Expired Breast milk? Here are 4 simple ways you can use them!

Ever had to deal with expired breast milk or are you thinking about What to do with breast milk instead of dumping it? Storing breast milk is always a challenge and when you do so much hard work to pump & store, you would want your baby to drink every drop of it. Unfortunately, life does not work that way.

There are times breast milk would reach its drink by or expired date before the baby consumes it, or you might forget to store it in the refrigerator or freezer, or it might spill over by accident. Every mom has to deal with this sometime in her life. Did you know you can use the expired, spillover, or leftover breastmilk without dumping them? Yes, it is fascinating to know the expired breast milk uses.

Well, we all know the rule of 5 – Breast milk is safe to use within 5 hours at room temperature, 5 days in the refrigerator & 5 months in the freezer. Read more about breast milk storage guidelines here.

In my case, I was an oversupplied mom and had a lot of milk collected even without pumping. Lol! My baby hardly had any chance to drink the frozen milk as she was happy to drink directly from the source. Because of which I had to donate most of my freezer stash to the milk bank. However, I did use some of my stashes for emergency times when I could not breastfeed her (this was normally when we were on long drives). And almost all the time I had to dump them coz they had reached their time of consumption. After a couple of instances, I decided to find a way to use the expired milk.

How did I use my expired Breast milk?

So here are the ways I found interesting & used it to use my expired breast milk:

BREAST MILK BATH

Breast milk has all the nutrition in it & it can be used to treat any kind of skin allergies or infection. It is also known to be the best medicine for eczema. Well, if nothing it’s an awesome refresher to soak in and enjoy the bath. You can just warm up the milk and soak yourself or your little one in it & enjoy. This is actually the best what to do with breast milk instead of dumping it. Honestly, my daughter was lucky to have a milk bath almost every other day just because of all the extra milk I had. Try the expired breast milk bath today!

LIQUID GOLD (BREAST MILK) SOAP

Home made expired breast milk soap was one of my successful experiments. It is very easy to make and lasts longer. This can be used for yourself & for your little one. They have amazing benefits & make your skin glow! All you need is:

• Organic Melt & pour soap base – 250 gm (I got the one with oatmeal & Shea butter)
• Breast milk – 8 oz

The process involves melting the base in the microwave or on the gas top; adding in the breast milk & any essential oils or natural ingredients like honey, orange zest to it. It is good to avoid having bubbles when you are melting the base to avoid air bubbles in the soap. I have tried 3 different varieties including plain soap with just breast milk in it; one with coffee & honey and the one with orange zest. I have been using this soap for more than a year now on my little one.

FREEZE INTO CUBES

You can just freeze the expired breast milk into cubes and use it for any cuts or scrapes. It has good healing power and helps in soothing the wound instantly. Make sure to label them right so it does not mix with your fresh breast milk.

SPILLOVER MILK?

How many times do we sit & sob about the milk that spilt over accidentally?! I feel terrified when it happens. Every drop of liquid gold is precious & it saddens me to see it spill over and go to waste.

You can use a washcloth or a napkin to soak the spilt over milk and put them in a ziplock bag & freeze it. You can use this washcloth for baths or soothe a wound instantly.

I would love to know if any mamas have other ideas to use the expired milk.

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