Storing Breastmilk

 

Breast milk is a magical substance, specially designed to feed little humans. It contains anti-bodies and anti-microbial substances, this means that the rules for storing breast milk is a little different to storing formula or pasteurised cows/goats milk.
These guidelines below are widely accepted as the correct and proper way to keep your precious expressed milk free from bacterial growth and contamination.

Immediate Use of Fresh Milk

If you are planning to use the milk right away, freshly expressed milk is good at room temperature for 4-6 hours. If the room is a warmer temperature it is best to discard the milk after 4 hours.

Stored in a sterilised bottle/container in the back of the fridge, the milk is safe for 3-5 days.

Using Frozen Milk

If you don't think you will use your liquid gold within the3-5 day time frame - cool it to room temperature, add a date label and pop in the freezer. By gradually cooling down the milk before freezing you are able to maintain a lot of the natural proteins found in breast milk. Milk pumped within 3-4 hours of each other can be mixed and frozen together. Milk stored in the freezer is good for up to 6 months. If you have a deep freezer, milk can keep for up to a year. 

Once breast milk is frozen, many of the immunological properties it contains are destroyed. These are the same properties that help prevent bacterial growth, which means previously frozen breast milk will go bad faster than freshly expressed breast milk.

When thawing frozen milk the same rules apply from the cooling down process: in order to maintain the composition of breast milk proteins you should gradually heat it. If possible, take the milk out from the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw overnight. You can use running water to thaw the milk prior to use, gradually increasing the water temperature to warm the milk making sure to massage the bag for an even temperature. Never place breast milk in the microwave to heat up, it de-natures the proteins.

Previously frozen milk can keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours. If a bottle has been heated for a feeding, it can be used withing two hours before discarding.

Can I Refreeze Thawed Milk?

Depending on how cold you keep your fridge/freezer, you may be able to pop the bag back in the freezer. If your breast milk still has ice crystals it is not technically thawed. Milk that has been left in the fridge, but still has ice crystals, is fine to place back in the freezer.

If your milk is completely liquid, however, you can not refreeze it.

Once you know how to properly express and freeze your breast milk, you will need to know how long it will stay good after you take it out of the freezer. So how long will thawed breast milk last?

If you let the breast milk thaw out in the fridge, you can keep it in the fridge up to 24 hours after it has finished thawing. (Note that it can take around 12 hours to thaw depending on how much milk is in the container and how cold your fridge is). If you warmed the thawed breast milk, do not try to hang on to it. Warmed milk is far more likely to have been exposed to bacterial growth.

You can add freshly expressed milk to thawed milk as long as the freshly expressed milk is cooled first and the milk is still used within 24 hours.

If your breast milk ever smells sour or “off”, throw it out. Double-bag your milk if you’re going to be storing it with something that smells strongly, such as peppers, as the breast milk may pick up the strong smell.

Tips for home made baby food

Home made apple, pear and strawberry puree.

Making your own homemade baby food is much easier and cheaper than many think, and can be quick to prepare with a little planning.  By creating your own portion sizes you cut down on waste and unused food from cans or jars. Also, you have the ability to control every single ingredient that goes into your child’s mouth.  You can create endless flavor combinations of fruits, veggies, and meats.

Weaning your baby on to solids is full of well meaning advice, and do's, don'ts and varying opinions and trends. At the end of the day there really is no "right" way to do it. The World Health Organisation recommends that babies only start solids at 6 months, but a week or two is unlikely to make a difference one way or the other. If you have major food allergies in your family it is best to wait to introduce those foods until baby is over 1. In the Iti Baby Household we avoid grains for our babies as they cannot properly digest them until they are over one.

Your baby is likely to be ready to try solids when:

• Your child has good head and neck control.
• Your child is able to sit well with little or no support.
• When you put a bottle or spoon in front of your child they show interest by opening their mouths or trying to reach for the object.

Coming up with your own combinations of foods can be a lot of fun, but if you are running short of ideas, have a look at the cans of baby food at the supermarket, and make your own versions of similar combinations.  It isn’t imperative that one type of food be introduced before the other, but there are a few recommendations that may help the process go smoothly.

1)     Introduce vegetables first. The idea behind this is that your child may be less willing to give vegetables a chance after discovering the sweet flavors of the fruit.

2) Try starting baby with soft cooked egg yolk with small amounts of vegetables. Egg yolks are very nutritious and easy to digest.

3) Mix meat/bone broth in with vegetables right from the beginning, they contain iron and minerals in very accessible forms.

4)     Prepare and serve foods plain, do not add any additional sugar, salt, or seasonings.

Preparing the food

Before you start, some food safety!

• Always wash your hands prior to preparing any foods.
• Work on a clean surface with clean equipment, cooking utensils and a clean storage container
• Never cross contaminate surfaces by cutting vegetables or fruits on the same surface on which you previously cut raw meat.

The easiest way to prepare fruit or veges is in a pot (or microwave) with a little water. This will completely cook the foods, and will also aide in breaking them down making it easier for your baby to digest them.

