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11. Storing and thawing breast milk
11.1 General storage guidelines
Storage guidelines for freshly expressed breast milk (for healthy term babies)
Room temperature
16 to 25 °C
(60 to 77 °F)
Refrigerator
4 °C (39 °F)
or colder
Freezer
–18 °C (0 °F )
or colder
Breast milk thawed in
the refrigerator
Up to 4 hours is best
*Up to 6 hours for milk
expressed under very
clean conditions
Up to 3 days is best
*Up to 5 days for milk
expressed under very
clean conditions
Up to 6 months is best
*Up to 9 months for milk
expressed under very
clean conditions
At room temperature:
Up to 2 hours
Refrigerator:
Up to 24 hours
Do not refreeze!
*Guidelines for expressing milk under very clean conditions:
Before expressing breast milk, mothers should wash their hands with soap and water or an
alcohol-based hand sanitiser. The pump parts, bottles and pumping area must be clean.
Breasts and nipples do not need to be washed before pumping.
• These guidelines for storage and thawing of breast milk are a recommendation. Contact
your lactation consultant or breastfeeding specialist for further information.
• Store breast milk in the coldest spot of the refrigerator (at the back of the glass shelf above
the vegetable compartment).
11.2 Storing breast milk in a Medela cooler bag
Your Medela cooler bag requires one Medela contoured ice pack. Up to four 150 ml bottles
of breast milk will stay cool for up to ten hours in a room temperature environment inside your
pump bag. Up to four 150 ml bottles of breast milk will stay cool for up to eight hours in a
room temperature environment, inside the cooler, stored outside of the pump bag.
• As soon as you are finished with pumping, place the breast milk bottle or breast milk storage
bag in the cooler bag with the ice pack.
• Transfer breast milk bottles or breast milk storage bags to the refrigerator or freezer once
you are at home.
