It’s September! Storm season is upon us, in many part of the U.S. (Or maybe you’re reading this in the winter when there’s about to be a snow storm!) Here’s how to get prepared before a power outage, or react to an unforeseen outage, and protect your frozen breastmilk.
An outage is coming! What do I do?
If you have a heads-up about a planned power outage or impending storm, take precaution now. If you have a small/easily manageable amount of breastmilk, this will be an easier task. If you’ve amassed quite a freezer stash, this could take some more intensive planning. You’re already here reading this, so that’s a great start. *High Five* You’ve got this, momma!
Move your stash
With advance notice, you can move your stash to a safer location. Chances are, a neighbor is sharing the same electricity grid, so move it farther than next door. If you have family or friends with space, ask if you can store your milk at their house. In extreme cases, I have known families to load an entire chest freezer into a pickup truck and plug it in at their parent’s garage.
If your house is in danger of flooding and you must evacuate, transfer your milk to a quality, hard-sided cooler and take it with you. Pack the cooler with hard ice packs surrounding your breastmilk.
Dry or bagged ice
Run out for bags of ice to load into your freezer. Surround your breastmilk with the bagged ice. You may even want to double-bag the ice incase it begins to melt. If you choose to get dry ice, be sure to handle it carefully, with thick gloved. It is recommended to put your dry ice in a separate container away from your milk. If it comes into contact with your breastmilk bag, it can burn through the side of the bag and cause milk to leak out.
Fill your freezer
A full freezer stays colder, longer. Fill any large empty spaces with crumpled newspaper, or even a bed comforter! If you are using a cooler instead, make sure to pack any open space with crumpled newspaper. This reduces air flow and keeps the freezer colder for longer.
The coin trick
Freeze a cup of water and place a coin on top of it in your freezer. After power returns, check your cup. If the coin is still on top, everything has stayed frozen. If the coin is at the bottom of a cup of water, a full thaw has occurred. If the coin is at the bottom of a frozen cup of water, the freezer has fully thawed and frozen again. Breastmilk should not be refrozen once fully thawed. (Though if it’s only partially thawed, breastmilk can be refrozen!)
My power went out with no warning, what do I do?
Your freezer = a cooler
The power is out… no electricity… your freezer is now a really great cooler, so treat it like one. Surround your breastmilk with freezer gel packs, which stay cooler longer than ice made with water. Resist the urge to obsessively check on your freezer stash! The less you open it, the cooler it will stay, so keep it tightly closed! Consider taping the seal on your freezer to keep it from getting opened, and to resist the urge to open it yourself.
Winter = nature’s freezer
Are you living in an area with current snowfall? Consider double or triple bagging up your milk stash and moving it into a shady, protected spot, completely surrounded by thick snow.
Refreezing breastmilk
If you breastmilk has only partially thawed, and still has ice chunks or ice crystals, you can refreeze it! The clock does not start over, it’s still good for up to 12 months.
Fully thawed breastmilk
If your milk has thawed completely (no ice crystals left) it will need to be used within 24 hours. If you have milk that has thawed longer than 24 hours, give it a smell. If it smells ok, write “do not feed” on the bag of milk, refreeze, and use for milk baths! If it smells sour, dump it. (You wouldn’t want to bathe with spoiled milk!)
My own experience
The longest outage I have personally experienced was 35 hours without electricity. I had several bricks (See the brick method of storage HERE) of breastmilk in my chest freezer and harldy any of it thawed. A few baggies began to thaw and could be refrozen. We tried not to open the freezer during the outage, to keep it cooler, longer. Huge *High Five* to our chest freezer, right? Phew!
Sources:
- Center for Disease Control
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- La Leche League, USA
- Kelly Mom. com
- New York Milk Bank
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