Note: Always see a healthcare professional if you have concerns about your or your child’s health.

Breastmilk is truly amazing, isn’t it? It’s made by our own bodies, and it’s  packed with the nutrients and antibodies our babies need to grow and thrive. And if that’s all we got from breastmilk, it would still be an almost mind-boggling accomplishment. But did you know you can use your milk for more than just feeding your baby? Today we’ll look at a few different uses you can put expressed breastmilk to. Many of these other uses have been used by people in different parts of the world for centuries – and with good cause!

Before we start though, it’s good to remember with all of these uses you should ensure you always express and use your breastmilk with clean hands and implements, and keep in mind that the fresher the milk is, the better. Even if you’re not going to be feeding your expressed breastmilk to your baby, you should still always follow your country’s milk storage guidelines, and discard any milk that has been stored outside those recommendations.

Blocked Tear Ducts

It’s very common for our newborns to have issues with blocked tear ducts – they’re still small, and it can sometimes take a while for the ducts themselves to open properly. This usually resolves on its own, but until it does, it can lead to baby’s eyes becoming covered in a thick residue – this is caused by tears that haven’t been able to drain properly building up on their eyelashes and around their eyes. To clean it, use a clean cloth or cotton ball along with freshly expressed breastmilk then gently wipe the discharge from their eyes – if using cotton balls, make sure to use a fresh one for each eye, each time. If using cloths, move to a clean section once you’ve finished cleaning one eye – try not to reuse the same section on different eyes, and always wash the cloth once you’re done. Studies have found that using drops of breastmilk can be very effective as a first-line treatment for young babies under six months old who have eye discharge 1. Put a couple of drops of freshly expressed milk onto their eyes – use a clean, sterilised eye dropper. Alternatively, using Haakaa’s Silicone Colostrum Collector could be ideal since it has the convenient dropper nib and is incredibly easy to clean, sterilise and reuse!

This blog does not constitute medical advice and should not be taken as such. If you have any concerns about your health or that of your child, please consult a medical professional.

Sugimura T., Seo T., Terasaki N., Ozaki Y., Rikitake N., Okabe R, & Matsushita M. (2021). Efficacy and safety of breast milk eye drops in infants with eye discharge.  Acta Paediatrica.  110(4), 1322–1329. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.15628

2Stanway, A., & Jarrett, P. (2021). Atopic dermatitis. https://dermnetnz.org/topics/atopic-dermatitis

3Witkowska-Zimny, M., Kamińska-El-Hassan, E., & Wróbel, E. (2019) Milk therapy: Unexpected uses for human breast milk.  Nutrients, 11(5), 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11050944 

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