When you’re exclusively pumping and lose power for an extended period of time – for example, during a hurricane or blizzard – you need to make a plan to keep pumping during the power outage, to safely store your breast milk, and to feed your baby. Here’s how to prepare for breastfeeding during a power outage.
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Pumping during a power outage
Being able to continue pumping when you can’t power your pump is crucial for maintaining your milk supply and to avoiding issues like clogged ducts or mastitis.
You can prepare for pumping during a power outage – here are some options.
1. Get a car adapter
If you’re able to go outside during the power outage (meaning you’re not in the middle of a hurricane), you can pump in your car with a car adapter to power your pump.
If you know a storm is coming, it’s also a good idea to make sure to fill your car up with gas beforehand.
2. Use a manual pump
If possible, every exclusive pumper should have a manual backup pump (more on this here) in case of a pump malfunction or power outage.
Manual pumps aren’t always ideal for everyday use, but they will get the job done when you don’t have power.
3. Keep your pump charged
If you know that a storm is coming and you might lose power, keep your pump fully charged so that you’ll be able to use it as long as possible without charging it. (The battery on my pump lasts for about 3 hours when completely charged, which is about one and a half days of exclusive pumping.)
Even under ordinary circumstances, it’s a good idea to just be in the habit of plugging your pump in when you’re not using it, so it’s always ready when you need it.
4. Try hand expression
Before the power goes out, see if you can teach yourself how to hand express.
This can be a great option if all else fails, and it’s a good skill to have .
5. Use a battery pack
If your pump has the option of using an external battery pack, charge it, or if it uses batteries, make sure to stock up.
Breast Pump Battery Packs
Keeping your breast milk stash safe
The most important thing you can do to keep any stored breast milk that you have safe is to limit the number of times you open the refrigerator and freezer as much as you can.
Freezer
The two most important things you can do to keep your milk frozen are:
1. Keep your freezer full
If your freezer isn’t full and you anticipate losing power, put water in ziploc bags (don’t fill them all the way, as water expands when frozen) and put them in the freezer to freeze until it’s full.
This will help keep the freezer cold as long as possible.
2. Keep the freezer closed
Resist the urge to open it and check on your milk. A full freezer that stays unopened will keep its temperature for about 48 hours.
If your breast milk still has ice crystals when the power comes back on, it’s not fully thawed and you can refreeze it. If it is completely thawed, you should use what you can within 24 hours.
Refrigerator
An unopened refrigerator should keep its temperature for about 4 hours.
Feeding your baby during a power outage
You have a few options to feed your baby without power.
Feed freshly pumped milk
Because you will want to keep the freezer and fridge closed as much as you can, if you’re exclusively pumping, your best bet is to feed freshly pumped breast milk to your baby while the power is out, if possible.
This way, you also don’t have to worry about warming your milk.
So, pump before your baby will need to eat and then leave that milk out until it’s time to feed it to your baby. (Check this chart to see how long breast milk is good for at various temperatures.)
Feed stored milk
If you do need to use stored breast milk, one thing to consider is that frozen breast milk is not supposed to be thawed at room temperature, so you’d either need access to warm water to thaw it, or have enough time to thaw it in the fridge.
Therefore, it might be easier to use the refrigerated breast milk first. (Plus, refrigerated milk won’t stay cold as long as frozen milk will without power.)
Feed formula
Finally, if you need to supplement with formula during the power outage, you can use bottled water.
Obviously, you need to consider what works best for your particular circumstances.
Have you had to keep pumping during a power outage? Tell us what happened and any additional tips you have!
References
- Smith, Anne, IBCLC. “Can I save my frozen breast milk during a power outage?” https://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/qa/can-save-freezer-stash-breastmilk-power-outage
- Seltzer, Howard. “Food Safety in a Power Outage.” https://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/power_outages.html
- Kellymom. “Human Milk Storage – Quick Reference Card.” https://kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/milkstorage01.pdf
- Kellymom. “My power went out and I have breastmilk in the freezer – Help!” https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/frozen-milk-power-outage/
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