Milk ads still say that breast milk is best for babies. Some women are lucky because they can give more of it to their babies. Others, on the other hand, have to turn to formula for sustenance. Should you be one of those lucky women, take advantage of what nature has so generously endowed you with. The best source comes from the mother herself. Take advantage of feeding time to form a close relationship with your newborn. This is the perfect time to hold them whenever you can.
But you also can’t keep yourself housebound that long. You need to get back to your normal life, and you may come to realize that there may be times that you will be asked to leave your home. You won’t always be there when they get hungry, and while you want to take them everywhere you go, you may waste a lot of time and money transferring them from one place to the next. Plus, your little one will demand some of your attention, and you just can’t drop what you’re working on. To be able to cope with the demands, you can pump your milk and store them properly. Whenever you baby cries out in hunger, someone else can just grab the milk from the fridge and feed them.
If you find yourself in situations like this, you will need to know how to store it safely. In today’s fast-paced society, it can be difficult for you to constantly find the time to breast feed your child. When you are in a public place, this can also be highly inconvenient. When you find yourself stuck in a situation, the best option for now would be to use expressed breast milk. This involves mechanically squeezing milk from the breast and storing it in a bottle to be used at a later time. You can normally use a pump to squeeze the milk out, and this is especially handy when only the father or the nanny is at home watching your child.
When stored properly, milk can last for a long time. You can look in the stores and choose the best kind of containers that are designed to store your milk. Just set a corner on the freezer to extend its shelf life. However, you also risk losing some of its nutrients, antibodies, and enzymes. Bottom-line is that it is still much healthier option than the formula you find in the market.
To test if the milk can still be served, smell it first. You should be able to store it at room temperature as well. That is, only when you plan to serve it soon after that. If kept too long, it will be bad for your baby. Choose the bottle wisely because this plays a big part in keeping milk fresh. To get you baby used to drinking from the bottle, you can introduce it a few times in the first 4 weeks of their lives. That way, they get used to it and won’t struggle too much should you decide to stop breastfeeding.
