Breastfeeding Megathread

missnc77

STMs+ please share any insights, recommendations of supplies, etc you may have. FTMs and STMs+ ask any questions you may have!

My experience:
I BF DD1 for 11ish months. The first 6 months was EBF, then we introduced solids, then I introduced formula to supplement when she went to daycare twice a week, then eventually I slowly started to wean and drop feeds until being done completely around 11.5 months. I had a love hate relationship with BFing, mostly centered around my inability to pump a large amount and blisters. Thankfully, I'm a SAHM, but pumping was so burdensome that it made BFing grueling. I never let DH give DD1 a bottle overnight because I'd just have to get up and pump anyway, and I could never empty. I was always on night duty for feeding.

I also had a rough go with dealing with milk blisters. I visited numerous LCs, but I was never able to get advice I needed to fix my issue. One thought I had thrush (I didn't), they all told me her latch was great, etc. One of the most frustrating things about BFing is a lack of care and answers. Even with LCs, you feel like you're feeling your way through the dark. I got the mother of all milk blisters 6 months in, and that's what lead me to eventually slowly wean. The blister turned into a giant crack, and 9 months after ending breastfeeding, it still hasn't healed. I'm really afraid what this means for breastfeeding DD2.

My recommendations:

1. Medela Hand Pump - You'll probably already get an electric pump through your insurance, but my hand pump was way more effective at milk removal. And it was especially useful in the MOTN, early mornings, when you're over engorged, etc. Instead of strapping into the electric pump, you can remove a little milk for comfort with the hand pump and be good to go. Your milk supply is a balance - the more you use, the more you're telling your body to make. So if you're pumping for relief and not to actually feed your baby, you don't want to over-do it. Hand expressing or using a manual pump can help walk this fine line.

https://www.target.com/p/medela-harmony-manual-breast-pump/-/A-528690

2. APNO cream - Go ahead and ask your OB for a prescription before you give birth just to have it in your drawer. You can only get it from a compounding pharmacy, but a lot of people praise it as a true miracle solution. It never healed my crack, but it did allow me to make sure it didn't get infected and continue to BF DD1 for another 5 months. This is a Canadian site that tells you what it is, but you can get it in the US. Your first resort will probably want to be lanolin or any of the nipple creams you get OTC, but this is great to have on hand if the others aren't effective.

https://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/informations/all-purpose-nipple-ointment-apno/

3. Milk bags for storage - I think this is a personal preference. People recommend their favorite, but I recommend you buy 3 different kinds, freeze milk in them, then revisit them in a month and see which one you like/keeps your milk the best. For me, I hated the Medela bags. I went with Avent, but then I'd get the metallic smell when I defrosted. I tried Nuk, and they kept my milk much better, no metallic smell. They don't feel as sturdy as the Avent to me, but I'll be going with Nuk from the start this time.

https://www.toysrus.com/product?productId=64633456&source=CAPLA_DF:64633456:BRUS&cagpspn=plab_9FF29569&camp=PLAPPCG-_-PID9FF29569:BRUS&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI25us2Zu32AIVj9lkCh0r1wEFEAQYASABEgK2SfD_BwE

4. Lansinoh 3-1 Breast Therapy - These are great! You can heat them up if you need help with milk removal, or you can freeze them if you need help with engorgement pain. I used them for both, including heating them up and wrapping around my breast pump shields to help encourage let downs.

https://www.target.com/p/lansinoh-therapearl-3-in-1-breast-therapy/-/A-14386190?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Baby+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Baby&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9029827&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0-6ZnZy32AIVgmZ-Ch3lQADbEAQYAiABEgINg_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

5. Bamboobies - The disposable nursing pads were just itchy and uncomfortable. These are so soft and nice to wear. The only downside is you can see an outline in a thinner shirt.

https://www.target.com/p/bamboobies-milk-proof-regular-overnight-washable-multi-colored-nursing-bra-pads-4pk/-/A-15833418?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Baby+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Baby&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9029827&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkd3rz5y32AIVgfhkCh1MTQbQEAQYASABEgIvQfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Advice:

