How can I tell when my breast milk has gone bad (from being out too long or in the fridge too long etc) also I pump my right breast every time after he eats because he will only eat from the left and I almost get nothing out of it. But I have to pump my left one because it produces so much. Any advice on how to even out the amount in both breast lol or is that not a thing. I’m FTM and I really want to make this work.
And will I always have to wear breast pads? Will my breast always leak?
go by 6s
6hrs room temp, 6days in the fridge, 6months in the freezer (12m in deep freeze).
and you need to offer your right breast. and its ok if you dont get anything out from it, it just may not respond to the pump. 100% normal, does not mean there is no milk.
and my son is over 1 and i rarely leak. but usually by 3m you shouldnt need to use breast pads much, if at all.
I have head trauma to my left breast. And all I could nurse with is my right. And it worked out just fine. And no you won’t leak forever. If you have a local La Leche League they can help you
My son is 19 months, I still leak. My right always produces more, no matter how much he ignores it.
My daughter hasn’t nursed in 6 months and I occasionally still leak, but not enough for pads.
I’ve never heard of a baby only eating out of one just because. That’s interesting. Yeah I would just pump on the one that he doesn’t eat out of to keep it from drying up… Even if your not getting alot from it. Breastfeeding can be very challenging at times especially for a ftm! Your doing great!
My understanding is that breast milk is good at room temp for up to 8 hours, I always went a little less than that just to be sure I would guess a week in the fridge and months if frozen.
As long as the room isn’t warm it’s usually 8 hours at room temp
5 days in the fridge
You can freeze it in a regular freezer for up to 6 months or a deep freezer for 12 so if you have extra I would suggest freezing it
after it’s thawed it’s good for up to 24 hours
Some women do a smell or taste test to see if it’s bad or not bc it is milk and you will be able to tell but if you have high lipase your refrigerated or frozen then thawed milk can smell similar to pennies or idk just metal in general? But it’s a diff smell than if it were bad
I was told that baby is better at emptying the breast than a pump, could be why the other one isn’t producing as much. Keep pumping even after milk stops coming out, it will make your breast produce more over time. Try different holds to get your LO to feed from both, thats the best way to even them out.
Itll stink really freaking bad lol but you shouldn’t give it to your baby if its been out past 6 hrs.
Pump the right Breast while the baby eats from your left. I had to do the same thing and pumping while feeding always caused massive let downs… Good luck!
Don’t pump the one that he nurses from, that extra stimulation is causing more milk in the side that’s already producing. Pump the opposite boob that baby refuses during and after each feed. My baby only nursed on the left so I tried just pumping the other boob whenever it was over full and still ended up with mastitis on that side- believe me YOU DONT WANT MASTITIS!! My baby also refused bottles and pacifiers so she nursed on the side that she liked allll day and night😳 Pumping while you have an exclusively breastfed baby is EXHAUSTING and miserable but you will get through it. I continued offering her both boobs (always the one she refused first) and around 5-6 weeks she started nursing on both🎉Also my daughters 9 months and I still leak but I just don’t care anymore🤷🏼♀️