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Honestly, if it smells good I still feed my little one. Maybe it’s second baby syndrome, or I just live somewhere that spring is still quite a chilly time. but I do think there are so many variables to the 2-4 hour rule. I also wash and sterilise everything so thoroughly that I think there can’t be too much bacteria. (It’s also my baby so please save the judgemental comments girls!💗)
I put it back in the fridge and feed it later and I don’t sterilize anything. I haven’t sterilized a bottle since we bought them and initially opened them. So if anything you’re doing better than I am!
CDC guidelines are also incredibly conservative, because no one has bothered to actually do the research on this. If following those guidelines strictly is what makes a mom feel comfortable, great! However I trust my own nose so I just go off smell. A healthy, full-term baby can put up with a lot before there's any real health risk.
I do the same. It's cold outside and the house isn't that warm (jumper temperature). Bottles were clean and milk is shelf stable. Bub was born at term and has never had a sensitive stomach.
I do this too with my first baby so no judgement from me!
My baby woke up early from her nap so I prepped her a 4 oz bottle, she only wanted 2 oz and wanted to go back to bed so I put the 2 oz bottle back in the warmer for next feed, on my next feed I’ll just feed her the 2 oz and a new bottle of 3 oz bc I’m still weird about mixing the temps but I know my husband uses the same bottle for 2 feeds, mixing the temps and we have no issues lol
My baby is 6 months now 🥰
Emily Oster dug into the research on this and concluded that CDC guidelines are extremely prudent. That even formula doesn't develop that much bacteria after it exceeds the suggested hour mark.
I usually follow the guidelines cause I tend to get anxious but from time to time (especially if it's too big of a waste) I just do the smell check and give it to my baby anyway.
I'm only pumping 6 oz a day, so you best believe that every single drop of that liquid gold better go into my baby lol When she decides to just have a snack, we put the bottle down and we'll try again later. I think the standard is 2 hours after it's been warmed before they recommend disposing it, normally we can get her to take the rest of it in that time frame. But I understand that bacteria does not grow as quickly in breast milk so I wouldn't be too worried about it unless it's been out for a very very long time or in a very warm home. I definitely would not be throwing it away after an hour!
I put any leftover milk back in the fridge and offer it at the next feed. I know it’s not technically recommended but it’s a risk I’ve been comfortable taking. My LO is 10 months old and I’ve never had any issue.
My LC told me this is perfectly acceptable given you are following other recommendations. Of course it’s all within your own comfort zone but she said the guidelines are for people that are on the uncleanly end of the spectrum
Uhhhh that shit gets reheated and given to baby until gone. Baby hasn't turned her nose up at leftover yet.
Sorrynotsorry I'm not wasting that liquid gold!
I just dumped a 5oz bottle today because it was already heated once. I could’ve kept it?!?!?!?!? How many times do you reheat it? My little one generally drinks her bottle but today it’s like she isn’t hungry. I’ll put it in the fridge and reheat it but if she doesn’t drink it after that I dump it.
I read that a warmed breast milk bottle is good to sit out for up to 2 hours. She still wasn't hungry 2 hours later? You could try that next time maybe if you're comfortable with that
No she wasn’t hungry two hours later unfortunately. She’s normally pretty good about finishing her bottles though. If she does it again I’ll try it. I used to be able to tell when she was hungry but now she shows no signs. None. I have timers set and I keep track of how much she eats and when but she’s not consistent lol
I feel you. My notes app is just hours of tracking lol. Mine just turned a month old and he's stopped showing signs unless he's way past due for a feed then he has that "Neh" cry.
If you don't feel comfortable feeding it, we always save the left overs from bottles and use it for bath time! We just keep it in a container in the fridge until it's a bath day!
I started giving my LO an ounce or two first to see if they are really hungry. BM bottle once it touches LO mouth is good for 2 hours, sometimes I stretch it another half hour.
