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storing bm question
I am getting ready to start day care and need a tutorial on how to start storing breast milk and possibly freeze it. I use a rented medela pump and avent bottles. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am a FTM!
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Re: storing bm question
kellymom.com is a great source of information. I had a horrible experience with the first box of freezer storage bags I had where all the milk smelled funny when it defrosted. It never happened with other brands where I got free samples and tried one or two, so I was a bit scared off from freezing milk again. Some people have a lipase issue that causes that, but I still think I got a bum box of bags. It's just heartbreaking to toss 40 or 80 oz. of milk... I don't want to scare you off from freezing milk, since it works so well for so many people. I would just suggest trying to freeze a bag or two, defrost them a few weeks later and see how they turn out before going whole hog into freezing milk.
Until you have a big stash, you don't really need to freeze. I'm pretty sure kellymom.com says BM is good in the fridge for 7 or 8 days. When I was really in the swing of things after months of pumping, I'd sometimes have 8 or 9 bottles of BM stored in the fridge (and only sent 4 or 5 to daycare). I would always put new bottles in the back and use bottles from the front so that the oldest was always consumed first. My pumped supply was generally within a few oz. of what I needed each day, so maybe my system works best if you're in a similar situation.
When I was on maternity leave, I would pump one time a day, usually after the morning feeding because supply is higher, and store that. I built up a pretty big stash quickly (sadly, I can't use any of it because I was still eating dairy and LO is sensitive).
As far as storage, I use Lansinoh bags and freeze them flat and then stand them up in reverse date order once they are frozen so we're using older milk first.
Now that I've been back at work for almost three months, my supply is pretty regulated so that I don't freeze excess anymore. But I usually do freeze 4 or 5 oz every other day and use a bag of frozen the next day to cycle out the stash.
My every day routine is to pump into the medela bottles, which is what LO eats from, too. Then I just stick them in the fridge and DH makes bottles from them the next day.
I usually wake up with LO at about 5 am or so, and we nurse/sleep in bed until 6:30 or 7. Then I leave for work, pump twice while at work. I'm home by 5 or 5:30 and usually nurse right away. Then I nurse again before he goes to bed (around 8-9). Then LO usually wakes up again at 2:30-3 to nurse. So I nurse him 4 times a day and he takes 3 bottles while I'm gone.
I hope some of this helps! I also second using kellymom.com as a resource.
The home schedule changed as DD grew. When I first went back to work, I would feed her around 5:30 and put her back to bed while I got started with my day. Pumped around 8:15, 11:30, 2:30 and either right after I got home if I didn't BF DD. I had an extra evening pumping session to keep up with daily needs and still BFd several times a night. By six months or so, there was no 5:30 am feeding anymore, I pumped two or three times at work and fed DH DD a bottle at home because our timing was off for me to BF. I still pumped before I went to bed to get what I needed for the next day and then BF'd once or twice overnight until DD was about 10.5 months.
I pumped at 8am, 11am, 2pm at work. I'd store the milk in Lansinoh bags, make sure you lay them flat. I'd give the oldest frozen milk for the baby and freeze what I pumped. I also nursed so my kids always got fresh milk every day. You cannot re-freeze thawed milk so store it in the fridge at work and then when you get home, freeze it.
good luck!
I also used Lansinoh bags...I never had an issuw with them leaking!!