With hurricane force winds and rain brewing in the Gulf of Mexico many of our local families are concerned about how to keep their frozen breastmilk safe if the power goes out. We have some great tips from a professional and we want to share them with you.

• Pack your refrigerator and freezer with bags of ice. Gallon sized bags will work in a pinch. 
• Fill empty milk/juice jugs with cold water and try to get them to freeze before the power goes out. Place them in the refrigerator/freezer. 
• If you can locate dry ice, wrap it in newspaper and pack every empty spot in the refrigerator/freezer with it.  The reason for wrapping the dry ice in newspaper is that it is thin enough to still keep everything as cold as possible while not allowing freezer burn or damaging milk bags from direct contact with the dry ice. 
• A full freezer will hold its temperature better than an empty one. 
• Try to keep opening of the refrigerator/freezer to a minimum. 
• Place towels around the freezer. If the towels start to get soaked then you know that your temperature is rising faster than the ice can cool or your ice has melted too much. At that point, transfer your breastmilk to a cooler and pack that with ice.
• Remember, as long as there are still ice crystals in the bags of breastmilk you can refreeze them. 

These tips were provided by Leilah Minica, BS. She is a former Senior Research Assistant at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in the Biomaterials Division. 

Additional tips in cases of bad weather:

• A car adapter for your electric breast pump is very handy.
• A hand pump will work if no power is available.
• Hand expression is also a great tool to use in these situations. 

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