Should I stash?

elvinnoe

What is the purpose for freezing milk?  Dumb question, I know, but if she's getting all she needs every day, then why do I need to save some?  I do refrigerate pumped milk if I know she's going to need it soon (church, shopping, long car ride, etc.), but I was wondering about long term stashes. Just curious..

jlsimon56

I guess we could start a SAHM/WM dabate....  ;-)  For real, pumping and stashes are more for moms who work - I am away from home from 5am to 4pm every weekday.  Most moms return to work after 6 weeks (my company's mat leave is only 5 weeks), and in order to provide BM for 1 year (arbitrary timeframe, ha!), many moms pump more earlier on and then retire the pump sooner, so they don't have to pump so much.  I had to pump 5x per day to get my LO's 3 bottles, and the sooner I could quit pumping, the better!  This meant creating a stash.  I went on only 1 week-long business trip and was able to take my LO with me, but many moms don't have that option.  I think for the baby who's getting BM from the tap for the most part (like, 1 bottle a day), there is no need to maintain a stash.  As it was, I had to donate the last of my stash b/c it wouldn't have gotten used in time.

mb314

Ditto what PP said.  If you plan on returning to work, having a stash gives you peace of mind in case you don't pump as much in a day as LO eats at daycare.  I've been back to work for about two weeks now, and I have about 150 oz. in my stash.  I'm not able to keep up with his eating everyday, so I've dipped into the freezer stash a couple of times. 

If you aren't planning on going back to work, having a handful of milk bags in the freezer is nice just in case you are out sometime and LO needs a bottle. Also (don't want to get flamed for this) there have been times when I have had a few cocktails and have given LO some of my frozen stash instead of nursing.