How much milk is in your stockpile?

skye83 · November 2012

How much milk is in your stockpile? I'm looking at returning to work in January and I don't know how much I should have in my freezer stash. LO will be 3mo by then.

mork · November 2012

A whopping 4 bags of 3 oz each. Hahahaha.

I had to answer just to laugh at myself.

skye83 · November 2012

That's ok... I have 1 bag of 2.5oz... :-/

Ladiebug710 · November 2012

I had 120 oz when I went back to work, now it is between 400-500oz. I actually rarely use any. I feel like my freezer stash is more of a security blanket for me.

adoxyinherear · November 2012

I have about 100 oz., and only because I unintentionally created an oversupply when I added a pumping session in the morning and had to keep it up much longer than I intended to. Agree with PP, you really only need a few days worth because you'll be pumping to replace what's been used up. GL!

WearingRed · November 2012

I am working on my stock to have 2 weeks worth of milk in case I get hurt again and need super pain killers and muscle relaxers. I currently have 120 oz in 5 oz bags and he only drinks 2 to 3 oz 10 to 12 times a day so 20 to 36 oz a day needed for 14 days would be 280 to 504 oz needed I am almost half way there.

ellebelle2384 · November 2012

theresat858:
You only need a stockpile in case of emergencies or unexpected circumstances. All you *need* is ~12 ounces for baby's first day at daycare...then, in theory, you will pump to replace those feedings at work, and use that milk for the next day.
In practice, you can probably get a bit of a stash going now by pumping once or twice a day (don't do more than that), and it will be a nice cushion in case you don't respond to the pump well the first week back at work (common) or baby has a growth spurt. I got my stash by pumping one side while LO nursed the other twice a day and then once a day before going back to work (2x/day when I did it once in the morning and once at 3am; at some point I decided sleep was better).

This. And I have none in my freezer stash. Used it all up today and have to send formula to DC tomorrow. It was a good almost 11 months without sending formula at least!

hopingwaiting · November 2012

Honestly, I think the freezer stash is over-rated. It's nice to have a few bottles worth as wiggle room so you don't have to worry about pumping *exactly* the amount you need, but in my experience you really don't need more. If all is going well, having a stash just means you need to worry about rotating out the stash. If all isn't going well, you burn through the stash so quickly that unless you're one of those rare mommies with a deep freezer full because of oversupply issues it's never enough. So do what you can, don't sacrifice sleep for stash, and don't stress about how much you have compared to others.

gilmoregirl105 · November 2012

Right now I only have about 11 ounces. I did have a pretty good stash going for awhile, but then I started dipping into it and wasn't pumping as much as before. I used to pump 2x a day, now I'm lucky if I pump 1x a day, I just would rather sleep and spend time with dd.

I agree with PPs, you don't really need much in a stash, just enough for the next day.

bmv1980 · November 2012

I have maybe 80 oz. I am only going back to work part time next week, so I'll only need about 4 oz a day. I also noticed a couple weeks ago that my milk gets a soapy taste and smell after freezing it. It doesn't seem to bother dd, but I'd prefer to give her fresh milk, so the freezer stash is really just emergency stash.

[Deleted User] · November 2012

mork:
A whopping 4 bags of 3 oz each. Hahahaha. I had to answer just to laugh at myself.

Yesss! I have like 6 bags but two only have 2 oz, the other 4 have 3-4 oz, lol. No more than 25 oz in my freezer!

Karen1998 · November 2012

At your point, I had none. I'd burned through the 20oz I'd managed to stash when he hit a big spurt. We were supplementing with formula and I was struggling to get enough supply to go back to only BM.

I agree with the PPer about not comparing yourself to others. It really all does work out in the end. I was able to build a stash (I felt more comfortable having one) and it helped me to keep him on BM while I dropped sessions (I EPed). I did have to be fairly vigilant about rotating it, though. I didn't go back to work, but I highly stressed over my supply as an EPer. For me, having a bit in the freezer was comforting.

Proper freezing and handling is really important in building a stash. I used Lasinoh bags as they are easily available and freeze flat. However, like any bag, some will leak. So, you have to take steps to help prevent or catch those leaks. You can double bag your bags. I didn't. However, I did learn to freeze them flat and then put them into a gallon Ziploc bag once they were frozen. That second bag protected the corners of the BM bag. I was amazed at how fragile those corners became once frozen.

I also learned to defrost my milk in a clean container in the fridge. That way, when the bag leaked, the container would catch the leaks and I could still use the milk. I had a bad batch of bags, so I had many leaks. I lost quite a bit of milk before I learned the container trick and learned to not risk it.

I also learned to freeze in smaller portions. I initially froze in 2oz portions, as that's what he was eating at the time. Then, I bumped it up to 3oz. Later, I bumped it up to 4oz. I had a rare 5 or 6oz bag. I shot for using one bag per feeding. I also did a few "top off" bags of 1-2 oz in case he was still hungry after a bottle. By freezing in these portions, I didn't waste milk. I also didn't stress over him eating or not eating frozen milk. I also had a rule that he would always eat through the frozen milk first during the day. I'd put it in the fridge to defrost at night and then pour it into bottles in the morning. We'd work through the frozen first so it would be drunk well within the 24 hour time window.

KJsbabe · November 2012

I have a little over 400oz and it's definitely a security blanket for me. Before I went back to work I was really worried about being able to pump enough every day to give to DD the next day. I started pumping on the other side while feeding DD around 6w to get some sort of stash going and it just started growing from there. I've had to use a little here and there, but mostly it's just comforting to me to know that if something drastic happens we have a good amount of back up.

skye83 · November 2012

Thanks ladies! I was just getting paranoid because DH really wants to help with feedings so every time I pump he wants to use it that night to feed her. I've only managed to sneak 1 bag in the freezer. As of right now I only pump once per day. I may increase to 2x so that DH can share in the feedings and I can have a freezer stash. I'm going in about an hour to get an electric pump (so far I've been usig a manual) so maybe that will help.