# Adding warm milk to cold -- why not?



## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

I have heard that you're not supposed to add warm pumped milk to cold milk, but I can't remember why.

I'm pumping at work for DS, but I usually just get about an ounce and a half or two ounces per side (I'm using a double PIS), so it's easier to just pour it all into one bottle so that I don't have a bunch of bottles that are half full. So if I pump once at put that in the fridge and then two hours later pump again, is it bad to mix them?


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## miche28 (Sep 16, 2006)

The idea is that you're repeatedly raising the temp of the milk and letting it cool again - so this might encourage bacteria. That said, I think that, particularly for a full-term, healthy baby, the risk is one you'd have to gage for yourself vs. the difficulty of separate contianers or possible waste of precious pumped milk.


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## letniaLynne (Jun 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *miche28* 
The idea is that you're repeatedly raising the temp of the milk and letting it cool again - so this might encourage bacteria. That said, I think that, particularly for a full-term, healthy baby, the risk is one you'd have to gage for yourself vs. the difficulty of separate contianers or possible waste of precious pumped milk.

Also you could do the separate containers until everything is at the same temperature in the fridge and then at the end of the day for transport pour them all into one bottle. Of course you still have to wash all those bottles now but technically that would be the best way to do it. (I am not saying that is the way I do it normally














If the milk was going to be used within the next 24 hrs i would just pour them into one bottle after each pump. But if I was going to store the milk for awhile I would take the extra steps.


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## turtlewomyn (Jun 5, 2005)

When I was pumping (stopped a year ago or so) I just kept my milk in the little ameda cooler (that has three icepacks, so the bottles are surrounded by milk). The cooler can hold 6 bottles, but for a while I was pumping 4x/day to get enough milk for DD. What I did was after a pump session I would put the milk from both bottles (ameda purely yours, a double breast pump) together, then stick them in the cooler. Once they got cold (from all the ice packs) I would combine them all. I would do that with the first three sessions, and then wash two of the bottles quickly for the fourth session. But no, don't combine warm and cold milk, cool the warm milk first if you are going to combine it with the cold.


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## CathMac (Jan 10, 2006)

See link with excerpts below:

Ameda: More about milk storage and handling
http://www.ameda.com/milkstorage/more.aspx
EXCERPT
"You can combine milk pumped at different times. If you combine milk from different days, use the date of the oldest milk.
If your milk is used within eight days, keep it in the fridge. Otherwise, plan to freeze it in the coldest part of the freezer. Avoid the door.
*You can add fresh milk to cooled milk. And you can add fresh milk to frozen milk if it's cooled first and is less than the amount frozen.*"

Breastfeeding Essentials: Storage and handling
http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com...ehandling.html
EXCERPT "While it was originally thought that a mother had to cool her fresh breastmilk before combining it with previously expressed cooled milk, *the latest research now shows that you may pump directly into already refrigerated or cooled milk as long as the milk is added within 24 hours of the first milk expressed*. You should then follow the storage recommendations based upon the time and date of the first milk expressed. You may pump directly into milk that has been stored at room temperature as long as you do so within 10 hours. This milk would need to then be used."


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## amydep (Apr 18, 2006)

I have always combined milk and have added warm milk to cooled milk MANY times and have never had any problems. Like it says below, I only combine milk that has been pumped within a 24 hour period. For instance, I will pump in the morning and then again the next morning and will sometimes combine a little bit of the second pumping with the first in order to get the desired amount for the bottle. I wouldn't add warm milk to frozen milk though - like it says below.


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