Can i add pumped milk to frozen milk

Only add cold milk to cold milk or cold milk to frozen milk. Because you never want to waste breast milk, you might consider freezing it in relatively small amounts. This way, if your baby doesn't take it all, you won't be throwing it out.

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Mayo Clinic. Once you thaw out frozen breast milk, you cannot freeze it again. You must use it within 24 hours or throw it away. If you'd like to store your fresh breast milk, you should keep it separate from any milk that you have already thawed. You should not add warm, fresh breast milk to already frozen breast milk. Warm milk can cause frozen milk to thaw out. However, if you cool the fresh milk, you can then add it to the frozen milk as long as you pumped it on the same day.

Place your fresh breast milk in the refrigerator until it is cold. Then, add the cold, refrigerated milk to the bottle of already frozen milk.

This process is called layering. Combining the breast milk from different expressions on the same day can be convenient, especially if you're only getting a small amount of breast milk at each session. Filling up one container instead of having a small amount in many containers just makes sense. It certainly makes it easier to store, transport, and ship your breast milk.

Plus you won't need as many containers, and you'll save space in your refrigerator or freezer. As long as you follow the guidelines and tips above, you can safely add fresh breast milk to milk you already pumped during the day.

Get it free when you sign up for our newsletter. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated June 14, Underwood MA. Human milk for the premature infant. Pediatr Clin North Am. American Academy of Pediatrics. Bantam Books. Follow these practical tips on choosing containers, freezing breast milk, thawing breast milk and more.

If you're breast-feeding and going back to work or looking for more flexibility, you're probably considering using a breast pump. And once you start pumping, it's important to know how to safely store your expressed milk. Consider these do's and don'ts for breast milk storage. Before expressing or handling breast milk, wash your hands with soap and water. Then store the expressed milk in a clean, capped food-grade glass container or hard plastic container that's not made with the chemical bisphenol A BPA.

You can also use special plastic bags designed for milk collection and storage. Don't store breast milk in disposable bottle liners or plastic bags designed for general household use. Using waterproof labels and ink, label each container with the date you expressed the breast milk.

If you're storing expressed milk at your baby's child care facility, add your baby's name to the label. Place the containers in the back of the refrigerator or freezer, where the temperature is the coolest. If you don't have access to a refrigerator or freezer, store the milk temporarily in an insulated cooler with ice packs. Fill individual containers with the milk your baby will need for one feeding. You might start with 2 to 4 ounces 60 to milliliters , and then adjust as needed. Also consider storing smaller portions — 1 to 2 ounces 30 to 60 milliliters — for unexpected situations or delays in regular feedings.

Breast milk expands as it freezes, so don't fill containers to the brim. You can add freshly expressed breast milk to refrigerated or frozen milk. However, thoroughly cool the freshly expressed breast milk in the refrigerator or a cooler with ice packs before adding it to previously chilled or frozen milk.

Don't add warm breast milk to frozen breast milk because it will cause the frozen milk to partially thaw. How long you can safely keep expressed breast milk depends on the storage method. Consider these general guidelines for healthy infants:. By refrigerating the breast milk first, it will help to prevent the already frozen breast milk from defrosting. When adding the cold breast milk to a container of already frozen milk, the amount that you add should be less than the amount of the breast milk that is already frozen.

This is another way to help to prevent the frozen milk from defrosting. You should pay attention to how much breast milk that you put into each container, and be careful not fill the storage container to the top. Your breast milk will expand as it freezes, so you need to leave some room at the top of the bottle to allow for that expansion. When adding more breast milk to your containers, keep in mind how much breast milk your baby is taking at each feeding.

It will help to reduce waste if you store your breast milk in 2, 3, or 4-ounce portions. You can always defrost another 2 to 4 ounces if necessary, but if you have breast milk stored in 6 or 8-ounce portions, you cannot refreeze what you don't use. You will have to throw away any leftover breast milk that has been thawed and warmed.

It's safe to layer or add more pumped milk your frozen breast milk as long as the fresh milk is cooled and refrigerated first, AND all of the milk is collected on the same day. If you collect breast milk on different days, you should not add it to already frozen breast milk.

Breast milk collected on different days should be kept separate. If you are pumping your breast milk to bring to the hospital, you should not add it to frozen milk especially if your child is sick or premature and in the hospital, you should not open and close the storage bottle to add more breast milk. Each time you open and close the storage container, there is a risk of introducing germs and bacteria. This type of contamination is more dangerous for a sick or premature baby than it is for a healthy, full-term infant.

So, once you seal the top of the collection bottle the first time, leave it closed until it's time to use it in the hospital. If you are sending your breast milk to a milk bank, follow the collection and storage guidelines that the milk bank provides.