1) Select your vege/fruit - try to get organic, local food if possible. Try combinations like broccoli and peas, sweet potato/kumara and carrot, pumpkin and sweet corn, apple and apricot, pear and blackberries.

2) Wash, peel, chop your vegetables or fruit in to 1.5cm cubes or there abouts. You can do this in small amounts fresh each meal while you prepare the rest of the families dinner, or you can do it in bulk ie a bag of apples at once, a whole pumpkin at once etc and freeze for later.

3) Place in a pot with 2cm water in the bottom and cook until the food is soft - 10-20 minutes.

4) Now you have two choices - to go the finger food/ baby lead weaning way, or the more traditional puree way. For finger food, let the food cool and plop it in front of baby and let them go for it. For puree add a little butter, breast milk, coconut oil, bone/meat broth or vege cooking water and mash with a fork, puree in a food processor or use a stick blender.

5) If your food is pureed, storing it in covered ice cube trays (or for larger portions use silicone muffin tins) and pop into the freezer. This is great if you are doing a whole lot of one type of vegetable at once, then you can grab one cube of broccoli, one of pumpkin and one of kumara, defrost and mix together with ease. It is also easy to defrost a little more if baby is still hungry!

Tip for defrosting: Be careful using the microwave, is leaves hot spots in the food, so if you do use it, stir, stir, stir well and leave it to sit for a few minutes before serving. To avoid the microwave, heat the food in a bowl over a pot of hot water.

Making Bone Broth:
 

Making bone broth is very easy and incredibly nutritious. It contains minerals from the bone, soothing fats (for nerve and brain growth) and gelatin (for the immune system) from the meat and connective tissue, protein from the meat and the all important iron.

Choose chicken frames or beef shin bones. Add these to a deep pot or slow cooker with plenty of water. Babies don't need additional salt or seasoning, but you may like to add some chopped carrots or celery for additional nutrients.

Put over a slow - medium heat and simmer slowly for many many hours (at least 3, up to 24). Check the water level regularly and top up as required. When finished, strain the liquid in to ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, tip out into a labelled zip-lock bag and store in the freezer. These can then be added to sauces, and baby's food.

Home made baby food is much much cheaper, tastier and more nutritious than bought preserved food. Give it a go! Baby doesn't know conventional food combinations, so feel free to experiment!

Packing your Labour Bag

 

Packing your Labour and Hospital bags for the first time can be rather daunting! Below is a list of the things that you should take with you. Its divided in to two lists as it is easier to have a smaller bag for the labour room and one for later once baby is here and you are settled in your room. Print this list off and tick things as they are packed. Leave last minute items highlighted on the list, and stick the list to the top of your bag. For smaller things consider getting new ones and have them packed and ready to go - toiletries, underwear etc.

 

Labour Bag
MUST HAVE:	Packed
Digital Camera/video – Charged!
Lip Balm
Hair Clips, Hair Ties, Head Band
Cell Phone – with credit and charger
List of people that need called immediately
Snacks
Drink bottle
Copy of your birth plan
Plenty of change for the parking meter
Clean Pyjamas to put on after labour
NICE TO HAVE:
An off-the-shelf meal for Dad
Portable speakers/mp3 player and music
Warm socks – weirdly feet get cold sometimes
Money for food
Labour dress/top/skirt
Hospital Bag
MUST HAVE:
Tooth brush/ toothpaste
Deodorant
Hairbrush
Shampoo/conditioner
Bodywash/soap
3 sets of pyjamas that button at the front
6-10 sets of old/cheap or disposable underwear
3 maternity bras
Breast pads
Maternity pads
Clothes to go home in
Go home outfit for baby
Disposable nappies if you want to use them
Dressing gown
NICE TO HAVE
Bee balm or Vaseline to prevent meconium sticking
Pillow from home
Make up for photos
Razor – just in case you feel like shaving now you can see your legs
Slippers
DVD player/Laptop
Snacks to eat when awake all night breastfeeding
Pen and paper/notebook
Magazines

 

 

 A free PDF of this is availble from here

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the best first food for baby?

What's wrong with baby cereal? To digest grain your body needs to produce amylase. Babies don't make amylase until they are somewhere between 1 and 2 years of age. Traditional cultures don’t feed their babies infant cereal (AKA baby rice). Among the few cultures who fed their babies a gruel of grains, their practise radically differed from what we do today. They are only introduced after the baby was more than a year old. Also they ensure that the gruel was mildly fermented by soaking the grains for 24 hours or more, making them much easier to digest.

Why does this matter? Surely they just go straight through them undigested then? Unfortunately, no.

 

“All Diseases Begin in the Gut.”- Hippocrates

 

Undigested grains can wreak havoc on your baby’s intestinal lining. It can cause an imbalance of bacteria in their gut which then can lead to lots of complications as they age including: food allergies, behavioural problems, mood issues, and more. Is it any wonder these allergic conditions are on the rise in the west?