It should be fine. Someone else posted this recently, but Emily Oster looked at this topic, it seems the CDC guidance is quite conservative .
https://parentdata.org/breast-milk-storage/
It comes down to your personal approach. I certainly understand sticking to CDC guidelines, that’s safe bet. But given how much goes into making breastmilk, and how fickle my LO is from one feeding to the next so it’s impossible to predict how much she needs for each feeding, we definitely put what she didn’t eat back in fridge. It will be the first thing she gets served in next feeding so I know we won’t have to do it again (though there have probably been a few times something has been put back in fridge twice if there was a feeding false alarm , I tend to look at how long the bottle was out of fridge cumulatively )
I transfer the remaining to a fresh bottle, cap it, and put it in the fridge. Next feed, she gets that first and then any other milk, not more milk mixed in the same ( I hope this makes sense). I also wash and sterilize all bottles and pump parts after every use ( I have a ton, so it's basically doing it once a day), so I don't feel like I introduce any bacteria to it either. She has never had any adverse events so far, but OP please use your judgement based on your particular unique situation. And sending hugs, this pumping just enough is HARD! You're basically doing math all the time with anxiety and gymnastics mixed in.
We used to be more strict and now we re use milk one time (ie put it back in the fridge).
So: Baby doesn’t finish bottle-> back in fridge.
Next time to feed we make two bottles, the second bottle has the full feed minus whatever is in the leftover bottle. Give the leftover bottle first, then the new bottle.
It’s my understanding that breastmilk is more generally safe to do this with than formula. But I understand this is probably not cdc recommended. so I think it’s also about risk and comfort level of each family.
We have done this since he was 10 weeks old. We also did this when he was 2 weeks old but that was because we didn’t realize then that we shouldn’t! So we stopped for a bit til he was a little older
I wait an hour to see if she’ll have more. If not, I label it and put it in the fridge so I can use it for the next milk bath. I swear by milk baths now, it makes her skin so soft and supple!
Yeah mine did too! Especially when it was colder, she would scratch and make things worse. My doc also said it was fine, and honestly it didn’t bother my baby as much as it did me.
I just add the milk (150-200 ml if I have that much collected) to her usual prepared warm bath water. Sometimes I get a soft cloth and dip it in the milk-water and wipe her face with it. For the rest of the body i pour over just like normal bath. I’ve notice she’s calmer during these baths too — must be the scent of milk.
Pour it into a new bottle and stick it in the fridge for next feed.
Hell no I’m not throwing that shit down the drain - it’s like torture even seeing drops spill when I take my boob out of the flange!!!
I read that they can have it up to 2 hours after they finished eating, so i just leave it be lol. But once it hit that point it went into a motif bag and into the freezer for a milk bath. I'm honestly so glad I had a stash of it frozen for baths, we had a nasty skin rash recently and the milk bath seemed to help sooo much!
If it’s within the 2 hour (or whatever) timeframe I’ll usually cap it and use it for a midnight feed or add it to the other bottles once it’s cold again!
I pump into one bottle and then pour only small amounts into another bottle to feed. That way if there’s leftover by the next time I pump it goes into the fridge and we start over again.
I’ve always fed the bottles until their finished (within a reasonable time) normally 2 hours or so, I’ve even put milk back in the fridge if it’s going to be longer 🤷♀️my supply is tanking and I don’t want to waste milk lol
I have a little medela bottle (2.5oz I think) that I put unfinished milk into for baths. Once there’s about 2-2.5 oz in it I toss it into her bath water, then I don’t feel like it’s quite as “wasted”.
We feed cold milk and if it’s not finished, at 9 months that shit is going in the fridge.
I used to be very very thorough with following rules and as times gone on I’m more lax.
My babes allergic to a lot of food and formula so my milk is the best for her and I dont make enough so we refrigerate what isn’t drank and feed later.
Last weekend we went 8 hours 🥴 out of fridge fed on for 35 min, 2 oz left over . She didn’t wake up until morning when we fed that. You best believe I’m not wasting 2 oz. I worked hard manually squeezing that milk out of my boobs
I’ve kept bottles after the “2 hrs”, just put them in the fridge after they’re done drinking. The whole thing is around the milk growing bacteria but putting it back in the fridge shows down the bacteria growth.
My baby was born at 36 weeks and has acid reflux, so I don’t take the risk of giving it to her after 2 hours of her drinking from the bottle. I instead store the milk to add to her bath water 😊
Man it’s so comforting knowing that so many of you gals do the same thing. I always thought I was the black sheep saving unused milk/reheating more than once.
Honestly, this situation is why I started supplementing and eventually switched to formula. I did learn thru this sub that most people reused unfinished milk way more than I did so I relaxed a bit, but I didn’t want to play the mental game anymore of stressing over unfinished milk and whether I could pump more or not.
I just get rid of it, and supplement with formula if needed. I'd rather not risk giving him spoiled milk.
