How to Use Your Breast Milk Powder

Freeze-dried breast milk is not sterile. Breast milk powder should be stored and prepared properly in order to prevent contamination with Cronobacter and other bacteria that can cause serious illness if safe handling guidelines are not followed.

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  • Rehydrated Breast Milk

    • Once milk is rehydrated, use within 2 hours of preparation and within one hour from when feeding begins. Rehydrated breast milk can spoil if left at room temperature.
    • If you do not start to use the rehydrated milk within 2 hours, immediately store the bottle in the fridge and use it within 24 hours.
    • Do not freeze rehydrated milk.
    • Throw out any milk that is left in the bottle after feeding your baby. The combination of milk and your baby’s saliva can cause bacteria to grow. Be sure to clean and sanitize the bottle before its next use.
  • Powder

    • Store sealed pouches in a cool, dry, indoor place—not in vehicles, garages, or outdoors.
    • Once a pouch is opened, store in a cool, dry place with the zipper tightly sealed. Do not store it in the refrigerator. Discard unused powder after 3 days.
    • Do not use if past expiration date printed on the custom label.

ADDITIONAL INFO

Incorporating into Solid Foods

​Your powdered breast milk can also be incorporated into solid foods even after weaning for a nutritional boost! Simply sprinkle a little on your child's favorite foods, and mix in. Here are a few tips:

 

  • Each ounce of frozen breast milk will yield approximately 0.1oz (2 teaspoons) of breast milk powder.
  • Make sure that the powder is mixed in thoroughly to the food to prevent accidental powder inhalation.
  • After you open a bag of your breast milk powder, remember to re-seal the zipper! The powder will rapidly start to attract moisture if left unsealed, which can lead to bacterial growth as your milk was not pasteurized during the freeze-drying process. For this reason, once the bag has been opened, it should be re-sealed and used within 3 days.

Instruction Label Guide

Your name will appear here on the label
The amount of water to add back for a bottle prep (if using whole bag of powder) will appear here
*note that the total volume of the bottle will be about 10% larger than this once the water is added to the powder
If you recorded the date you pumped/froze your milk, it will appear here
The expiration date is three years from that date of freeze-drying
Any other notes you recorded on your bag will appear in this section - if you did not have anything written, it will be blank