You can store and freeze breast milk in mason jars but make sure that you sterilize the mason jar by keeping it in boiling water for 20 minutes or placing it in the dishwasher. The heat from the water will help kill germs. Mason jars are a great way to store breast milk and you can also use nipples that are specially made to fit in mason jars and feed your baby. Try buying mason jars that are smaller in size so that it’s easy to thaw without wasting any milk. You can later use the same jars to store your daily leftover food or baby purees.
Hi there mama,
A newborn baby can bring a lot of joy and happiness to a person’s life, but with a baby comes many responsibilities and expenses. So, you might want to plan your expenditures accordingly.
Truth be told, being a first-time mom, I bought many things before the baby arrived. You name it, I have it, from toys to teethers, to bouncers, swings, the complete shebang! But, as the baby grew, most of these things were hardly touched, used, or even saw a ray of light.
Being a first-time parent can terrify you and make you think no matter what you buy, you’re still unequipped to raise a baby. But, before you go on a crazy shopping spree, ask other mothers on the internet or watch Youtube videos telling you what you might and might not need.
Try being creative and substituting the more priced products with the lesser ones, but don’t compromise on the quality.
You don’t have to have feeding bottles or breast pumps that are way too expensive but work the same as the cheaper ones available in the market.
The same goes for breast milk storage. It’s already hard enough to juggle so much along with taking care of a baby, and you don’t want to invite more bills to pay on top of it.
Freezer storage bags can be quite expensive if you’re planning to exclusively pump and feed your baby. Most of these commonly available milk storage bags can only be used once, and after you thaw the milk in it, you can’t re-use it.
Another disadvantage of using freezer storage bags is that they’re at risk of leaking, and you can’t stack them one above the other. So, there’s a risk of leakage and storing issues.
Ways to store breast milk in the freezer
Freezer bags
Milk storage bags or freezer bags are most commonly available and popular to store breast milk in the freezer.
You can find so many brands today in the market that offer milk storage bags that are chemical-free, BPA-free.
They are also quite easy to label and store in the freezer. You can find them in different sizes, but most of them are not reusable. So, you tend to spend more money on storage bags if you plan to exclusively pump and store milk.
Milk ice trays
You can either use regular ice trays that are BPA-free but sterilize them properly before every use, or you can use breast milk trays that usually come with compartments that can contain 1oz of milk.
Once it’s frozen, you can transfer these frozen breast milk sticks to freezer ziplock bags and use as many as your baby needs. Make sure to label the ziplock bags with the date of the week you pumped the milk.
Using milk trays is one of the easiest ways to store breast milk without buying tons of milk storage bags. The best thing about these ice trays is that they can be reused multiple times, and as your baby grows older, you can even store baby food in them.
Mason jars / Glass jars
Who knew mason jars are not only used to drink your iced teas and milkshakes, right? Mason jars are a great way to store breast milk in the freezer.
You can either buy those 16oz mason jars or buy the smaller ones, which are about 4oz and use them as you need. Using mason jars will ensure that there’ll be very little to no spillage of milk.
It won’t get messy while transferring to a bottle or while thawing it. You can even get nipples that can be used instead of the jar and make it a feeding bottle for your little one.
Benefits of using mason jars to store breast milk
1. Lighter on the pocket
With mason jars, you can use them as many times as you want. All you need to do is clean your hands before handling the mason jar and thoroughly clean and sterilize the jar.
Instead of buying multiple milk storage bags and feeding bottles, you can buy a specific number of mason jars or glass jars and reuse them. With some mason jars, there’s also a feature of adding a nipple instead of the jar and make it a feeding bottle.
Once your baby is 6 months or above, you can use the same mason jars to store baby food.
2. Save space
When it comes to mason jars, you all know that they can be perfectly stacked one above another, but you can’t do the same with milk storage bags as they can leak if you stack storage bags with freshly pumped milk.
3. You won’t waste milk
It can get quite messy, and you may spill some milk after thawing a milk storage bag and then transferring the milk to a bottle.
But with mason jars, either you can use it as it is by adding a nipple on the head of the glass bottle and make it a feeding bottle or efficiently transfer it into another bottle without spilling it.
4. Environment friendly
Mason jars are environment friendly as they won’t be a single time use-and-throw thing. You can use it for storing milk, baby food, the food that you eat, or even masalas in the small mason jars.
You also don’t have to worry about chemical leaching while heating the plastic milk storage bags.
By using mason jars, you are not going to throw it away unless it cracks or breaks. Using a mason jar as a feeding bottle also helps make things so easy. You should see my storage; it contains a box with only feeding and storage bottles.
5. You’ll have less things to wash
If you’re using mason jars that can also become a feeding bottle, count your blessings because now you have fewer items to wash and sterilize.
Storage Guidelines
| Types of Breast milk | At Room Temperature (77°F / 25°C or colder) | Refrigerator (40°F / 4°C) | Freezer (0°F / -18°C or colder) |
| Freshly pumped | Up to 4 hours | Up to 4 days | Up to 6 months is considered best, but you can store for up to 12 months in a deep freezer. |
| Thawed, Previously Frozen | 1 – 2 hours | Up to 24 hours | Don’t refreeze milk once it’s been thawed. |
How to thaw breast milk from mason jars
There are several ways of thawing breast milk stored in a mason jar- you can either…
- Place the mason jar in lukewarm water to thaw for 10-20 minutes, or
- Leave the mason jar on the counter to thaw for 1-2 hours, or
- You can keep the mason jar in the fridge to thaw. Several hours up to 1 day.
FAQs
Can I pump milk in the same bottle the whole day?
Freshly pumped milk can be kept the room temperature for 4 hours. So, you can use the same bottle to pump milk within the 4-hour window.
Do I need to sterilize the bottle every time before using it?
No, it’s not necessary to sterilize the feeding bottle and pump parts each time you use it. You can sterilize before using for the first time on that day and then wash with warm, soapy water after every use.
Which foods will help me to increase my milk supply?
You can have foods like garlic, fenugreek, oatmeal or oat milk, fennel seeds, barley, protein-rich foods like chicken, eggs, and seafood, and pumpkin.
Takeaway
So, can you use mason jars to store breast milk? In a nutshell, yes, you can, as using mason jars means one less thing to wash, one less thing to throw away, and one less thing to spill and worry about. As a result, you’ll save money, time, and, more importantly, your energy in doing millions of things at the same time.
Always make sure to sterilize the mason jars before using them to store your breast milk because you don’t want your breast milk to smell weird or go bad.