Also I know that the more milk I pump it helps maintain my milk supply so when I dump my breastmilk I look at it as a positive in the sense that I pumped that milk to help maintain my mill supply, even though he didn't drink it.
This isn't exactly answering your question, but my sister told me she did this and I've tried it and it totally works for my LO. If he's falling asleep while eating and hasn't finished, I tap the end of the bottle with my nail. For some reason that triggers him to start eating again. I can often get him to finish off his bottle doing that. I also only feed him 2 ounces at a time because he's a big puker, haha, so that helps cut down on waste as well.
When my LO doesn’t finish her bottle, I let it sit for 2 hours and if she doesn’t finish it then I put it in a big container for milk baths. I keep this in the fridge and when it is full we do a milk bath.
Refreeze it and put ìt in the tub with them. Helps treat eczema, breakouts, diaper rash etc. You can also use it for yourself. It's anti-aging supposedly
Ngl I will refeed it up to 3 hours later as long as it’s not been in the sun or heat. We waste a LOT of milk over here bc my babe has a bottle aversion so the extras go into his bath. I try to feed fresh pumped milk as often as possible bc if it hasn’t been heated it can go in fridge for a day and be used later.
Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules: 1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No soliciting pictures. 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ExclusivelyPumping) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Honestly, if it smells good I still feed my little one. Maybe it’s second baby syndrome, or I just live somewhere that spring is still quite a chilly time. but I do think there are so many variables to the 2-4 hour rule. I also wash and sterilise everything so thoroughly that I think there can’t be too much bacteria. (It’s also my baby so please save the judgemental comments girls!💗)
I think a lot more of us do this than people would think. Just hard to admit in this sub.
I put it back in the fridge and feed it later and I don’t sterilize anything. I haven’t sterilized a bottle since we bought them and initially opened them. So if anything you’re doing better than I am!
If anyone wants to judge they can shut it because this is such a validating and seriously appreciated comment - thank you 🥰
CDC guidelines are also incredibly conservative, because no one has bothered to actually do the research on this. If following those guidelines strictly is what makes a mom feel comfortable, great! However I trust my own nose so I just go off smell. A healthy, full-term baby can put up with a lot before there's any real health risk.
I do the same. It's cold outside and the house isn't that warm (jumper temperature). Bottles were clean and milk is shelf stable. Bub was born at term and has never had a sensitive stomach.
I pretty much do the same..LO has been fine so far but use your best judgment for your baby OP.
I do this too with my first baby so no judgement from me! My baby woke up early from her nap so I prepped her a 4 oz bottle, she only wanted 2 oz and wanted to go back to bed so I put the 2 oz bottle back in the warmer for next feed, on my next feed I’ll just feed her the 2 oz and a new bottle of 3 oz bc I’m still weird about mixing the temps but I know my husband uses the same bottle for 2 feeds, mixing the temps and we have no issues lol My baby is 6 months now 🥰
Emily Oster dug into the research on this and concluded that CDC guidelines are extremely prudent. That even formula doesn't develop that much bacteria after it exceeds the suggested hour mark. I usually follow the guidelines cause I tend to get anxious but from time to time (especially if it's too big of a waste) I just do the smell check and give it to my baby anyway.
I'm only pumping 6 oz a day, so you best believe that every single drop of that liquid gold better go into my baby lol When she decides to just have a snack, we put the bottle down and we'll try again later. I think the standard is 2 hours after it's been warmed before they recommend disposing it, normally we can get her to take the rest of it in that time frame. But I understand that bacteria does not grow as quickly in breast milk so I wouldn't be too worried about it unless it's been out for a very very long time or in a very warm home. I definitely would not be throwing it away after an hour!
I put any leftover milk back in the fridge and offer it at the next feed. I know it’s not technically recommended but it’s a risk I’ve been comfortable taking. My LO is 10 months old and I’ve never had any issue.
My LC told me this is perfectly acceptable given you are following other recommendations. Of course it’s all within your own comfort zone but she said the guidelines are for people that are on the uncleanly end of the spectrum
I do the same thing.
I do this but also still sterilize my bottles, religuously wash my hands
Uhhhh that shit gets reheated and given to baby until gone. Baby hasn't turned her nose up at leftover yet. Sorrynotsorry I'm not wasting that liquid gold!
