Can You Thaw Breast Milk In The Microwave?

If you're pumping breast milk, you may find yourself in a stockpile situation (lucky you) where storing milk is essential. Many moms find the best way to make sure the liquid gold doesn't go bad is to stash it away in the freezer. Which is great until your baby is crying for some sustenance. So how do you defrost you freezer stash? Can you thaw breast milk in the microwave?

When your baby is crying hysterically for milk, you might be tempted to pop the bag of frozen breast milk in the microwave so it can get you to your baby as quickly as possible. But believe it or not, that's one of the worst things you can do.

There are two main reasons you should not thaw the milk in the microwave. As Le Leche League International (LLLI) noted, warming breast milk in the microwave can cause uneven heating and create "hot spots" that can burn your baby's mouth and throat. The site also noted that you have a higher chance of overheating the milk in the microwave, which can destroy the valuable immunological components and crucial enzymes.

But don't freakout just yes. There are plenty of other safe ways to defrost your freezer stash. It just may not be as fast as you'd like. Obviously, as noted by Parents, the best method is to place frozen milk in the refrigerator 24 hours before you're going to use it. But, as many parents know, that's not always feasible. The utter exhaustion and forgetfulness that sometimes plagues parents and the time crunch keep parents from being proactive.

So what's a desperate parent to do? Simple: thaw breastmilk in warm water. You can also thaw breastmilk in cold water, but it won't be as quick as you'd want.

The risk of accidentally burning your baby's mouth with microwaved breast milk is seemingly too great to deem it as a safe defrosting method. It can be really tough to ignore the temptation to do it when your baby is screaming and hungry or if you're on the way out the door, but using one of the slower methods is really considered the best way to preserve the super beneficial components of your breast milk and ultimately the safest thing for your baby.