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Home » Bottle Feeding Breast Milk » How and Why to Give a Breast Milk Bath for Baby

How and Why to Give a Breast Milk Bath for Baby

By Amanda Glenn, CLC. Last Updated June 17, 2020. Originally Posted June 24, 2020.

Not sure what to do with milk that you can’t feed to your baby? Milk baths are one option to put your pumped milk to good use! Here’s everything you need to know about breast milk baths for baby.

How and Why to Give Baby a Breast Milk Bath

Why Give a Milk Bath?

Breast milk isn’t only wonderful for babies to eat, it’s great for your baby’s skin, too!

Breast milk baths are a way to use breast milk that you may not be able to safely feed to your baby, such as when:

  • Your baby doesn’t finish a bottle within the window where it needed to be discarded.
  • You pump breast milk after having enough alcohol that you don’t feel comfortable feeding it to your baby (note that pumping and dumping is often not required; more on alcohol and breastfeeding here.)
  • You find a 10 day old bottle of breast milk in the back of your refrigerator.

Using your milk in a bath is a great way to allow it to benefit your baby even when it can’t be fed to her.

Baby in Breast Milk Bath

Image credit: Janyel Harrison. Used with permission.

What are the Health Benefits?

Research has demonstrated that human breast milk can be effective at treating common skin infant conditions, including diaper rash, eczema, and blocked tear ducts.

For example, one randomized controlled trial found that breast milk had the same level of effectiveness as hydrocortisone 1% ointment in treating diaper rash over a one week period. Another study found the same was true for eczema over 21 days.

Milk baths may also help with dry skin, cradle cap, and baby acne. A complete scientific review on milk therapy can be found here.

Because human breast milk is low cost, accessible, and can be used without side effects, using breast milk in baths is a good option to consider for mild skin issues, along with any other treatment your pediatrician may recommend or prescribe.

How to Give Your Baby a Milk Bath

Preparing a milk bath is pretty straightforward – you just add breast milk to the bath water.

If your baby needs to be washed, do that first, then drain the tub and prepare the bath. Here are the detailed steps giving baby a milk bath:

  • Fill a tub with lukewarm water as you normally would
  • Add enough milk to make the water cloudy. The amount of milk you need will vary depending on how much water is in the bath. (You may only need a few ounces for a small baby tub; for an adult-sized bathtub, you may need 5-10 oz.)
  • Let your baby soak and play in the bath for 5-10 minutes
  • Take baby out and pat him or her dry

Common Questions

Below are a few common questions parents ask about giving their babies breast milk baths.

Can you use frozen or expired breast milk?

Yes, it’s perfectly fine to use thawed, previously-frozen breast milk.

Breast milk that is past the storage guidelines but isn’t spoiled and doesn’t smell “off” is generally fine. There is no research as to how long milk can be past the recommended storage time and still used for a milk bath, but in general, I would use fresh milk within a week of it expiring.

Can you use milk that your baby can’t drink because it contains an allergen?

Because babies can also have a topical reaction to an allergen, this is not recommended.

As always, talk to your pediatrician for information on what is safe for your individual baby.

How often should you give milk baths?

There is no schedule that you need to follow. Once or twice a week is great, or it’s fine to just do it occasionally whenever you have milk you won’t be able to feed.

Ideas for Milk Bath Photoshoots

A milk bath photoshoot can be a fun way to celebrate a breastfeeding journey or meeting a pumping goal!

Here are a few examples:

Breast Milk Bath for Baby

Image credit: TRW Photo co. (@trwphotoco) Used with permission.

 

Baby in milk bath with sunflowers

Image credit: Tina Russell Photography. Used with permission.

You can see more fun pumping photoshoots here.

Have you given a milk bath to your baby? Tell us your experience in the comments!

References
  1. Kasrae H, Amiri Farahani L, Yousefi P. “Efficacy of topical application of human breast milk on atopic eczema healing among infants: a randomized clinical trial.” Int J Dermatol. 2015;54(8):966‐971. doi:10.1111/ijd.12764 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25640116/
  2. Witkowska-Zimny M, Kamińska-El-Hassan E, Wróbel E. Milk Therapy: Unexpected Uses for Human Breast Milk. Nutrients. 2019;11(5):944. Published 2019 Apr 26. doi:10.3390/nu11050944 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6567207/
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Filed Under: Bottle Feeding Breast Milk

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Comments

  1. Hannah says

    November 16, 2021 at 5:18 pm

    I have some old milk that may or may not have yeast. Could I boil the milk to kill the yeast (as I’ve read recommended because freezing doesn’t kill the yeast) and then use it for a bath? Thanks for your time!

    Reply
    • Amanda Glenn, CLC says

      November 17, 2021 at 6:38 pm

      Hi Hannah! I think that pasteurizing it would probably work! You might want to confirm with your pediatrician but if you can feed pasteurized milk I think using it for a bath would be fine?

  2. Joelle says

    October 23, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    Very helpful article. I plan to do a milk bath with my 1 week old later today. I’ve been using a haakaa since my milk came in instead of soaking a breast pad. Since I don’t plan to leave him for months, I really have no need for milk in a bottle. A milk bath is the perfect use of that liquid gold ☺️

    Reply
  3. LiAnne says

    June 27, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    I love giving my baby milk baths! I save every little drop of expired milk now for this purpose. My baby has sensitive skin and had cradle cap for the first few months. He also gets heat rash pretty easily which dries up his skin. Milk baths work great for his rash prone and dry skin. I swear the difference is noticeable the second he’s done with the bath.

    I love that my like not only feeds my baby but also helps his poor sensitive skin.

    Reply

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Amanda

Hi! I’m Amanda. I'm a Certified Lactation Counselor® and an experienced exclusive pumper. My goal is to help make exclusively pumping as easy as possible for you, so that you can enjoy your baby! This website is for educational purposes and should not be considered medical advice. Read More

As Featured In Buzzfeed, the Atlantic, Romper, San Diego Breastfeeding LLC

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