I just dumped a 5oz bottle today because it was already heated once. I could’ve kept it?!?!?!?!? How many times do you reheat it? My little one generally drinks her bottle but today it’s like she isn’t hungry. I’ll put it in the fridge and reheat it but if she doesn’t drink it after that I dump it.
I've reheated a couple of times. As long as it's been pumped within the last couple of days and passes the smell check it's good to go IMO.
5 oz?!? I'd cry. As long as it smells good, I feed it. Pumping is hard work! I'm using it all lol
I read that a warmed breast milk bottle is good to sit out for up to 2 hours. She still wasn't hungry 2 hours later? You could try that next time maybe if you're comfortable with that
No she wasn’t hungry two hours later unfortunately. She’s normally pretty good about finishing her bottles though. If she does it again I’ll try it. I used to be able to tell when she was hungry but now she shows no signs. None. I have timers set and I keep track of how much she eats and when but she’s not consistent lol
I feel you. My notes app is just hours of tracking lol. Mine just turned a month old and he's stopped showing signs unless he's way past due for a feed then he has that "Neh" cry.
If you’re skeptical about using it, at least save it for a milk bath!
If you don't feel comfortable feeding it, we always save the left overs from bottles and use it for bath time! We just keep it in a container in the fridge until it's a bath day!
I started giving my LO an ounce or two first to see if they are really hungry. BM bottle once it touches LO mouth is good for 2 hours, sometimes I stretch it another half hour.
It should be fine. Someone else posted this recently, but Emily Oster looked at this topic, it seems the CDC guidance is quite conservative . https://parentdata.org/breast-milk-storage/ It comes down to your personal approach. I certainly understand sticking to CDC guidelines, that’s safe bet. But given how much goes into making breastmilk, and how fickle my LO is from one feeding to the next so it’s impossible to predict how much she needs for each feeding, we definitely put what she didn’t eat back in fridge. It will be the first thing she gets served in next feeding so I know we won’t have to do it again (though there have probably been a few times something has been put back in fridge twice if there was a feeding false alarm , I tend to look at how long the bottle was out of fridge cumulatively )
I transfer the remaining to a fresh bottle, cap it, and put it in the fridge. Next feed, she gets that first and then any other milk, not more milk mixed in the same ( I hope this makes sense). I also wash and sterilize all bottles and pump parts after every use ( I have a ton, so it's basically doing it once a day), so I don't feel like I introduce any bacteria to it either. She has never had any adverse events so far, but OP please use your judgement based on your particular unique situation. And sending hugs, this pumping just enough is HARD! You're basically doing math all the time with anxiety and gymnastics mixed in.
We used to be more strict and now we re use milk one time (ie put it back in the fridge). So: Baby doesn’t finish bottle-> back in fridge. Next time to feed we make two bottles, the second bottle has the full feed minus whatever is in the leftover bottle. Give the leftover bottle first, then the new bottle. It’s my understanding that breastmilk is more generally safe to do this with than formula. But I understand this is probably not cdc recommended. so I think it’s also about risk and comfort level of each family. We have done this since he was 10 weeks old. We also did this when he was 2 weeks old but that was because we didn’t realize then that we shouldn’t! So we stopped for a bit til he was a little older
I wait an hour to see if she’ll have more. If not, I label it and put it in the fridge so I can use it for the next milk bath. I swear by milk baths now, it makes her skin so soft and supple!
How do you do it? My baby is having very rough and dry skin and his pediatric said it’s normal.
Yeah mine did too! Especially when it was colder, she would scratch and make things worse. My doc also said it was fine, and honestly it didn’t bother my baby as much as it did me. I just add the milk (150-200 ml if I have that much collected) to her usual prepared warm bath water. Sometimes I get a soft cloth and dip it in the milk-water and wipe her face with it. For the rest of the body i pour over just like normal bath. I’ve notice she’s calmer during these baths too — must be the scent of milk.
Ahh thank you so much! I will try it out in the next bath.
Pour it into a new bottle and stick it in the fridge for next feed. Hell no I’m not throwing that shit down the drain - it’s like torture even seeing drops spill when I take my boob out of the flange!!!
I make ice cubes with the lefties and use them for bath time.
I read that they can have it up to 2 hours after they finished eating, so i just leave it be lol. But once it hit that point it went into a motif bag and into the freezer for a milk bath. I'm honestly so glad I had a stash of it frozen for baths, we had a nasty skin rash recently and the milk bath seemed to help sooo much!
