Why and How to Make a Breast Milk Bath
I am in an unusual season of life where I am not with my kids most weekends, which of course, includes my breastfed toddler. An unexpected side effect is that I now have a lot of pumped milk in my freezer. Sadly, Mercy doesn't drink it because, I suppose, she prefers it straight from the tap. This has led me on a journey of finding other ways to use breastmilk, and one of them is a breast milk bath.
In this post we will go over why someone would make a breast milk bath and then how to make a breast milk bath. Let's get started!
Why Make a Breast Milk Bath?
Once I realized my freezer was becoming full of breastmilk that my toddler wasn't going to drink, I began researching other uses for breastmilk. A good friend of mine suggested a "milky bath" or a breast milk bath. Here's what I found a breast milk bath to be helpful with.
- Moisturizing dry skin
- Healing diaper rash
- Soothing red, irritated skin
- Healing scratched skin and other minor skin abrasions
- Helping take the itch out of bug bites
Frankly, a breast milk bath will do no harm and if you have irritated skin, what have you got to lose other than a little bit of breastmilk? Give it a try, come back and comment and let me know how it went.
The photos below are of my daughters taking a breast milk bath, but the real reason I wanted to make a breast milk bath was for my seven year old son. For years, he has had dry skin - his arms, legs, trunk... everywhere!
Since we have been following the instructions below, including the post bath moisturizer, his dry skin has cleared up considerably. Even the raw, red bumps on the back of his thighs look better! As long as I can, I will make breast milk baths part of our weekly (daily?) routine.
How to Make a Breast Milk Bath
Here are the simple instructions of how to make a breast milk bath. No worries, it's really easy! I like easy.
Step 1: Get a bag or two of breastmilk out of the freezer, fridge OR pump what you can.
Step 2: Pour enough breastmilk into the water to make the water cloudy. You don't need much! I was feeling generous so I drew a large bath and used around 10 ounces.
Step 3: Soak as much affected skin as possible. Consider reclining in the tub! The more skin exposed to the breast milk bath, the better.
Step 4: After a good soak, gently pat skin dry.
Step 5: To lock the breastmilk in the skin, use a good skin moisturizer like coconut oil.
TIP: If the amount of breastmilk you have available is limited, consider doing a breastmilk bath in the kitchen sink. Since a sink bath requires less water, you'll need less breastmilk to make the water cloudy.
TIP: Don't skip step 5, moisturizing the skin after the bath! You'll get more bang for your buck using a moisturizer after a breast milk bath.
TIP: Don't PUMP AND DUMP! If you need to pump and dump, for whatever reason, use it in a breastmilk bath instead.
Leave a Comment
Have you ever made a breast milk bath? If so, leave a comment and let me know your experience! I'd love to hear more.
Hi Lindsey,
I was wondering how long you think the milk can sit out and still use it in a bath? We are traveling and I don't want to dump the milk that my baby didn't take while we are in the car (I exclusively pump during the day).
Thanks!
Kristin
Why don't you donate all the extra milk? Feeding a baby in need is a better use of the liquid gold we produce!
That's a great idea too! For those that can't donate, for whatever reason, a breast milk bath is the next best thing. (I wouldn't be comfortable donating because I am on a lot of natural supplements. A lot!)
You have to be tested prior pumping and donating and they give you special bags for that. So if you already have frozen milk it's not gonna work for donation. And it has to be fresh in a range of couple weeks so if you have frozen milk for 2-3 month it's not gonna work ether.
This is not true. Human milk for human babies is an organization that helps donors find families and vice versa. No testing. Just honest mom's trying to help out.
On top of that, frozen breastmilk in the deep freezer stays good for a whole year. That's the acceptable standard nowadays. This is coming from a mom who has been pumping and donating for almost a year.
Several people are using breast milk in this occurance because they may have had some wine with dinner, taken a med they don't want in their baby's system, or several other similar reasons and they wouldn't donate this milk anyway. Milk baths are amazing.
Hmhb is a great group, I found myself having to switch from cows milk to soy due to my son getting very bad gas from me drinking cows milk. I donated my milk to a young mother for 2 weeks while making the transition. Happy to say I was able to help a mom in need
I used my milk I pumped during my baby's NICU stay and I used the containers they gave me and was still able to donate my backdated milk for up to 6 months. Just FYI if someone is thinking of donating.
It's HER milk made by HER body, and she is using it to help HER family. Why should she donate the rest when the baths are helping her sons skin condition? As a mother our first priority is to our family.
I think it's great you are using your pumped milk to help your son! I can't wait to bathe my baby is breast milk!
Perfect said Heidi what this woman and ANY woman chooses to do with HER milk is completely up to her and no one should be telling her she should be donating her milk and not using it as she see fit.
^^^THIS!!!!
