Storing, Freezing and Thawing Expressed Breast Milk

A brief summary by Jeanette Cassidy BSc (Hons), RGN, DN, HV, Specialist Practitioner (Public Health)

January 2008.


There is no disputing that breast is best, but for some of us (the author included), breast feeding is not always possible.

By expressing (pumping), a mother ensures that her baby receives all of the benefits of breast milk, even if she is unable to breast feed, is away from her baby or perhaps has returned to full-time work.

There is conflicting (but well-researched) advice available regarding the storage of mothers expressed breast milk.

In light of this, we have adopted what we consider to be the safest and easiest guidelines for a mum to follow.

Breast milk can either be stored in purpose-made bottles or bags.

If freezing the milk is intended, we recommend the Axifeed range of bottles as the most robust, convenient and economical breast milk container.

Ensure that you date and label the bottles after use. Also, do not fill past the top scale of the bottle in order to allow for expansion of the milk.

If using disposable bags, ensure that these have been designed specifically for storing breast milk.



Human milk can be stored in 3 ways.

Whichever method you use, ensure that you label the container with date and time of expression and always use the oldest milk first.


Storage at room temperature (68F, 20C max)

Freshly expressed breast milk can be kept at room temperature for a maximum of 6 hours (The Breast Feeding Network).

Breast milk that has been heated to body temperature (98F, 37C) must be used within an hour.