The vision that's presented of every feeding experience being this wonderful calm situation with sunlight streaming in through the window as you cuddle your baby with an excellent latch. Your supply will be exactly what you need, and every time you pump, you'll fill each bottle to 4-5 ounces with no problems in record time. Some moms will strike gold, and it will be smooth sailing. But then there is reality, and for most of us, there will be some struggle. Be it mastitis, latching, pumping, milk blisters, thrush, bottle rejection, over supply, under supply, whatever. I don't say this to scare you but to let you know that you are not alone. This shit can be hard in the beginning, and if it weren't for my BMB last go around and knowing I wasn't alone, I don't know if I could have kept going. It was so nice to know that I wasn't the only one dealing with just wanting to take a damn shower without the baby crying for more food, it's how I found out about cluster feeding being completely normal, it's how I got through the late night feeds and lack of sleep. Hoping this will be a good start to build that support network again!

ashleyf911

I'll come back to this later and add more about supplies and stuff, but I breastfed DS for almost 18 months. I knew absolutely nothing at first. The one thing I wish someone would have told me was: keep the kid on your boob. Every time he fusses or makes a noise or even might be hungry... offer to let them nurse. It helps your supply at the beginning when your milk is coming in and later on if you're ever having supply issues. The more they nurse, the more milk it signals your body to produce. And sometimes they aren't even hungry, but you're home base for them, so they're just comfort nursing. That's ok. My milk took awhile to come in because I had a csection, and we had a few stressful weeks in the beginning with lots of crying (both the baby and me) that I think would have gone easier had I known right away how much babies want to nurse... which is pretty much all the time.

missnc77

@ashleyf911 Yes! My motto became, “When in doubt, put a boob in the mouth.” The general consensus is that you can’t overfeed. They’ll either stop or spit up what they can’t handle. I watched the entire season finale of game of thrones in 2016 by just keeping DD1 on the breast because that was her witching hour.

baybeesunflower

Omg that APNO was a life saver for me at the beginning!!! It helped my nipples heal and allow me to not wriggle in pain when my son latched.  I EBF until 11 months. I had begun to train for a half marathon and just couldn't keep my supply up. Won't be doing that this time....

There is a period of frustration and anxiety when your milk comes in and you are engorged but it won't let down for your baby to eat. I can still remember one night where I was crying, our baby was crying and my poor husband was like I don't know what to do. Just keep trying and trust that it can work out. Thankfully, it was pretty smooth after that. I loved BF.

cford08

Quick question...Did anybody put lanolin on their nipples before they were due? Like now. Had a friend say it helped save her from cracks.

stardustskies

@cford08 I've just been putting cocoa butter lotion on my boobs, nipples included. It's been doing pretty well at keeping the dryness away. 

cford08

@sarahhedger7 I'm going to start using some lanolin that was given to me. The cracked nipples part of BF has me shook.

slr1229

Only thing about BFding that I hated was pumping.  Absolutely hated pumping!

DDRRT1982

Cracked nipples are no joke.  I breastfed all through my last pregnancy and I still got them.  If someone said it could help I would definitely try.

missnc77

@cford08 I wouldn't worry about it too much. You will have just given birth, you'll be tired, you'll have sore nipples, but it's just all part of the dog pile for a couple of weeks. Then the hope is that you get a bit better, the baby gets a bit better, and things start getting better in general with discomfort. I remember engorgement and dealing with that way more annoying and burdensome than the nipple discomfort in the beginning.

@slr1229 It really is the worst. I thought it would be so easy and straight forward, but I had to work for every drop. I have so much admiration for full time working moms that made it one year BFing and pumping at work. That truly is an accomplishment! 

cford08

Omg @missnc77 engorgement sounds like the horror of all horrors. I've already gone from 34ddd pre preggo to 38d now. I cannot get any bigger!

slr1229

@missnc77  Ya I work full time and doing that 3-4x a day was just brutal and definitely dropped my supply.  At least I asked my DH to clean the bottles and make them for daycare so I didn’t have to do that after work!  

rsquaredr

Breastfeeding hurts. There's no way around that. The first week or so count to ten every time they latch. By 7 or 8 counts it should not hurt. I did this both times (EBFed both my first two over a year each). By two weeks out you will be amazed at how efficient your baby and you are at nursing. They'll root for your nipple and you'll be much more confident.