In my case, I donated about 400 ounces, but once I started back up on my IBD meds I didn't want to donate it to another baby in case they had a reaction to the mesalamine in my milk since it can sometimes cause diarrhea. It works perfect in baths when my son has a rash or has a nasty scrape.
What an ignorant thing to say. Breastmilk treats so many things using it externally and her breastmilk is by no means going to waste!
There’s always a jerk that wants to tell someone what to do.
Perfect! I have to pump and dump due to talking prednisone for a horrible rash. It's almost time for my dump pump and I was going to draw an oatmeal bath anyway. This will kill two birds with one stone!
I wonder though if the medication is transferred a great deal to the beast milk...I understand that the little one isn't ingesting if BUT you'd be surprised what we absorb into our skin and how it affects us..
Of course, the steroid tainted milk was for myself only. I figured it gave me an extra boost of the steroids topically to really kick the rash in the butt!
I thought about doing this for months but have never got around to it! My daughter is almost 9 months and just had to undergo knee surgery from osteomyelitis so she has a fairly large incision down her leg. It is healing now and I can tell it itches her at times and the skin around the incision is very dry. Do you think a milk bath would help? I wonder if the power of the liquid gold would maybe help the scarring as well? Maybe I will try this tonight! I'm an exclusive pumper who has been having to pump and dump because I ran out of room in my 3 deep freezers and with my daughter eating more solids, I have so much extra! I tried donating it but the milk bank won't accept it because of my previous thyroid issues. Thank you for the article I am so glad I came across it!
It wouldn't hurt! I think you should try it.
Have you tried Human milk 4 human babies?
If my LO does not finish a bottle of pumped milk that has been warmed, can I use it for milk bath?
Sure! It's not like she's going to drink it. I would do a quick smell test before it goes in the bath, because nobody wants to bathe with soured milk. 😉
I did the bath with breastmilk and oat meal soap. My son loved it and his diaper rash was completely gone after the bath.
After I pour in the milk, can i wash her hair and body with regular baby soap? Or is this something you do after a normal bath with shampoo and soap? Thanks.
When I had to become an exclusive pumper I developed a huge over supply. My daughter took a milk bath every bath for the first 7 months! Not only is it so great for her skin but it's also calming. She loves taking a bath. Now we take a milk bath about every other bath because we're close to the end of our breast feeding journey.
I have a bad sunburn from our trip to the beach and I'm an exclusive pumper with a over supply....Do you think a milk bath would help calm my skin calm down ?
You totally should! Let me know how it works.
Of course. You will need to pure little bit more of the milk to your bath. Our skin more mature than little ones. But it will definately help and plus it will relax you as well. Or you can do compresses on the affected area with the dump cloth with your breast milk.
Hope you will feel better soon. Enjoy relaxation.
I started doing breast milk baths after I found out all it can do my daughter had gotten cradle cap and I didn't know how to get rid of it found out cradle cap is just a mixture of sweaty dry skin and that a breast milk bath could help it. The first bath I noticed a big difference the second bath it was like she never had it. It's amazing what it can do.
Ooohhh I need to try this for cradle cap!
My 2 month old has eczema, do you think a milk bath would help sooth any flare ups?
Absolutely!! The skin feels SO moisturized after a breast milk bath.
Im going to try this for the first time tonight. Im so excited! Am i correct in thinking that i should not use any other soaps to clean my two girls, just pour the milk over their skin and hair?
Try it and see what you think. It's not an exact science. I think I used a mild soap on my girls' hair.
My sisters little one had that and she said breast milk worked better than any other cream she used.
After I soaked her can I wash her with regular soap and shampoo her hair? Or just soak in milk then wash her another day
I would just wash her another day, unless she's truly very dirty. Often, a nice rinse off is all they need anyways. 🙂
How long do you let your LO soak? My 1 month old is starting to get diaper rash and I want to help him before it gets bad or painful.
Omg people. Shut up already. If someone wants to use breastmilk for a bath LET THEM LIVE!!! Donating is a personal choice, not an obligation...stop the judging cheesus!!
I'm going to try this bath tonight on my little guy who had an allergic reactions and broke out in hives. Thank you for tips!
I like the milk not so much for a bath, where I'm actually pouring it into water. as we only have a shower at the moment. but I would if I was able. I just to use it for my face couple times a week for dry skin no rinsing no dilution just straight and I have used it for wound care. They heal much faster. as a skin moisturizer after a shower.
I have read somewhere that it was accidentally stumbled across to cure certain types of cancers by breaking down tumor cells. leaving healthy cells intact.
There are soo many good things evn if she doesn't use it in a bath. she can incorporate it in their food, but it's whatever one chooses to do.
Me I would probably do a little bit of both if there is an abundant supply and it is not donatable or sellable good luck with all moms and their wonderful breast milk experiences.
I started my BF journey again when I found out that I was going to be a gma to help my daughter provide for her lo