Table of Contents
Introduction
You have decided to breastfeed your baby, and with the proper help you receive from nursing coaches, you have a great chance at being successful. And there are plenty of things you must know when it comes to breastfeeding, which includes pumping. Pumping is critical because you will not always be the one available to feed your baby. What if you go back to work and you have to leave your baby with a caregiver? That is why pumping is essential to allow others to feed your baby with your breastmilk in a bottle.
That also means you will need to know how to carry breastmilk in a diaper bag so that it remains fresh. You will want to know what to do since you will take your infant to different places. You may not be comfortable with breastfeeding in public. Let’s now talk about what storing breastmilk in a diaper bag involves.
Items You Require To Store Milk In A Diaper Bag Or Elsewhere
You already know that if you want to store milk in a diaper bag, you need bottles and a breast pump. A breast pump will make it easy to express milk and take less time to express milk with your hands. You require high-quality bottles that feature screw caps, so you know the milk stays in the bottle securely. The last thing you will want to face is opening up your diaper bag and finding that the milk spilled out from the bottle. That is why buying the best-quality bottles is an essential investment.
You also require a diaper bag that is heavy-duty and that features thermal compartments that maintain the milk temperature. Most diaper bags feature pockets for bottles and cases for other baby apparatus to bring along wherever you go with your baby. Remember, if you have not had your baby yet, you can always add those items to your registry.
Once you have those items, you will need to know how to store your breastmilk correctly in the diaper bag. Let’s now delve into that further.
How To Store Breastmilk For Traveling For Any Occasion
The first thing to do before packing up the breastmilk is to sanitize the bottle and breast pump. Washing the bottle and pump with warm water and mild dish detergent will do the trick. However, for cleaning and sanitizing instructions, refer to the manuals of the bottles and breast pump. Some types may require a different way of cleaning.
Bottle sterilizers are ideal for most bottles so that you can place them in there for sterilization. And always make sure you clean the pump and bottles with clean hands.
Once you completed that step, the next thing to do is express your milk into the bottles. Don’t overfill the bottle and close it tightly after completion. You don’t want to fill up too many bottles at once because the fewer bottles you carry, the fewer chances there are of them spilling. All you can do is estimate how many bottles your baby will require depending on the outing’s purpose.
Once you complete filling up the bottles and tightening them up, place them in the bag’s designated area.
If you plan on doing air travel with your baby, the same stated above applies. Prepare the number of bottles that will be suitable for the duration of the flight. It is also essential to keep the milk on top of the diaper bag when you go through security checking. Security officers may require a test on bottles that contain more than three ounces of milk. Keep that in mind.
Now that you know how to place the milk in diaper bags, you will want to keep other essential considerations when storing them.
What Considerations To Make When Storing Breastmilk In The Diaper Bag
The last thing you want to happen to your baby is that they will become ill because the breastmilk is no good. That is why, when it comes to storing breastmilk, the temperature is a critical consideration to make.
You do not want the breastmilk to become too hot, and remember that the temperature inside the diaper bag is hot even compared to a summer day outdoors. Breastmilk can be out for ten hours in room temperature settings. However, if you anticipate that you will be away for longer than ten hours with your baby, then you need to keep the milk in a colder setting.
The best way to keep breastmilk cool in the diaper bag is to use ice cubes or an ice pack. Either put some ice cubes in a ziplock bag and place it in the diaper bag compartment before placing the bottle inside. You can also place an icepack in the insulated area, which will keep the breastmilk fresher for up to 24 hours.
The bottles stored in more relaxed settings in the diaper bag will likely become too cold for the baby to drink. Warming the bottle is easy. You can either find a sink and allow hot water to run from the tap for a few minutes. Place the bottle underneath the running hot water until the bottle is warm for the baby.
You can also put a small thermos inside of the diaper bag for warming your baby’s milk. The thermos must feature a removable cover so that you can add hot water to it. Allow the bottle to warm up for a few minutes and test the milk on your wrist by squirting it to make sure it is comfortable for the baby.
Conclusion
If you decided to breastfeed your baby, you must know how to store breastmilk‘ properly in a diaper bag. That is because it will not be realistic for you to be the only one available to feed your infant. Caregivers will need to provide your infant with a bottle containing your breastmilk when you have to work. Or you will want to go and travel with your baby. Therefore, you must know how to store the breastmilk properly. The instructions for keeping the breastmilk in tip-top quality for your baby in the diaper bag is simple. However, you must follow each step to make sure that your breastmilk remains drinkable for your baby.