I never used any creams or lotions. What worked best for me was just a small bit of expressed milk left on my nipples to air dry. 

Drink. Drink. Drink. They give you those huge hospital insulated cups. Take them home and constantly drink water. You'll be thirsty and it'll help your supply. Both times my kill came in on day 5. It's normal for a baby to lose some weight. Find a ped who 100% supports nursing and will do weight checks. Trust your gut. Wet diapers are the biggest sign baby is getting enough. 

Offer the boob. 99% of the time the boob solves everything. Surround yourself with people who have nursed and support you nursing. It is a FULL TIME JOB learning to breastfeed. It gets easier as you go but each new babe is a learning curve. 

If you want baby to take a bottle.....my first refused and I was freaking miserable. I couldn't leave her at all and I needed a break so bad. My second I started pumping around 2 weeks PP after nursing to empty my breasts and I built a nice 1000 oz freezer supply. My mom gave her a bottle when she was 3 weeks old and we gave her one every single day for a feeding. This helped her learn to take a bottle from anyone. This also helps when you drop night feedings or you're weaning because the before bed I dropped first and she'd get a bottle instead of nursed before bed.

If you want to nurse, you most likely can. Have a support team, a good ped, and know that it's hard but rewarding. And there's nothing wrong with no matter how you feed your baby as long as they are fed. 

stardustskies

I want DH to be able to feed him with a bottle when i don't feel like nursing, but I definitely don't want nipple confusion. When would be a good time to offer him his first bottle? Around 3 weeks? Should i give him the first bottle or have DH do it when I'm not around?

chasingroygbiv

All great advice and while I am the furthest from being a pro, I feel like because of my struggles (M&M sized gaping holes, thrush, overactive letdown, clogged ducts, mastitis (x7), vasospasms) I could share insight from what I learned through it all if others struggle. Feel free to ask!!

One pointer I would love to add is to look up the “flipple technique” on YouTube. I was reassured in the hospital and at 2 different appts with the LC That our latch was right. It wasn’t until I used this technique that it didn’t feel like needles the entire time she was latched. 

Also, it IS entirely possible for you to have thrush on your nipples without baby showing symptoms (I was told it couldn’t happen, so my thrush was dismissed for a month and a half, hence the gaping holes in my nipples). 

Happy to say our journey ended up being successful, but it wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t glamorous! Nursed for a grand total of 2 years and 10 months, the first 6 being EBF. 

P.S. Fed is best. If you try to nurse and it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t. Don’t beat yourself up. Our first was only breastfed for a month before we had to switch to formula. Do what’s best for Mama and baby both! 

enigmaticjj

While pregnant with my first, I took the breastfeeding class my hospital offered (and read what I could online), so I was prepared with the idea/knowledge that the more baby nursed, the more it told my body to produce more milk. So, as others have pointed out, that means you don't get to sleep through the night. Whenever she cried, I offered to have her nurse. At the very least I figured it would be comfort for her (for us, that worked).

Pumping was the worst part of the experience for me. However I know others who had/have no issue with it. I was so happy and relieved when my daughter turned one and we were able to start introducing other milk, which meant my pumping days could end. I ended up breast feeding her for 24 months (but for that second year every couple/few months would cut out a feeding so in the end it was just the morning and before bed feeding, then last just the before bed feeding).

Some things I didn't realize before hand...

