Pumping/Stash/Usage question

MrsMcJamie · February 2010

So, hopefully this question(s) isn't too asinine, but I've been trying to mentally play it out in my head for a few weeks now and thought maybe some veteran BF'ers might be able to help me out.

I've been pumping daily in the mornings for close to a month now and am building up a decent stash... I'm mainly doing it because I'm typically pretty full in the morning and DD doesn't come close to relieving me. Now that we're doing a bottle feeding with her at night, I'll save about 4 oz for her and not put that in the freezer.

So, it's great I have so much, I realize this is a good problem... I'm going to be home with her until Mid-May, at which time I'll be working part time, and our childcare situation is such that I'll be able to nurse her at lunchtime. My question is how will I use all this stash? I'm thinking I might be able to keep up with her demand by pumping and not freezing (since unfrozen pumped milk is technically better, right?) I know things can change quickly, but it just seems silly to pump and freeze and then thaw older milk to give her if it's not as nutritious. And we're on the clock with it only lasting 4 months max.

This is stressful. I don't have enough freezer space! Can you guys help me work through how this might get used and not go to waste?

bobsbride2006 · February 2010

We have a freezer in our garage, so space is not an issue for us. I needed to dip into my stash when I had to go out of town to a funeral. The baby stayed with my mom and got milk from the freezer. I've also dipped into the freezer stash once or twice when my supply dipped (this happened the first time I started my period).

I had a friend who pumped exclusively. She pumped for 6 months and had enough milk in the freezer to last until her child was a year old!!!

leonawfu98 · February 2010

PP made a good point - if and when your supply dips for any reason, it's nice to have something put away for that...also, may sound silly, but hey, someday, you'll want to just get out of the house for dinner or something, and if you don't happen to have any fresh...well, that makes it easier.

I had the same problem as you, though - not much freezer space! We just didn't stock up on meats, etc. as much as I had pre-baby.

Because of supply, I was only able to make it to about 7 months, and extended it a tiny bit longer (maybe a week or two) with what I had frozen.

AngelPack · February 2010

Definitely good for supply issues. For about 2 weeks out of every month I am down to pumping only 8-9oz all day at work when usually I can get 14oz and he needs 12. You can easily see where the freezer stash comes in. Before I started having such drastic supply issues we would still use the milk I froze as it expired and I would freeze the fresh milk. My stash is quickly dimishing, but without it I would have had to give him formula so I am happy that I saved all I could and used that frozen milk even when I didn't have to so that I could extend out the expiration dates.

surfnsandbride · February 2010

We've got a big freezer in the garage too so space wasn't an issue at first. I'd say take advantage of your supply while you can because it will even out over time and you'll be glad to have back up for the unexpected or days when you don't pump quite enough. I was a little confused and stressed about how it would all work out once I came back to work too, it will all work out great, things seemed to regulate themselves much better once I was in a normal routine and back at work! You'll use your milk in more ways as she gets older too I always used it with cereals and to thin out purees and now I thaw out a few ounces in the morning and at night to give him with his solids breakfast and dinner.

I don't know what I'd have done without a chest freezer (a friend of mine did borrow some space in her MIL's freezer for her DD) I'd freeze as much as I could, it's a good problem to have!

murph04 · February 2010

surfnsandbride:
I'd say take advantage of your supply while you can because it will even out over time and you'll be glad to have back up for the unexpected or days when you don't pump quite enough.

This, right here. I've never had a huge freezer stash (my kid loves to eat) but I usually do have at least a day's worth of milk in there as back up. But there have been a few times in the past 10 months when I've had a dip in supply and I've had to get up in the middle of the night for a few nights in a row to pump so I could A) increase my supply to meet his demand, and/or so he'd have enough milk for the next day.

Let me tell you, waking yourself up in the middle of the night to pump SUCKS.

surfnsandbride:
You'll use your milk in more ways as she gets older too I always used it with cereals and to thin out purees and now I thaw out a few ounces in the morning and at night to give him with his solids breakfast and dinner.

And this.

Heels.Fan03 · February 2010

We have an extra freezer in the garage so space wasn't an issue for us, but I would still recommend trying to freeze and store as much as you can now. Like the PP said, you never know when your supply will drop or other things will come up and that freezer stash will come in handy. I had an excellent supply for the first 6 months and was putting milk away like crazy. Then all of a sudden, my supply dropped and it just happened to coincide with when I went out of town (away from DS) for 4 days, so there went my huge stash. I was never able to build back up again, and since then I've had to supplement with formula for a couple of bottles each day. So, my advice is to stock away as much as you can just in case!

akspriss · February 2010

i'd def. keep the pumping session in to build up your supply cuz u never know when u will need it. and you can just rotate out the old milk and freeze more if it. Yeah that one bottle will have different nutrients but in all honesty i'd rather my child have that in one bottle vs. running out and needing the stash down the road. so take a bag out and defrost it and then just freeze more that day and continuiously rotate it. most of mine was in my parents deep freezer so it had a life of 12 months which helped me out a lot.

MrsMcJamie · February 2010

Thanks for walking me through it, ladies

I took out my first bag this morning to use, thinking maybe I'll just thaw some out here and there and see how it goes. We're coming up on allergy season here, and I know that allergy meds can affect supply for some, so perhaps that'll be one use for the stash. Now I do totally want a deep freezer though...

dusk42 · February 2010

They have small deep freezers - our friends have one. I think it would be worth it if you have the money and the space. Then you can make and freeze baby food, etc. too.

I would just rotate your stash - the milk should be plenty nutritious, so just use the frozen for her bottle and freeze new. As long as you don't use frozen instead of nursing or pumping (i.e., replace what you are thawing), your supply shouldn't drop. Thawing some now will also let you check and make sure you don't have a lipase issue.

It's a good problem to have!

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