The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to six months and supplementing it with other foods until at least two years of the child.
At that age, many children go to nursery school and they should not for this reason give up being fed breast milk. Therefore, if it is what you have chosen, we will tell you how to make the child be fed with your milk in the nursery .
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics has established a protocol for feeding breast milk in nursery schools so that the child can continue to receive the most suitable diet during the first years of life.
Nurseries should make it easier for mothers who so wish to be able to feed their children with their own milk, either by allowing the mother to come to the center to breastfeed the child, offering a comfortable, intimate and quiet space, or through the administration of previously expressed and stored breast milk when the mother cannot move.
How to preserve and carry breast milk?
The necessary amount should be carried for each day , divided into several bottles, according to the doses that the child will make, to avoid excessive manipulation. It can be milk expressed or thawed that day or the day before.
How long does breast milk keep?
Breast milk can be expressed for later use, guaranteeing its adequate conservation at room temperature, in a refrigerator or freezer, depending on the time it will take to use it:
At room temperature:
- 15°C: 24 hours.
- 19-22°C: 10 hours.
- 25°C: 4 to 6 hours.
- 30-38°C: 4 hours
Refrigerated (in fridge) between 0 and 4 ºC
Eight days. The more stable the temperature, the better the milk will keep, so do not put the milk in the refrigerator door.
Frozen :
- In a freezer within the same refrigerator: 2 weeks.
- In a freezer that is part of the refrigerator but with separate doors (combi type): 3-4 months (because the temperature varies when the door is opened with a certain frequency).
- In a separate commercial-type freezer with a constant temperature of -19ºC: 6 months or more.
Ideally, express milk should be quickly cooled (in a container of cold water) and then frozen as soon as possible. If you are expressing yourself at home and the milk is not going to be used that day, it is best to freeze it. If the extraction is carried out outside the home, it can be kept in a portable cooler with frigolines and frozen as soon as you get home.
How to bring milk to nursery school
The milk must be transported in a portable cooler with frigolines and once in nursery school it must be kept in a refrigerator at a temperature between 0ºC and 4ºC. It is very important that each bottle has a sign with the date of consumption, the name and the two surnames of the child to avoid confusion.
When it is time to feed the baby, the milk will be warmed up by submerging the container that contains it in another with hot water. Breast milk should not be boiled, or heated in the microwave, to avoid the risk of burns.
In Babies and more | The temperature of the bottle: what is correct and how to warm it safely
