EBM night feeds...?

[AK89]

So after 2 or so months of being fine with the bottle and then about 2 more of being SUPER fussy with it and refusing it, my LO has consistently taken a bottle no problem every day for a few days now! HALLELUJA! Really hoping she keeps it up.. was starting to get a bit anxious about going back to work.. and I'd kinds like to be able to go out for a drink every once in a while which is obviously impossible with a baby who refuses to drink from a bottle!

So now she's got the hang of it I'm thinking we should start practising (my OH) giving her her night feed for that fateful night when I DO get to go out and have a drink again! But the thought of it is making me a bit anxious.. There's not really any way we can prepare for it cos she doesn't really wake up at a set time.. She usually just wakes up, cries and I pick her up, stick my boob in her mouth and she's sorted! So the thought of her crying the whole time he prepares her bottle isn't exactly filling me with joy. So I've been trying to come up with little shortcuts and ways of speeding up the process. So far I've got: have the kettle filled and in the bedroom. . But then you've got the issue of the milk. That's downstairs in the fridge.. that adds on another minute or so! I'm thinking maybe I could use a cool bag and ice packs and have it upstairs with us?? I dunno..

Any ideas? Do any of you ladies give / get your OH to give a bottle of EBM during the night? What's your routine?

 

[Rhiannon137]

It's fine to leave breast milk at room temp for a few hours.

 

[AK89]

I thought that was only if it was fresh.. This is gonna have been either in the fridge for a few days or possibly from the freezer.. Is that safe?

 

[Rhiannon137]

My doctor said it was okay to do treat the refrigerated or thawed milk the same as fresh - just apply some common sense to it. Like - don't leave it sit in a hot car for hours, don't put it back in the fridge after it's sat out for a few hours, etc.

I've had to exclusively pump for my son, so I have a LOT of experience handling, storing and feeding expressed milk. When he was having overnight bottles, I would routinely take his ~2 am bottle out of the fridge when I went to bed around 10. He was happy to take it at room temp, so I would just give it a gentle mix to redistribute the fat and feed him. If we are going out and he will need to eat within an hour or two, I usually warm a bottle before we leave. I can only speak for myself, but I haven't had any problems in the 11 months we've been doing this.

 

[AK89]

Ooh yay thank you!