1. Engorged breasts get HARD. It took me five days before my milk came in and that morning when I woke up they were rock hard and quite bigger than I've ever experienced (stretch marks overnight). I had no idea it was normal and would get back to soft again after letting the baby feed. Maybe I was just nieve.
2. Pediatricians really are not fully/properly educated/trained about breastfeeding. Lactation consultants are. If you're struggling with breastfeeding, see a lactation consultant (and if you're in the US with insurance, at least at the moment thanks to the ACA, insurance is supposed to cover lactation consultants but you need to ensure you find one in-network). Personally, I'd suggest you find out ahead of time your options for a lactation consultant if you plan on breastfeeding so you don't have to deal with that hassle in the midst of later stress.
3. I don't HAVE to do everything the pediatrician says. My first took a long time to get back to her birth weight and I was getting a lot of pressure from the pediatrician to put her on formula so they could know for sure how much she was taking in. And made me feel as if I had a supply issue because I really couldn't get anything out of pumping. Thanks to the lactation consultant I saw shortly later, she explained we could do 'weighted feedings' to measure how much breast milk my baby was taking in while breast feeding (we rented a baby scale to weight her before feeding, then after feeding). The consultant also assured me that the amount of milk you pump (or don't pump) isn't representative of your supply as not every body responds the same to a pump as to a baby. Also, thanks to the help of the consultant, I realized the nurses at the hospital gave me the wrong size breast shield, which was why no milk was coming out.
4. As mentioned in #3, but really wanted to point out as knowing this earlier could have saved me sooooo many tears and heart ache: Even if when you pump, you don't get much milk out, it doesn't necessarily mean you have a low supply. One thing, make sure the size breast shield you have is correct. Second, you can try weighted feeding for a few days or so to get an idea of how much milk your baby is taking in. It can offer some assurance you have a supply (or confirmation maybe that you don't have as much of a supply). For me, although my supply was fine, overall pumping was a huge (the biggest) struggle for me as I barely pumped enough for the next day, which was so stressful. But I was lucky enough to be able to sometimes go to daycare to nurse depending on my work day.

Some tips I found helpful:

1. Lanolin isn't the most pleasant to apply to your nipples (sticky and doesn't glide on smooth/easily). I'd suggest getting another type of nipple butter (I used Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter, which was nice because I could also use it for chapped skin so I used it on my baby as needed).
2. If you feel an area on your breast getting hard, like you might have a clogged duct, try putting the handle part of a vibrating toothbrush on it for a bit. It can help break up the clog sometimes.
3. If you do need to supplement with formula, consider a 'Supplemental Nursing System' (SNS). It's a pain in the butt, however in my experience I felt like it helped still have my baby accustomed to nursing (and not a bottle) and could still have the nursing sensation to tell my body to produce milk. I used this for a couple/few days while waiting for milk to come in and between those feedings the hospital nurses suggested I also use a pump to also help tell my body to start producing (the idea wasn't to pump milk, just to have that sensation to tel my body to produce milk).

missnc77

@sarahhedger7 I think I started letting my husband give DD1 a bottle a few times a week around 4 weeks. I started pumping a little around 3 weeks, but not very much because I was worried about throwing off my supply regulation. They beat the fear of nipple confusion into me at the hospital, so I was so worried. But then my friend warned me about starting too late or not doing it consistently. She gave her daughter a bottle while on maternity leave, and her daughter had no problem. She didn’t give one again, went back to work, and her daughter then started refusing bottles. DD1 didn’t really have any issues though with me in the room, and I am so very greatful that she was happy to take a bottle. By the time I was slowly weaning, I could feed her on the breast then pop her off and give her a bottle with my boob hanging out. 

As for pumping for a bottle -
The idea is that you get enough for one bottle, then from that point on you pump to replace when they are taking the bottle (ie you pump to replace a feed). That’s the basic idea at least, but then you have women that are planning to go back to work that try to build a stash because your baby is far more effective at milk removal than the pump, so it’s not always a 1-1 trade, and it helps to have extra in the freezer to top off bottles. When my husband would offer a bottle, I’d have to pump which wasn’t that freeing. But it was good for him to have that bonding time with her, so I did it more for him and to get her used to a bottle occasionally. Once my supply was better established, I could leave her with him, go do some errands, and just pump when I got home to replace that feed. 

ashleyf911

I started pumping about a week after getting home from the hospital. Not a lot and not regularly, just enough to get used to what worked best for me and to fill a few bottles for DH to give.  And speaking of bottle feeding... they don't need as much milk as you might think or people might try to tell you they need. I think for breast milk it's generally about an ounce per hour, DH normally did 2oz bottles every 2 hours while I was working. And it was recommended to me to keep the slowest flowing nipple on the bottle so that babe wouldn't get impatient with the slow flow of the boob and start to prefer the bottle, and I never had problems with that - we used stage 1 bottle nipples almost the entire time he took bottles. 

livingthedream-3

I've been a milk donor and my milk bank said Target Up&Up (my favorite) and Lansinoh bags were the least likely to leak. But there is always a risk of leaking so always thaw in another container or bag.