 

Cereals have very little nutritional content compared with other foods. They are predominately carbohydrate and fibre, with very little nutrients, fats or protein. When you have a limited belly space and high nutrient requirements, these should really be the priority.

 

Giving babies empty calories in the form of cereal instead of real food takes away from what they should be eating.

 

What should we feed our babies then? For the first 6 or so months breast milk or a suitable formula is all they need. After that try:

• Offering small amounts of boiled yolk from pasture fed free-range hens is an ideal first food. Avoid the white as it contains hard to digest proteins that can set off allergies.
• Bananas are one of the rare carbohydrate foods that actually contain amylase which makes them easier to digest.
• Steamed vegetables mashed or cut into sticks.
• Butter and coconut oil mashed into vegetables or egg yolks. Babies need plenty of saturated fats to ensure they have enough building blocks to make brain cells, their nervous system, and cell membranes as well as supplying energy.
• Liver and meat. Babies need the iron and protein provided by meat and liver. Liver  is best stored in the freezer (raw) and simply grated into hot vegetables.
• Bone broth contains soothing collagen and many minerals from the bones. The bone broth is ideal to cook vegetables in or to mash them with. Simply simmer bones for 5 or more hours to get the minerals out of the bones. Chicken frames are ideal for this. The soft meat can then be fed to baby too.

If you have already weaned your baby on to cereals it is not too late to swap what they are eating, going for more natural, nutrient rich foods. Your baby will thank you for it.

What is the big deal about handmade soap?

The next time you walk down the soap aisle at your favourite store enjoying the fresh, clean scents and the bright colourful packaging, pay attention. Look at the labels. Most are really detergents which have been created from petroleum based products. The manufacturers have then removed most of the 'good' stuff that occurs in the soap making process, and replaced it with more synthetic lathering agents and harsh chemicals.

Commercial bar soap manufacturers make it their practise to remove the glycerin that is produced during the saponification (soap-making) process. The glycerin is a highly profitable substance, then sold to other companies who use it to make lotions and moisturisers, which your skin, now dried out from the harsh detergent 'soap,' desperately needs. Conspiracy or genius marketing ploy? Either way, it happens, and going by the amount of moisturisers sold and the large movement from bar soap to body wash, it works. Body wash is mostly water with some cheap chemicals added, so there is alot more profit to be made, and of course you will need to buy a matching flavoured moisturiser from the same company too.

Skin is our largest organ, it is porous and absorbent. It absorbs whatever it comes in contact with, much the same as sticking something in your mouth. Chronic use of chemical laden products will cause the body to store the chemicals in the body fat or even in the brain. With enough accumulations of toxins in the body, illness can occur. It can be subtle - being tired all the time, lack of motivation, developing allergies to new things, a poor metabolism.
The list of offenders included phthalates, which are linked to reproductive disorders in both humans and animals, and parabens, a preservative, which has links to cancer.
What is the alternative?

All natural, handmade soap. There are several small businesses selling extremely high quality, all natural, organic soap - yes real soap. Sure, these soap bars generally cost more than the detergent bars you'll find at the supermarket. But the difference is these soap bars are actually good for your skin, and are good for the planet. Real soap retains the glycerin that is a natural by-product and, as such, the relationship between the soap molecule and the glycerin means you have a cleanser with abundant, luxurious lather that cleans like nothing else. Glycerin is a humectant. It attracts moisture and gives it back to your skin. As a bonus, it does not strip your skin of its natural, protective oils, in fact when a soap has been "super-fatted" like Iti Baby's it has extra oils available to moisturise while you wash.

Choosing the right soap

Just because it's handmade doesn't mean it's good for you, however. You need to understand a few things about the soap making process to know what to look for.

There are basically three ways to make soap. One common way is called "melt and pour" soap. There are even melt and pour kits you can buy to make cute soap shapes with your kids. These are generally glycerin based transparent soaps. They're not as harmful (usually) as the commercial bars, but they're not what we're looking for here.

The other two methods are "hot process" and "cold process." The hot process method utilises heat after the saponification process has taken place, while the cold process method does not. The cold process method takes the most time, but is undoubtedly the best method for producing the highest quality soaps. This is the method Iti Baby uses for our soap.

Now, we need to discuss the ingredients. Cold process soap bars are made using a combination of oils or fats and lye (sodium hydroxide). Lye sounds a little scary, but all the caustic qualities of the lye are removed during the saponification process. When the lye interacts with the oils or fats, it creates the wonderful glycerin. The type of oils and fats used make a difference in how hard or soft the soap bar ends up being, and how well it lathers. We use NO colourants or unnatural dyes in our soaps. What you see is what you get! Our scents are all natural essential oils, and our goats milk and calendula soap contains no scents and is wonderful for sensitive skin.

To sum it up, the best soap for your skin and our planet is a handmade, all natural cold process soap bar. Once you've tried one of these lathery treasures, you'll never again be satisfied with 'store-bought' bars. So do yourself, your kids and your world a big favour and start using REAL soap.