New moms have been known to do all sorts of things with their breast milk. Some people feed it to their babies *gasp*, some donate it to other babies in need, breast milk can also be made into jewellery and some people like to feed it to their husbands. But did you know breast milk also has some great benefits for your baby’s skin?
How to make DIY breast milk
Mom, Brittany, shared a video to TikTok showing how to make DIY breast milk soap at home.
“Breast milk is known for being really good for the skin. It helps get rid of baby acne,” Brittany says in the TikTok that has since been viewed more than 4.4 million times.
Brittany demonstrates by microwaving a bar of pure glycerine soap for one minute, then adding four tablespoons of coconut oil and mixing it all together before adding breast milk.
“Mix it all up and you’ll get an orange milky color,” she says before pouring the soap mixture into molds.
Brittany says you can add oats and/or lavender to your soaps and mix them in a little. She says the oats help with skin and lavender is said to have relaxing properties.
“Thank you, Queen!”
Brittany then puts the molds in the freezer until the soap is set.
The comments were a mixture of praise, shock and confusion over what triggered TikTok to notify them of this video in particular.
“Who thinks of stuff like this?” asked one commenter.
Another added, “It’s cool that mums are being innovative but this was hard for me to watch.”
“I was judging at first but this rules,” chimed in a third, adding, “Thank you, Queen!”
But not everyone thought this was such a great idea.
“Noooooo!” wrote one person. “This will grow bacteria in just 24 hours. Melt and pour soap is meant to be a finished product, it is NOT safe to add ANY liquids!”
Breast milk storage guidelines
According to Raisingchildren.net.au, breast milk can be stored in any of the following ways:
- at room temperature (26ºC or lower) for 6-8 hours
- in the fridge (4ºC or lower) for up to 72 hours – the best spot is the back of the fridge where it’s coldest
- in the freezer compartment (-15ºC or lower) inside a fridge for 2 weeks
- in the freezer section (-18ºC or lower) of a fridge with a separate door for 3 months
- in a chest or upright deep freezer (-20ºC or lower) for 6-12 months.
Adding breast milk to melted soap and then re-freezing does not lengthen the shelf life of the breast milk, so perhaps make these on a Friday night for your pre-weekend soak in the tub, but don’t store them too long.
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