Reusing cow's milk a few hours later

[Anonymous]

With breastmilk, we were told not to reuse bottles of milk that had touched the baby's mouth after about an hour. If a toddler has cow's milk in a sippy cup but doesn't finish it, can we put the sippy cup in the fridge and serve it again later? How much later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With breastmilk, we were told not to reuse bottles of milk that had touched the baby's mouth after about an hour. If a toddler has cow's milk in a sippy cup but doesn't finish it, can we put the sippy cup in the fridge and serve it again later? How much later?

How long is the milk out of the refrigerator before you want to refrigerate it and how much is left? You start counting time from when the milk comes out of the refrigerator until it is fully cooled in the refrigerator again; then you start counting as you pull it out again. My default is that if the toddler has it out for only 15 minutes and I know that there is little enough left that it can be drunk in 15 minutes or less later, I'll put it away. If either time period is longer than 15 minutes, I dump it and give less next time. I'd rather refill a sippy cup 3 times than pour out milk, but either is preferable to having a sick child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With breastmilk, we were told not to reuse bottles of milk that had touched the baby's mouth after about an hour. If a toddler has cow's milk in a sippy cup but doesn't finish it, can we put the sippy cup in the fridge and serve it again later? How much later?

That's absurd. Within the same day, it's fine whether it's breastmilk or cow's milk. It's not about the milk but about the bacteria that is introduced when baby drinks it. There is always bacteria in the mouth, so that's the concern. Again, it's fine to use the same milk/bottle/cup as long as it's back in the fridge in the same 24hour period.

[Anonymous]

I do this all of the time. If my preschooler doesn't finish his milk at breakfast, I put it back in the fridge and give it to him after preschool.

[Anonymous]

We use the same cup from breakfast to bedtime, we just keep it with the lid on in the fridge and sometimes rinse the cap out.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's fine for cow or for breast milk. I think the prohibition is against reusing formula.

[Anonymous]

NP here. What if you heating the milk a bit, and then baby/infant doesn't finish. Would you refrigerate, and then pull out later, and reheat again before use?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's fine for cow or for breast milk. I think the prohibition is against reusing formula.

Yes to this.

Don't throw out your breastmilk!!! That was the one awesome advantage of BM over formula is that I could continue to re-use the same breast milk bottle if it wasn't finished. Formula required a new bottle and new batch to be made each time. Much more annoying when you are out and about. (I was an exclusive pumper by the end of our nursing)

[Anonymous]

OP here. Maybe it's something about if the breast milk has been heated? I don't know, but I definitely have been told you can't reuse the bottle/milk once it has touched the baby's mouth.

[Anonymous]

My kid is almost 5 and I always put her milk back in the fridge if doesn't finish it. Otherwise, I would be throwing out a ton of milk since some mornings she drinks one sip. She has suffered no ill effects to date.

[Anonymous]

he misinformation about breast milk likely comes from the day care setting, Their rules, which are the same for formula and breast milk, do not allow hem to reuse a bottle of Breast milk. I always sent 2-3 oz bottles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe it's something about if the breast milk has been heated? I don't know, but I definitely have been told you can't reuse the bottle/milk once it has touched the baby's mouth.

Sorry, OP. You were given bad advice. That's for formula.

Breast milk is safe to give to baby for several hours. It contains antibodies that keep it safe even after it's touched baby's lips. Formula does not and can become infected with bacteria, which is why you can't use it after an hour.

For cow's milk, I usually only gave a few ounces at a time until I figured out what was typically being consumed. If it wasn't all drunk at once, I'd put it in the fridge and give it a go at the next snack/mealtime, maybe a few hours later at the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's fine for cow or for breast milk. I think the prohibition is against reusing formula.

I don't think it's reasonable to compare BM to cow's milk. BM has antibodies in it that continue to actively slow the growth of bacteria. If you're drinking pasteurized cow's milk, you are probably starting off with a more sterile (i.e. much lower bacteria count) product than formula, but both have high enough sugar contents that they will grow bacteria at room temp. I think 2 hours for both at room temp is a good rule of thumb. Formula is 24 hours in the fridge for sure, and I would guess that it's similar for contaminated (e.g. remains of a half drunk glass) cow's milk. Once your DC's mouth exposes the otherwise sterile mlk, it'll start growing bacteria quickly.

[Anonymous]

If you'd drink the milk it's fine for your toddler. Get out of the I'm-freaked-out-my-child-might-get-GERMS mind set and realize that your toddler has germs all over his body, inside and out.

In Europe milk and eggs are routinely left out of the fridge during the day, eggs at all times. Here in America we're just paranoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Maybe it's something about if the breast milk has been heated? I don't know, but I definitely have been told you can't reuse the bottle/milk once it has touched the baby's mouth.

You can re-use breastmilk even if it's been heated. Please don't throw out your BM! It's a lot of work to pump! Get every drop you can.