5 weird things to do with breast milk

One of the oddest things I had to get used to as a mom is the fact that I’m now feeling a certain kinship with diary cows. Rough life they have, amiright?

Being your child’s primary food source comes with a whole host of issues. Pain while breastfeeding, chapped or cracked nipples, low or high milk supply, teas, supplements, herbs, lactation consultants, doctors. Everyone and anyone has an opinion on how to breastfeed “properly.”

Every mom has to find what works for her. Maybe that’s certain positions. Maybe that’s pumping to supplement feeds. Hell, maybe it’s using formula.

But if you are pumping and have some extra milk on hand, then there’s a few things you should know about what you can do with that liquid gold other than feed it to your baby. And a few of them are weird.

5 things to do with breast milk

1. Milk baths for skin conditions: Do you have some breast milk expiring that’s too old to feed to your baby? Don’t throw it out! Instead, pour it in your baby’s nightly bath water. You need a few ounces or enough to make the water cloudy. Milk in the water can help with a whole host of things from treating eczema or skin conditions, to moisturizing, to helping heal and prevent diaper rash. This was one of my favourite ways to use breast milk when I had too much on hand.

2. Heal sore nipples: Yep, you heard that right. While feeding might be the source of your pain, milk can also be the solution. After a feed, just express some milk onto your nipples and let it dry. It should help with the pain and promote healing. This works particularly well at night when you’ll have a longer break between feeds.

3. Make body lotion: Lotion is a great way to extend the shelf life of your breast milk. In the fridge, lotion can last up to 3 months. It’s great to use on your baby to deal with any skin conditions or dryness and you can use it on yourself as well. It works great to treating adult eczema as well as the baby variety.

Check out this recipe:

1 tablespoon of beeswax

3 ounces of coconut or grapeseed oil

A few drops of Vitamin E

3-3.5 ounces of breast milk

A few drops of a scented essential oil to mask the milk smell (if you want)

Just melt the wax and oil together in the microwave, then drop in the Vitamin E and essential oil. Then whisk in the milk slowly and let it harden as it cools.

4. Treat bug bites or sunburn: If you little one has a bite or burn, dap some milk on it. Or if that’s too painful, add some milk and a bit of water to a spray bottle and mist the sore area. Let it dry and repeat as needed. This also works for any scratches your little one might accidentally get.

5. Help your plants stay healthy: Yep, you heard me. Plants like milk too. It’s jam packed full of nutrients so if you have milk too old for anything else, don’t dump it down the drain. Put a little in your favourite plant’s soil and watch it thrive.

Don’t throw away that liquid gold

Milk can be hard to come by so make sure to get the most of it. Whether you’re pumping or expressing, there are a ton of weird and wonderful things to do with milk. From healing scratches on a child’s face, to treating diaper rash, to pampering your little one with a soothing bath, breast milk has a ton of uses.