Doctors from Peking Union Medical College say: Here is everything you want to know about bottle feeding

Are you breastfeeding but don't know the difference between breastfeeding and bottle feeding? Do you have a lot of milk now and don't know how to store the excess breast milk? Or do you not know how to reuse frozen breast milk? Have you returned to the workplace and don't know how to use the pumped breast milk after returning home? Don't worry, today, the breast surgeon of Peking Union Medical College Hospital will talk to you about breastfeeding with bottles. If you want to spend your breastfeeding period easily, quickly save this article——

About the author: Huang Xin

Chief Physician of Breast Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, currently serving as a member of the Youth Academic Committee of Beijing Breast Disease Prevention and Treatment Society and the Youth Committee of the Breast Professional Committee of the Chinese Research Hospital Association. Expertise: Diagnosis and treatment of mastitis during lactation and comprehensive treatment of breast cancer, especially in the breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA), hereditary and familial breast cancer and its related treatment.

Audit expert: Sun Qiang

Director of Breast Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, professor, and doctoral supervisor. Expertise: Early diagnosis, surgical treatment and postoperative comprehensive treatment of breast cancer, as well as diagnosis and treatment of various benign breast diseases.

Notes on bottle feeding

①Bottle feeding time: It is best to keep it consistent with breast feeding time

② Preparation before bottle feeding: Clean your hands with soap and water, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer (alcohol concentration not less than 60%). Make sure the pumping area and the container storing breast milk are clean.

③ Note: There is no need to clean the breasts and nipples before breastfeeding (the bacteria that normally colonize the nipples are an important factor in maintaining the stability of the baby's intestinal microenvironment)

Breast milk storage precautions

Storage time

Storage Container

Use designated breast milk storage bags, glass bottles, or BPA-free plastic containers.

Precautions for freezing breast milk

1. Mark the date of pumping on the milk storage bag. If the baby is separated from the mother for some reason, the baby’s name should be marked;

2. Freeze in small quantities and multiple times;

3. Do not store too full (the milk surface should be about 1 cm away from the milk storage bag);

4. After the milk is completely frozen, tighten the bottle cap or seal the milk storage bag with plastic;

5. Frozen breast milk should be placed in the inner compartment of the refrigerator. It is strictly forbidden to place it on the refrigerator door shelf to avoid thawing.

Notes on thawing or warming breast milk

1. Thaw and use the breast milk that has been stored the longest first.

2. It does not need to be warmed up, and can be thawed naturally at room temperature before use.

3. Frozen breast milk can be placed in the refrigerator to thaw overnight.

4. Precautions for warming breast milk:

Keep the container tightly sealed when warming breast milk;

Preheat the breast milk with warm water, never use boiling or boiling water to heat the breast milk!

Never heat breast milk in a microwave!

Before feeding, you should test the temperature of warmed milk on the inside of your wrist. If it is warm but not hot, you can feed it.

5. After freezing, the breast milk may separate into oil and water. Rotate the bottle or milk storage bag to mix them. Do not shake them to mix.

6. Use breast milk within 24 hours of thawing in the refrigerator (not within 24 hours of taking it out of the refrigerator);

7. Once breast milk is thawed to room temperature or warmed, it should be used within 2 hours. After feeding, if excess milk needs to be stored, it should be stored as soon as possible within 2 hours, otherwise it should be thrown away.

8. Breast milk cannot be re-freezed after being thawed!

Content from: Dr. Huang Xin from Union Medical College Hospital