For pumping, especially working mamas, have videos of your baby on your phone to watch to help with let down and/or bring a lovey or something that smells like them. If pumping at work don't worry about washing in between pumps, put everything in a bag in the fridge and wash once a day.

Speaking of lovey, carry a lovey around in your bra and when you introduce your baby to the bottle have the person offering it (never be you, they ain't no dummies) wrap the lovey around the bottle. 

Your supply is always at it's peak in the morning, so try your hardest to add a pump in then. I would double pump multiple times a day at work but would get the same amount as the one morning pump that was only one side.

Most women have a stud and dud, so don't worry if you seem to pump twice as much from one breast as the other, it's just your stud it's ok.

crossfitbabybump

Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter is a lifesaver! Find it on Amazon and it's not expensive, either!

StephBrim24

My biggest learning curve came with understanding my own anatomy. I learned that I have small nipples (basically my areolas were it- there was no more nipple beyond that) AND I have one inverted nipple. You can BF with an inverted nipple but your level of commitment has to be insanely high and your infant needs to cooperate with you. My first baby never figured nursing out so I pumped. My second baby was a strong nurser so we figured it out but I needed so much help getting my nipples to stick out (nipple everter and a breast shell which isn’t the same as a nipple shield). It took a solid 6 weeks to work my nipples out to stay out and they cracked and bled quite a bit in that window too. 
My hugest question is if there is a way to draw my nipples back out and toughen them up before this baby comes so I can deal with pain and injury now instead of when a baby needs to be clamping down on them every 2-3 hours too. I know they’ll probably say no since stimulation may cause contractions. 

So - know your nipples so you have strategies ahead of time!

mdfarmchick

I’m going to come back and read this in March again. I breastfed my first until 8 months and struggled with an oversupply in the beginning—DS wasn’t gaining weight so I had to pump on day 2 home from the hospital and start giving him bottles so we didn’t end up back in the hospital. The pump increased my supply drastically and I think that’s why I didn’t realize that my supply was dropping off. For the last few months of breastfeeding, DS was wanting a boob every two hours or less and I was struggling with PPA. When we switched to formula, he stopped waking up every 1-2 hours a night. Weaning helped my sanity. 

I go back and forth about whether to try to breastfeed this time around but I think I probably will. I think support is definitely a big deal and I need to find more support this time. But my previous BMB was so reassuring and helpful and I hope to find that here too. 

vflux33

So much great info here--thank you, STM posters!!

I have what might be a dumb question for people who did a fair amount of pumping: other than risking running out of bottles, is there a problem or disadvantage with storing filled bottles in the freezer or refrigerator as opposed to using the bags? Is it just because the bags are bigger and bottles are expensive, or...?

Gingermom15

vflux33 said:

So much great info here--thank you, STM posters!!

I have what might be a dumb question for people who did a fair amount of pumping: other than risking running out of bottles, is there a problem or disadvantage with storing filled bottles in the freezer or refrigerator as opposed to using the bags? Is it just because the bags are bigger and bottles are expensive, or...?

I froze a lot...*a lot* of milk. It depends on your freezer and budget. If you have a deep freeze, which I recommend for breastmilk, it stays good for 6-12 months. I used the bags and laid them flat to freeze, then stood them straight in storage boxes and totes. It saved a ton of room. It was easy to store and rotate this way. Bottles would work fine, but I would imagine they would take up a lot more room. You can start with bottles and see how it goes, but bags worked great too

ashleyf911

@vflux33 At the peak of my stash when we were going through a ton of it because I was working a lot, I had over 600 oz frozen (on my 12+ hr work days, DH would need about 20 oz), so around 100 bags worth filled to 6oz each. You can buy 100 Lansinoh bags for about $9, and if you freeze them flat, they all fit in a few gallon Ziploc bags to keep them from being loose in the deep freeze. We used the Munchkin Latch bottles, which are around 3/$20... between the cost and the ridiculous amount of space they would take up, it was a no-brainer for us. If you're not planning on needing much pumped milk, I could see how freezing bottles would be more convenient. 

