Thursday, July 1, 2010

Oh Breast Milk how I love you...Let me count the ways!

I recently saw that someone squirted expressed breast milk in their child's nose, to help a stuffy nose. REALLY?! I never knew breast milk could help that. So I did some research....and I found this article. Here are some ideas for you to try!

Drop some milk in irritated eyes using a needless syringe or medicine dropper. This works for infected or plugged tear ducts, pink eye, sties and ophthalmologist allergies (watery eyes). You can also use for contact solution on soft, hard, or gas permeable lenses, or use it in place of or in addition to tea bags or cucumbers to soothe red, puffy, tired eyes.

Rinse your skin with plain water, pat dry, spread breast milk on skin and let it air dry. This can help soothe and heal a number of skin calamities, including diaper rashes, cracked or bleeding nipples, acne, eczema, chicken pox, chapped cheeks, and rashes or hives due to allergies or poisonous plants like poison oak or poison ivy. You can use a cotton ball moistened with the breast milk to spread it on the skin. This will also help any bite or sting, whether it comes from an insect, a pet or another child.

Gargle it. This will heal a sore throat very quickly. In addition, giving your weaned older children or your husband/partner a cup of expressed milk will help them get over a cold or flu occurrence quickly. It's a great remedy for chapped lips, canker sores, cold sores, and other mouth sores in both children and adults.
Use breast milk to ease the symptoms of colds as well. It can be used in place of nasal saline drops to loosen mucous of the nose, and it can be used as ear drops to ease the pain of an ear infection. (**side note... my pediatrician said not to use in ears as she feared the sugar in the breast milk would make an ear infection worse. But some people swear by it!!!**)

Remove makeup with breast milk. Alternately, you can use it as a general facial cleanser.

Treat injuries like scratches, abrasions, ingrown toenails, scrapes and burns with breast milk. Just dab it on and let it heal, or in hand/foot injuries, let it soak in a cup of milk.
Calm the pain of teething or toothaches. Experiment with different temperatures to find the one that brings most relief. Chewing on a cloth soaked in breast milk really helps.
Cook with it. It can be used in the same proportions that you would use cow milk in cooking and baking.
Donate it. If you are a super-producer with your pump, consider donating some of your overage. Milk banks will use this precious commodity to heal babies who need it the most, such as preemies and babies with severe congenital problems.

So my question is.... Is it weird of me to wish for my husband to have a stuffy nose so I can try this method?!


  1. Don't know if it works yet but someone told me it was good for your skin, applying liberally to my skin to clear up spots!!!

  2. When my oldest was a baby, he got an infection in his eye & his doctor told me to squirt a little breastmilk in it a couple times a day. Healed it right up!


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