You’ve decided to breastfeed your baby, congratulations!  Now comes all the questions.  How long does breast milk last in the freezer or on the counter? What kinds of containers can I use to freeze or store breast milk? We answer those nagging questions on safely storing breast milk.

Expressing and storing milk:

Hygiene

• Wash hands well with soap and water
• Clean under your nails
• Dry hands with paper toweling

Containers

• Use small, clean, glass or plastic containers with a solid lid or bottle liners/milk storage bags
• Double bag when using bottle liners/milk storage bags and use twist ties to close the bags
• If adding milk to a container, chill the fresh milk first then add to the cold milk

Labeling

• Write date on tape and attach to container

Storage

• Do not store milk in the door of the fridge or freezer
• Store milk in the back of the fridge or freezer
• Leave space in the container for expansion when freezing milk
• Package expressed milk in feeding size portions

To store or freeze breast milk at home:

To Use:

• Warm chilled milk by holding under running warm water
• Keep cap out of water
• Defrost by holding container under running warm water, standing it in warm water or placing frozen milk in fridge
• Shake gently to mix separated milk
• Use thawed milk within 24 hours if refrigerated after defrosting

DO NOT!!

• Refreeze milk
• Use a microwave to thaw or warm milk

Shipping Milk

• If shipping/carrying milk for longer than 3 hours, pack containers tightly in a sturdy cooler using Styrofoam chips or crumpled newspaper to fill extra space.  This will keep milk frozen for about 20 hours
• If shipping for a longer time add dry ice. If using dry ice please check with the shipper for specific instructions
• Containers with dry ice should not be transported by car as dry ice is a hazardous substance
• The cooler should be sealed with packing tape
• Weather temperatures should be considered when packing milk for a shipping
• When milk is shipped, it must be shipped frozen overnight by courier or bus

Storage of Breast Milk
Developed by C&W Lactation Services
Approved by: BC Women’s Family Education Advisory Committee, October 1991
Revised: June 2005