[TinyTeddys]

Quick question...I have BF my boys and always thought best practice was heating breast milk by standing a bottle in boiled/hot water.

We are minding a friends bub today and the instructions were to heat the breast milk in the microwave.

Just after thoughts....TIA

[meggs1]

You are doin it rite.

[Leafprincess]

You are right to do it in water

Was told not to do it in the microwave as it heats unevenly which can cause there to be "hot spots" burning the baby.

Also wouldn't it kill off the nutrients?

[TinyTeddys]

Also wouldn't it kill off the nutrients?

That's what I thought! With our boys, if always told DH not to use the microwave so kinda felt weird being told to heat it that way.

[Lainskii]

just heat it with hot water like you do, it takes slightly longer but same end result.

[lucky 2]

Microwaving doesn't kill all the nutrients (think of milk banks and treated milk, still fantastic for babies and far more desirable than the alternative), in my understanding it's the hot spot concern that is the main issue.

[elle-M]

Working in neonates/paediatrics and having seen my hospital's breastmilk heating policy, the evidence-based approach is that heating breastmilk is fine in the microwave if:

- the baby is not solely on EBM. If baby is just having EBM on occassion then it's fine (microwaving does kill some antibodies, so you wouldn't want to do it all the time. The baby gets the antibodies every other feed though when they get it from the breast)
- the milk is thoroughly shaken to mix and temperature tested before being given to the baby

It's one of those policies that has recently changed due to new research, it was always common practice to heat milk in jugs of hot water, and I would still do this if my baby was having a lot of EBM in bottles. However, I heat my baby's in the microwave since she only has a bottle of EBM once every few weeks when required.

Hope that helps!

This post has been edited by elle-M: 06/01/2013, 12:35 PM