baby; breast milk that has been left for too long will easily deteriorate and is not recommended to be fed to the baby.

Drink

If there is excess milk, drinking it is actually a good choice. Because breast milk is rich in nutrients, it would be a shame to throw it away. As long as you are not afraid of the fishy smell of breast milk, just drink it. Many of my friends choose to let their family members drink it. Some drink it themselves, some give it to their husbands, some give it to their parents, and some give it to their parents-in-law. No matter who drinks it, as long as it is not wasted.

Frozen storage

Frozen storage is a method chosen by many mothers and is also one of the best methods. Dr. Hu Changli from the Functional Dairy Laboratory of China Agricultural University recommends that breastfeeding mothers use a breast pump to extract the leftover breast milk and freeze it for their baby to eat later. Breast milk can be frozen for up to 6 months, but can only be refrigerated for 24 hours. Low-temperature freezing conditions can protect the various beneficial nutrients in breast milk from being destroyed and lost to the greatest extent, and are the best way to preserve breast milk. Especially for working mothers, they have to go back to work after maternity leave and cannot breastfeed their babies during the day. This is when the breast milk that was frozen before can come in handy.

The editor would like to remind breastfeeding mothers that the process of pumping milk must be kept clean and hygienic, and the breast pump, bottle, etc. used must be sterilized at high temperature. Before freezing, choose a container of appropriate size, clean and hygienic. You can use a sterile milk storage bag, or a steam-sterilized container that can withstand heat and low temperatures. Avoid choosing thin-walled glass containers to prevent cracking due to freezing. When storing milk, be careful not to overfill the container, as breast milk will expand when frozen. Place fresh breast milk in a -18°C refrigerator and mark the date, amount of milk and other information on the container. Then take it according to the date.

Donate to a breast milk bank

In the previous survey, there was no donation option, which may be related to the small number of breast milk banks in my country and insufficient publicity. It is understood that the Iowa Breast Milk Bank in the United States, which was one of the earliest breast milk banks in the world, has mobile milk collection trucks that follow a fixed route and drive to various residential areas on a regular basis every day to collect milk. Qualified volunteers pour the milk they express at home into milk storage tanks and mix them. They then sterilize and package them uniformly to supply hungry children.