How to Store Breast Milk and Formula for Your Baby

What’s the Best Way to Keep Formula Fresh?

You don’t need to refrigerate your containers of powdered formula, though you should store it in a cool, dry place. “When formula is stored in warm and humid conditions, it creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Once contaminated, the bacteria can multiply rapidly,” says Veronica Campbell, RD, LDN, manager of formula and human milk management at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Consuming formula contaminated with bacteria can lead to serious infections and illness. Higher temperatures can also accelerate the shelf-life and breakdown of nutrients within the formula, compromising its nutritional value.” If you have no other way to keep powdered formula cool and dry, keeping it in the fridge is fine, according to Kimberly H. Barbas, BSN, RN, IBCLC, director of the lactation support program at Boston Children’s Hospital.

You may be bleary during middle-of-the-night feedings, and thus prone to leaving your formula out and open, but “limit the time you have the container lid off and keep a tight container seal during storage,” says Lisa Setchfield, MS, RD, LD, the director of food and nutrition services at Texas Children’s Hospital.