While I was researching on how to increase supply with pumping, I watched several videos and read several blogs on pumping and breastfeeding.
Some of the videos were pumping routines posted by moms in youtube. In one of a travel pumping routine video, a mom could not get a fridge in the hotel she stayed and was upset since breastmilk cannot be stored in ice pack for more than 24 hours and fed to baby. If you are weak-hearted and pumping mom skip this line and go to next paragraph, but what she ended up doing was pouring the pumped milk in sink!!!!
My heart literally skipped a beat when I watched that. If you are a exclusive pumping mom or pumping to increase supply or breastfeeding mom, you know how precious liquid gold is. And to waste all that milk? That just hurts!
However milk wastage is bound to happen in some scenarios. E.g. you baby does not finish the milk and there are guidelines on how long that milk can be used for (once baby has drank from a bottle, that milk should not be used after 1 hour).
Here are some alternate uses of breastmilk, so you never have to pour the precious liquid gold down the sink.
To treat diaper rash, sore etc.
Breast milk has good antibodies and can help treat diaper rash (unless it is due to yeast infection – avoid breast milk for yeast infection – do check with your doctor in case of doubt). Clean baby bottom, apply expressed milk and let dry before diapering.
Milk Bath:
To leverage of beneficial properties of breastmilk, mix the wasted milk (if it is not spoiled) into the baby’s bath and babies skin will look so much better. You will also observe that the diaper rash disappears.
I have seen moms save up the wasted breastmilk and use it for milk bath photo – it is beautiful – try it if you are interested.
Breastmilk Soap:
Google for a recipe and try this and let me know how it works out.
Disclaimer & PS:
I have not had that much of an excess to create milk bath photo or breastmilk soap. However I did put the wasted milk into bath water few times and observed that it helps heal diaper rash much faster than a diaper cream does – somedays there were significant improvement the very next day. Make sure the milk is not spoiled whatever you reuse it for.
Internet has several other uses for breastmilk, however I have not tried them and I am not a doctor and hence have not included them here. If you are interested the answers are a search and click away.