Collecting Colostrum
1. Wash your hands thoroughly.
2. Attach the funnel to one of the oral syringes.
3. Hand express into the funnel and draw the colostrum into the attached syringe.
4. Cap, label with name & date, store in fridge or freezer. (Bring to baby straight away if this is an option)
If you have lots of colostrum and your funnel can't keep up, use the medicine cup to express into, then draw the milk into the oral syringe, cap and label.
Storing Colostrum
Store capped labelled syringes or lidded cups in the supplied zip-lock bag.
Fridge and use colostrum within for 24 hours or freeze for up to 3 months, unless your Lactation Consultant tells you otherwise.
Giving Colostrum
Give at room temperature directly from syringe or cup within 3 hours of expressing.
From Fridge; colostrum can be given straight from the fridge, or can be warmed up using body temperature, or warmed in lukewarm water max 37'C.
From Freezer; defrost colostrum in fridge around 12 hours. Give defrosted or warm using body temperature or lukewarm water max 37'C.
Do not microwave. Discard thawed milk if unused within 24 hours.
You may use the medicine cup with lid for expressing and storing colostrum, then also cup feed baby from it. Or draw milk in to a syringe and give baby.
The ENFit compatible oral tip (OTLD) one piece syringe has a smooth barrel and tip to make giving collected colostrum gentle on the baby.
Important! By drawing the milk into an OTLD syringe you can feed orally and also connect the syringe to a tube if your baby happens to be tube-fed for some reason. "Traditional" slipfit oral syringes, such as pharmacy oral medication syringes, do not connect to feeding tubes. This is because the new global standard is ENFIT fitting for oral feeds. (Global ISO Standard 80369-3)
To clarify: If you are expressing antenatally and there is some chance your baby may be premature or unwell, or you are unwell, get Simple Solutions Colostrum Collector Kit as this set includes the ENFIT compatible style syringes. This gives you the option to give colostrum by mouth and tube.
Express colostrum no matter how little it may appear to be, every drop is truly worth collecting.