vflux33

@Gingermom15 @ashleyf911 OK, that makes sense--thank you! 

missnc77

At its largest, my stash was probably around 200 ounces worth in bags. It took up so much room that we actually had to buy a small deep freezer instead of using our regular freezer. I think for me, outside of space, the hold up to freezing actual bottles would have been that I had a hard time pumping a full bottle. On daycare days where she went for 6 hours, a “good” day for me would be a total of 4-5 ounces from two pumping sessions. So my bags varied from 0.5 ounce bags to 4 ounce bags. I had to usually combine bags from multiple pumping sessions/days to make a full bottle sometimes since I’d send 8-12 ounces to daycare. 

becausescience

I had a rough start to breastfeeding.  I didn't care about how birth went, but I knew I wanted to breastfeed and hoped to make it a year.  But... DD had low transfer - so my supply was never really where it needed to be because of that.  We had to supplement and I cried multiple times in the pediatrician's office because I felt like I was failing her.  Looking back, I put way too much pressure on myself and having the postpartum hormones on top of that was tough.  I'm going to try to go easier on myself this time around, as I won't have the time to put into pumping on top of nursing with DD and new baby.  I also should have started pumping earlier than I did to combat the low transfer, but didn't know she wasn't getting enough as it was a few days after my milk came in that we saw an LC for a weighted feed.  I didn't EP, but I mostly pumped - so most of my information is going to come from that perspective.

I like the Earth Mama Nipple Butter best and the Target brand bags for milk storage.  I used a Spectra pump and liked it fine, but never used a Medela so can't really compare.  I had a car power adapter and didn't notice a huge change in power when using it.  Medela Steam Bags are great for sterilizing.  I also had an adapter so I could use a Medela pump kit/bottles with the Spectra.

Get extra parts to keep in your pump bag! Valves, tubing, backflow protector (for Spectra) - things happen.

My Pumping Info:

I went back to work when DD was 3 months old.  I'd feed her in the (early) morning (4ish) on one side and pump the other.  This was always when my supply was the highest.  I'd then pump in the car on my way to school (6ish).  I pumped during my prep period (9:30ish) and during lunch (12:30ish).  I then would feed her once I got home from work/picking her up from daycare (4ish) - daycare was asked not to feed her after 3pm, but she'd typically eat around 1pm anyways.  I'd feed more during the evening, but ended up just pumping before bed and for a while waking up at like 1am to pump too.  Sooo much pumping - ugh!

I was able to keep up with what DD was drinking at daycare because of that one 4am pump.  I bought extra bottles so I could store my milk in them during the day while pumping, and then just use those the next day for daycare.  I didn't have a fridge, so used a lunch bag with ice packs to keep the milk cold.  I also did not wash my pump parts between pumps at work - just stored them in a different bag with more ice packs.  BUT apparently this is no longer recommended.  TBH unless new baby has health issues and is immunocompromised I don't see washing them every time.

Also, I put DH on bottle washing duty and it made my life soooo much easier.

@vflux33 Bottles definitely take up more room and are more expensive, but if you're not freezing a ton there is no reason you couldn't freeze in bottles.  Milk can actually be kept in the fridge for a while (I want to say up to 6 days... I always tried to freeze if I didn't use by 3 days though) too (and fresh is "better" than frozen/thawed for certain properties).  Is it the freezing in plastic that you're thinking of avoiding - I've heard of people freezing milk in the small size mason jars. (which are like $1 for a 4oz jar vs $7 for a 4 oz bottle)

vflux33

@becausescience Yes the plastic is mostly the reason. I did find 1-2 companies that use BPA and BPS free plastic for their bags, but I’d prefer glass. Also I’m not planning on going back to work for awhile at least, possibly a long while. My pumping needs will be more related to the twins issue than needing to be out of the house all day. So at least initially I won’t have the challenge of keeping a totally full freezer for others to feed them since I won’t be away at work. And it seems like the plastic bags are most useful for ppl who go back to work pretty soon and have that challenge. So now I am debating trying without at first. That’s a great point about the refrigerator versus freezer too. Maybe I can get away with freezing only sparingly... 

