Expressed Breastmilk Question

While what they did wasn't ideal, it really wasn't THAT bad. I don't think your son was put in any danger from drinking EBM that was reheated twice. EBM is way different than formula. Formula really does go "bad" quite quickly....like you're supposed to toss what's not eaten within 30 minutes or so (unsure of the time, since I exclusively BF my child).

With EBM, did you know that if you left a bottle of it out for 8 hours (that's no refridgeration!), it would actually have LESS bacteria in it 8 hours later than it did when it was first expresssed. Yes, it truly is a miracle food.

Hope that helps.

Breastmilk has protective properties (antibacterial) that make it ok for it to be at room temperature for 6-8 hours. So, it's not that terrible....but it would be more likely to go bad if your baby drank some of it and didn't finish it. In that case I would probably throw it out. If he never had it to begin with I would just keep it out at room temperature. I don't think the whole re-chilling reheating thing is so great for the milk, although I'm not completely sure.

N.,

I don't think it's a huge no-no although I wouldn't do it on a regular basis and I would tell my MIL it's not the best idea.

I think it's more of an issue if your son drinks some and then doesn't finish and then you reuse the bottle he drank from. The bacteria from his mouth pollutes the BM.

That being said, if it were me and I warmed it up and didn't get to use it - I'd be way tempted to just put it back in the fridge and re-warm it. It would just be heart breaking (lol) to dump it down the sink!

T.

PS - Your question got me thinking, so I did a Google... check out this link!

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/reusing-expressedmilk....

Well, I did that for my ds and never had any problems!! Like you said, the bm was liquid gold and far too precious to waste. The 1 hour rule applies primarily to formula, which can grow huge amounts of bacteria very quickly (especially if baby has drank from the bottle). I wouldn't reheat a bottle over and over again to re-use, but I don't think once is a problem.