Hi IL mommies, Initially my milk supply was less but as i kept giving my kid direct breast feeding they increased. Now a days I find that when he is sleeping for long time I am getting more extra milk then he needs. I just want to store that milk for future use when my milk supply stops. Please advice me which storage packets or bottles are best and process to store them safe. Do also let me know how I can use them later (when ...to remove from frrezer before use and make them warm.) If this topic has already been discussed please let me know...i searched for it and couldnt find any. -Ampu
Ampu, I used Medela/Evenflo storage bottles to store the milk in the freezer. I did not have a whole lot of extra supply, so that was convenient. Maybe you can get freezer bags from Babies R Us if you plan to regularly freeze. For unfreezing, here is what I did: I would put the bottle in the regular fridge overnight so it would thaw. After that I would warm by placing in warm (not hot or boiling water).
I am pumping and freezing all the extra milk for when I go back to work. I have found that the lansinoh brand breast milk storage bags to be the best and also most economical ($9.99 for 50 bags at target or diapers.com). I fill each bag with 6 oz of breast milk and then put it in the freezer. If you lay the bag flat, it takes up less space. After I have about 8 bags, I put them into a gallon size ziploc container. I have also purchased a separate chest freezer to store the milk. In the regular freezer in your fridge, you can store Bm for 3 months, but in the chest freezer it is good for 6 months. To thaw, you leave the bag in the fridge overnight and run it under warm water. Once thawed, it has to be used within 24 hrs.
Thank you pavarun , pmahensa for ur reply messages. I am also not getting too excess but even if its 2 oz per day I would like to store it for future use or when i go out or for the day when i run short of my milk. Will buy those bags and try out to do that. One more question pmahensa...should those 6 oz be milk pumped at a time...because each time i pump i get 1 or 2 oz extra can i combine all the extra milk of that day and put in one bag? is that ok? do let me know. -Ampu
Ampu, lansinoh brand bags are good. Do not try to combine 1 or 2 oz while pumping as this will lead to bacterial growth/contamination in the hours you are waiting to combine them. So use a fresh bag for each pumping session and store in the freezer. Once you thaw you use it, do not refreeze. But when you use your pumped milk for feeding and if your baby drinks say 6 oz at that time, then you can thaw many bags and combine to feed your baby. -L.
I cool my BM in the fridge for a few hours and then freeze it. So if you store 2 ozs. of milk properly and then combine a few batches for freezing it should be okay. Atleast that's what I read on the La Leche League website. The Lansinoh bags hold upto 6 ounces, maybe you can put 4 ounces in each bag ?
I agree with Pooja. I pumped very occasionally and never got to store more than 5 oz cumulatively at any given time and never more than for two days. So I collected 1 oz batches, combined them and put in the fridge. But most of the time I got to use it within 24 hours. I never let the milk stay in room temperature after pumping. This may be the article that Pooja was talking about.
Thanks to all mommies.I bought the lansinoh bags and stored 6oz. Its really very useful if we can store milk like that.It can be used when we run short of milk. -Ampu
pmahensa, Have you started working? Do you pump when you are at work? How do you preserve them? Which pump do you use? Thanks Geetha