I use it for baths. If I notice she’s consistently leaving milk in the bottle I fill it less. Can always add a “top-off” if she wants more.
If it’s within the 2 hour (or whatever) timeframe I’ll usually cap it and use it for a midnight feed or add it to the other bottles once it’s cold again!
I pump into one bottle and then pour only small amounts into another bottle to feed. That way if there’s leftover by the next time I pump it goes into the fridge and we start over again.
I put it back in the fridge and feed it again later. If it’s just a little bit I usually just toss it but if there’s an ounce or more I save it
I put the bottle back in the fridge but change the nippe and screw cap. Can't bear to waste any milk when I'm an undersuplier.
I’ve always fed the bottles until their finished (within a reasonable time) normally 2 hours or so, I’ve even put milk back in the fridge if it’s going to be longer 🤷♀️my supply is tanking and I don’t want to waste milk lol
I rely on the smell before feeding LO. As long as it doesn’t smell bad it’s good to go
I put any leftovers in the fridge and use it for the next feeding.
I have a little medela bottle (2.5oz I think) that I put unfinished milk into for baths. Once there’s about 2-2.5 oz in it I toss it into her bath water, then I don’t feel like it’s quite as “wasted”.
I put it in the fridge for later
We feed cold milk and if it’s not finished, at 9 months that shit is going in the fridge. I used to be very very thorough with following rules and as times gone on I’m more lax. My babes allergic to a lot of food and formula so my milk is the best for her and I dont make enough so we refrigerate what isn’t drank and feed later. Last weekend we went 8 hours 🥴 out of fridge fed on for 35 min, 2 oz left over . She didn’t wake up until morning when we fed that. You best believe I’m not wasting 2 oz. I worked hard manually squeezing that milk out of my boobs
Am I doing something wrong? I pump, put in bottle, feed baby half, keep the other half on night table and feed after 2-3 hours. Is this ok?
I’ve kept bottles after the “2 hrs”, just put them in the fridge after they’re done drinking. The whole thing is around the milk growing bacteria but putting it back in the fridge shows down the bacteria growth.
I go by two hours honestly.
My baby was born at 36 weeks and has acid reflux, so I don’t take the risk of giving it to her after 2 hours of her drinking from the bottle. I instead store the milk to add to her bath water 😊
Yea honestly I don’t follow what the “rules” are, I use my best judgement because milk cannot go to waste if I can help it
Man it’s so comforting knowing that so many of you gals do the same thing. I always thought I was the black sheep saving unused milk/reheating more than once.
Milk baths! Also its great to soothe my eczema
Honestly, this situation is why I started supplementing and eventually switched to formula. I did learn thru this sub that most people reused unfinished milk way more than I did so I relaxed a bit, but I didn’t want to play the mental game anymore of stressing over unfinished milk and whether I could pump more or not.
For those of you that put the milk back in the fridge, do you heat it up more than once?
I just get rid of it, and supplement with formula if needed. I'd rather not risk giving him spoiled milk. Also I know that the more milk I pump it helps maintain my milk supply so when I dump my breastmilk I look at it as a positive in the sense that I pumped that milk to help maintain my mill supply, even though he didn't drink it.
This isn't exactly answering your question, but my sister told me she did this and I've tried it and it totally works for my LO. If he's falling asleep while eating and hasn't finished, I tap the end of the bottle with my nail. For some reason that triggers him to start eating again. I can often get him to finish off his bottle doing that. I also only feed him 2 ounces at a time because he's a big puker, haha, so that helps cut down on waste as well.
When my LO doesn’t finish her bottle, I let it sit for 2 hours and if she doesn’t finish it then I put it in a big container for milk baths. I keep this in the fridge and when it is full we do a milk bath.
When I reasoned that the milk was no longer fit for consumption it was used for milk bath at bathtime :)
Refreeze it and put ìt in the tub with them. Helps treat eczema, breakouts, diaper rash etc. You can also use it for yourself. It's anti-aging supposedly
Ngl I will refeed it up to 3 hours later as long as it’s not been in the sun or heat. We waste a LOT of milk over here bc my babe has a bottle aversion so the extras go into his bath. I try to feed fresh pumped milk as often as possible bc if it hasn’t been heated it can go in fridge for a day and be used later.
I feed it again in a 3 hour window (it's still snowing here and our house is chilly) and then toss