Storing breastmilk

Check Whānau Āwhina Plunket's chart on how to store expressed milk

It is best to express directly into a sterilised plastic container, or you can store your breastmilk in a clean, closed container or a special breastmilk storage bag. 

It’s a good idea to store the milk in small amounts. Covered ice cube trays are good because they're easily thawed. Make sure you label it with the date it was expressed, and label it as expressed milk so it’s not mistaken for anything else! 

Milk storage guidelines 

See more on the expressing breastmilk page at the Whānau Āwhina Plunket website. There you'll find information about:

• expressing milk by hand
• expressing breastmilk with a hand-held pump
• expressing breastmilk with an electric pump
• how to store expressed milk (reproduced above)
• how to thaw frozen breastmilk
• warming expressed breastmilk
• using expressed breastmilk when you're out and about
• cleaning expressing equipment