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:

6 hours	72 hours	1 month	2 months	6 months	6-12 months
Room Temperature	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Refrigerator (0-4C)	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Freezer compartment in fridge	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Freezer with separate door as part of fridge	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Deep freeze (-20C)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

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