DDRRT1982

@vflux33 heard of these...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Breastmilk-Storage-Bags-BPS-Free-Nontoxic/dp/B01JNHKPJG&ved=0ahUKEwjZ-eLJ6b_YAhXFSSYKHazuBrYQFghEMAA&usg=AOvVaw3HIL5OgH6jBM8GP85Mwxtz

DDRRT1982

Also, these are saying BPS and BPA free...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lansinoh-Breastmilk-Storage-Bags-100-Count-BPA-Free-and-BPS-Free-Packaging-May-Vary/959666954

Have you read up on any of these?  Are they legit?  

vflux33

@DDRRT1982 I haven't heard of them before, but when a company advertises BPA/BPS free I trust it unless I hear otherwise in reviews or googling articles, etc. My friend who I told you before said that Honeysuckle was the only one on the market for that may have been right 4-5 years ago the last time she had a new baby, but her info could very well be outdated now because of growing awareness of BPS. So I'd assume they're both legit and go for it. And if I decide I need bags after all, I'll probably try those too. 

DDRRT1982

Great!  I have to start a big stash for work and donation and am glad there are options now.

livingthedream-3

vflux33 said:

So much great info here--thank you, STM posters!!

I have what might be a dumb question for people who did a fair amount of pumping: other than risking running out of bottles, is there a problem or disadvantage with storing filled bottles in the freezer or refrigerator as opposed to using the bags? Is it just because the bags are bigger and bottles are expensive, or...?

If you just have an extra bottle or two then there is no problem just using the bottles. But bottles take up a ton of space and are more WAAAYYY more expensive if you plan to have a "stash". I filled up an entire deep freezer with breast milk and donated 1,000oz of BM so I had to use bags. I would pump into the bottles and every couple days transfer them to bags, label and stick in the freezer.

livingthedream-3

DDRRT1982 said:

Also, these are saying BPS and BPA free...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lansinoh-Breastmilk-Storage-Bags-100-Count-BPA-Free-and-BPS-Free-Packaging-May-Vary/959666954

Have you read up on any of these?  Are they legit?  

Those are good bags. I don't think I've yet to come across any BM storage bags that aren't BPA free ETA: Not sure what BPS is. The milk bank that I use takes the above bags and Target Up&Up bags (my favorite) and those aren't marked as BPS free, just BPA free.

vflux33

@livingthedream-3 Don't want to go too far off topic here, but BPS is very similar to BPA, but is less frequently labeled. If you've read about BPA's effects and are concerned by those, BPS is also a good thing to avoid (and it's often in the same types of plastic products). 

Gingermom15

@vflux33 if you plan to use glass to freeze milk, you could freeze in 1 ounce increments in a basic ice cube tray, then transfer those to a freezer jar and date the top. You can buy Weck jars, which are almost completely glass and BPA free with reusable lids. The cool part about doing it this way is you can grab a single cube of Breast milk if you only need a single ounce. With bags, if your baby is still hungry you thaw the whole bag to top them off. Then that milk is either wasted because baby drank from the bottle or you have to use it in 24 hours. 

ETA with twins and your wish to freeze in glass, this is how I would start. I wouldn’t stress yourself right now in the beginning about building a big freezer stash especially with two hungry bellies. 

Gingermom15

Also, for anyone planning to freeze breast milk I cannot stress enough to freeze an ounce or two and let it thaw to test for high lipase. I had 3,000 oz frozen and made this rookie mistake. My son wouldn’t take it after it was frozen for longer than a few weeks. I gave it all to parents who adopted a baby and he took it fine, but it sure stung to see it all go lol

vflux33

@Gingermom15 I never would have thought of that--thank you!

OK I officially need to bookmark this thread for after the birth because there is so much useful info here I will not remember when I'm stressed and tired. 

Gingermom15

@vflux33 no problem! Hope it helps. It’s a bigger expense to freeze this way because of the cost of the jars, but since everything is reusable I’m sure it would save you in the long run. I don’t even want to think about the money I sank into bags!

DDRRT1982

I have high lipase too, but this baby is just going to have to take it.  It sucks