BM fridge stash - how much before freezing?

boymom312

I EP right now and I'm starting to get a good stash of BM in my fridge. I probably have 1 full days worth. I make sure to rotate it so it doesn't go bad in there. I'm at the point where I think I could start freezing some for a freezer stash. I'm wondering how much do you keep on hand in the fridge when you start to freeze your over abundance?

AriaAmante143

B gets maybe one or two bottles a week, so I pretty much freeze everything I pump, and I usually only pump overnight. I try to keep 4 oz in the fridge at all times, and whatever I pump but don't use that day, I freeze the next day.

dancer7889

6-8 oz because tues through Thursdays I'm gone about 8 hours and that's about what she drinking in that time. I just put whatever I pump in the fridge for the following day. Thursdays pumped milk gets saved in the fridge for the next Tuesday unless she gets a bottle before then.

Basically what I'll need for her while I'm not at home. If I pump extra or more than I think she'll need, that goes in the freezer.

ProudMommy030614

I epd up until the past 2 weeks or so and I still pump mostly. I keep 18oz in my fridge before I freeze. That's 6 bottles always filled and I have a huge freezer stash. I get 45ish oz a day no matter what I do. Colton eats 3oz bottle every 2 hours during the day sleeps from8p-2a has3oz and nurses for 10-15 minutes awake at 5am and does a repeat. I freeze anything left over from filling my 6 bottles every day in 4oz or 6oz portions. Sorry for the long story, hope this helped.

dedeyoba

We only do one bottle per day so I keep 2-5 ounces in the fridge and deep freeze the rest.

fish8412

I always have 1 four ounce bottle in the fridge. The rest I put in the deep freezer. LO only gets around 3 bottles a week.

liamandlettie

I try to keep 4 oz in the fridge and freeze if I dont use it within 2 days. I only get about 1 (maybe 2) bottles extra a day but I only pump once at midnight (she sleeps 9-4) and maaaaaybe one side in the morning.

SamJustice

I have about 70 oz. With LO only waking once or twice at night, I have to pump in the morning. He's also not taking bottles now, so I may end up donating it or letting DS1 drink it unless we can find a bottle he will take.

wearebirds

How are you guys getting so much from pumping?!? I only get MAYBE 1.5 2 ounces from each side when I pump!

fish8412

wearebirds said:

How are you guys getting so much from pumping?!? I only get MAYBE 1.5 2 ounces from each side when I pump!

I usually only get 2 or 2.5 ounces from each side. Since I don't pump a lot at once I pump 5 times throughout the day. The LC I spoke with said that some women are able to pump more than others. Also the type of pump you have effects how much you can pump.

SamJustice

wearebirds said:

How are you guys getting so much from pumping?!? I only get MAYBE 1.5 2 ounces from each side when I pump!

I get anywhere from 4-6 oz total. It really depends on how often he wakes up at night. I've just been pumping and storing for awhile, trying to get him take a bottle so I can start working.

ProudMommy030614

:-bd I have magical boobies, awesome! :-bd

WoodShopGirl

ProudMommy030614 said:

:-bd I have magical boobies, awesome! :-bd

M14 Award winning boobies?

Khope87

I think I win on magical boobies.... 6week old, 13litres in the freezer.... We exclusively pumped until she magically took milk from me then other day! We now have started feeding and pumping for the night feeds. It's like having a newborn again - she takes aaaaaages to feed from me, and I need some sleep! So bottle feeding what I have pumped at night works well for us

wearebirds

Jt7dreamz said:

@ProudMommy030614‌ I might give you a run for your money. I don't ep though. I ebf and then pump an additional 20-28 oz a day.

For me it was all about pumping. I feed lo at 6. Then pump even if it's dry pumping to get more. This pattern continued in the beginning. Now I feed every 2-3 hours between 6a and 9p. I also pump at 11.430.10p and 3 am. And yes I set an alarm. At 3 am I usually pump 8-10oz. It's insane. I kinda hate it because I'm engorged but I go back to work in 5 weeks and hope to have a massive stash

I would LOVE to have a massive stash. That way I could eventually just feed LO that for however long it lasts.

wearebirds

@Katiemjung‌ thanks! I do pump in the morning and in considering doing overnight ones since I tend to get super full overnight between feedings.

fish8412

bennieangel said:

What volumes do you freeze in a bag / container? I've been putting 3-4oz in each bag? Should I be putting more? I've only pumped 3 times so I can easily make adjustments. We will be introducing a bottle soon & I need to start building my stash for going back to work.

I only put 4 ounces in each bag.

benevolentforce

This thread is depressing me because I haven't really started freezing yet (just a bit here and there). I do keep 6oz in the fridge though (2 3oz bottles) which LO gets via bottle from my DH every other night... but that's the upward limit of my surplus right now. I go back to work in 6 weeks so I'll need to start taking stash-building much more seriously asap.

wearebirds

bennieangel said:

When defrosting if you bag more than a serving do you just split it into a couple bottles? How long can defrosted milk be in the fridge?

My plan is to defrost however much LO will eat while I'm at work and separate into servings in bottles like you said. My MIL is watching LO, so this will take the guess work out for her. I'll keep one bag of frozen milk there in case she were to need it but my MIL is an over feeder so I don't want her just popping a bottle in LO's mouth every time she's crying.

Giving her rationed bottles will save my sanity too. It'll save lots if wasted BM.