Hesperian Health Guides
Removing Milk by Hand
If you remove more milk than your baby needs, you can give it to another baby whose parent is sick.
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| You can remove your milk by hand 2 or 3 times each day... | ...then send or store the milk for someone to feed your baby. |
You may also need to remove your milk by hand if your breasts are too full, or if your baby cannot breastfeed for some reason, and you want to keep a good milk supply.
How to remove your milk by hand
- Wash and rinse a wide-mouth jar and lid with soap and clean water, and leave them in the sun to dry.
- Just before using them, fill them with water that has boiled for 20 minutes and let the water sit for a few minutes. Then pour the water out.
- Wash your hands well before touching the jar or your breasts.
- Find a quiet place if you can. Be patient and try to relax. Thinking about the baby as you remove your milk may help it flow. Massage your breasts lightly with your finger tips or fist, moving toward the nipple.
- Then, put your fingers and thumb at the edge of the dark part around your nipple (areola), and press backwards against your chest. Gently press your fingers together and roll them towards the nipple. Do not pinch or pull your nipple. Removing milk should not hurt. Move your fingers all the way around the areola so the milk can come out of the whole breast. Do this with each breast until it is empty.
- At first, not much milk will come out. With practice you will remove more. Plan to remove milk at least 3 to 5 times a day, or as often as your baby eats. The person who gives your milk to the baby can let you know if there was enough. If you start to practice 2 weeks before you return to work, you will be able to remove enough milk by the time you must be separated from your baby.
| Press back, do not pinch. |
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How to store the milk
Breast milk can change color. The color comes from what you eat. Any color milk is good for your baby, as long as it is fresh or stored in a refrigerator or freezer.
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| The container can be stored longer in a cool place such as a clay pot with water in it. |
Keep your milk in a clean, closed container (see steps 1 and 2). You can store milk in the same jar used to remove the milk. Keep the milk in a cool place away from sunlight. The milk will stay good to use for about 8 hours. If you can keep the container cool, for example, by burying it in wet sand or wrapping it in an always wet cloth, it will stay good for about 12 hours.
Milk that is kept cold in a glass jar in a refrigerator will stay good for 2 to 3 days. The cream (fat) in the milk will separate, so before giving it to the baby, shake the container to mix the milk. Heat it to room temperature in warm water. Test the milk to make sure it is not too hot by shaking a few drops onto your arm.
Warm bottle method
This method is good to use if the breasts are too full or very painful. This might happen right after birth or if a breastfeeding cracked nipple or breast infection interrupts breastfeeding.
- Clean a large glass bottle that has a 3 to 4 cm-wide mouth. Warm it by filling it with hot water. Fill it slowly so the bottle does not break. Wait a few minutes and then pour the water out.
- Cool the mouth and neck of the bottle with clean, cool water so that it does not burn you.
- Fasten the bottle mouth over your nipple so that it makes a seal. Hold it firmly in place for several minutes. As it cools, it will gently pull the milk out.
- When the milk flow slows down, use your finger to loosen the seal around the breast. Wetting your finger may help.
- Repeat on the other breast.
