Breast milk storage

[Anonymous]

How long have u kept pumped breast milk at room temp? I was told 8 hrs by 1 lac consultant but another said 4 to 6 hrs. Also, can u warm up bmilk from the fridge and then put unused portion back into the fridge? Thanks for advice - I am a pumping novice

[Anonymous]

I can't remember the answer to your first question, but if you trust that LC, go with 8. It seems a touch long for me, but it also might depend on the temp of the surroundings (i.e on my nightstand/kitchen counter all night while I sleep and the heat is set to 66 degrees vs dragged around all day in my diaper bag).

On your second question, you can put unused BM back in the fridge. Here, I'm assuming you mean that you warm up 4 oz, you make a 2 oz bottle and you put 2 oz back in the fridge. My LC also told me that it is safe to reoffer BM that wasn't finished as long as it's done within 24 hours. So, if you make a 4 oz bottle and baby takes 1 oz, you can reoffer that leftover 3 oz later on. I usually tried to use it the same calendar day or first thing the next morning. (Note that daycares in DC refuse to do this....)