freezing milk in cubes before storing in bags?

globalwife

I see that many of you freeze your milk in cubes before putting it in a bag to store. Just curious as to why you don't just pour the milk directly in the bag and then freeze it, eliminating the ice cube tray step?

PunkyBooster

Because not everyone pumps enough at one time to pour directly into the bags.

 

globalwife

oh okay, I was afraid it had to do with the milk freezing to the plastic or something.

livinirie84

I'm also imagining that if you freeze in a tray first and then store multiple cubes in one large bag you will save money because you don't need a plastic bag for each bottle or use. Am I right?

meltoine

livinirie84:

I'm also imagining that if you freeze in a tray first and then store multiple cubes in one large bag you will save money because you don't need a plastic bag for each bottle or use. Am I right?

I guess. The reason most people freeze in cubes first is because each cube is 1oz, so you can take out the exact number of oz you want without having to waste a separate bag for each oz of BM. I made that mistake early on and I have one 8oz bag of BM in my freezer that I don't know what to do with because DS never gets more than one feeding in a row from a bottle. Eventually I'm going to have to defrost it and pump those feedings to freeze in smaller increments.  

Birdies08

livinirie84:

I'm also imagining that if you freeze in a tray first and then store multiple cubes in one large bag you will save money because you don't need a plastic bag for each bottle or use. Am I right?

I freeze in a milk tray and then put them in gallon sized plastic bags. Probably cheaper and (I think) easier than using individual milk storage bags. 

larrysdarling

Birdies08:

livinirie84:

I'm also imagining that if you freeze in a tray first and then store multiple cubes in one large bag you will save money because you don't need a plastic bag for each bottle or use. Am I right?

I freeze in a milk tray and then put them in gallon sized plastic bags. Probably cheaper and (I think) easier than using individual milk storage bags. 

So when you do this how do you know how old one cube is from the next? If you have one big bag into which you're tossing the cubes you can't differentiate the older from the newer milk.

To me it seems like an extra unnecessary step - and one that increases the chance the milk will spill. One wrong bump and you can lose a whole tray of milk. To me that's not worth the price of the milk bags. 

Also, frozen cubes take up a lot more room then bags that you can lay flat. 

Birdies08

larrysdarling:

Birdies08:

livinirie84:

I'm also imagining that if you freeze in a tray first and then store multiple cubes in one large bag you will save money because you don't need a plastic bag for each bottle or use. Am I right?

I freeze in a milk tray and then put them in gallon sized plastic bags. Probably cheaper and (I think) easier than using individual milk storage bags. 

So when you do this how do you know how old one cube is from the next? If you have one big bag into which you're tossing the cubes you can't differentiate the older from the newer milk.

To me it seems like an extra unnecessary step - and one that increases the chance the milk will spill. One wrong bump and you can lose a whole tray of milk. To me that's not worth the price of the milk bags. 

Also, frozen cubes take up a lot more room then bags that you can lay flat. 

Oh, my trays have covers! It is really easy to use them without spilling

As far as the date issue, I label the big bag with a date range. I mean, there isn't really a specific date milk will go bad in the freezer. Different sources give a different range, so I figure having a few weeks worth in one bag won't make that big of a difference in the end. That being said, I use trays because bags are more expensive and wasteful (IMO) and I SAH, so I probably am not even going to use all of my milk that is frozen. In fact, I'm trying to donate it to someone who will use it all within a few days, so the dates don't need to be that specific. Anyway, just my experience!