Breast Milk Storage

I pumped exclusively with my second baby, so I had breast milk in my fridge and freezer for a year.
I don't know how much milk you're dealing with, or if your baby keeps up with what you're expressing, but it is definitely worth getting the breast milk bags for the freezer. If you lay them down flat to freeze them they store quite compactly and you can keep them frozen for 6 months. If you need a lot you can buy them in bulk on eBay for a lot cheaper than the stores.
If your baby finishes off everything you pump, what worked for me was to put each day's milk in a sterilized container (I used big Rubbermaid water bottles) and keep it in the fridge. That way, you can easily pour the desired amount into a bottle when you're ready to heat it up. Just be sure to use a different container for each day; you don't want to mix older milk with new milk. Milk can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.
Feel free to contact me if you need more ideas. I've had lots of practice!

1 mom found this helpful

I also pumped exclusively for my little ones and was always just a day ahead of them. I purchased some Avent 9 oz bottles (about 10-12) to store pumped milk in. I would pump using the Medela bottles and then pour them into one Avent bottle. Avent has bottle top inserts that pop in where the nipple would be so they can be storage bottles. Then I'd measure out the feedings for the day and pop in a clean nipple and bottle cover and the bottles were ready to go. We would wash/sterilize the other set of bottles to store the milk I would pump during that day. That way, I didn't have to wash/sterilize a storage container and a bottle. I would only use the freezer storage bags if I was going to freeze a feeding b/c they are expensive! I think ziplocs are fine to use but probably not much less expensive and hard to use -- plus if you are like me, you'd hate to spill that pumped milk!

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I am a frugal person but I have found that the storage bags are the way to go. Here's what I do to keep the costs down:
- Pump into the bottles
- Rip the top pumping connector part of the storage bag off
- Poor the milk into the storage bag
- Seal & freeze
- Defrost milk in fridge or whatever non microwave way to do it
- Wash & reuse the bag

I can reuse each bag about 5 times before I feel that the seal is shaky.

The seal on the storage bags is MUCH stronger & when you are defrosting the milk I was having milk leak out. Or, if the bag gets punctured in the freezer or whatever you have a problem, the storage bags are much thicker.

I think its pretty cost effective doing it my way. I am no where NEAR needing more bags yet & I have a 5 month old.

Hope this helps!
S.

We used Ziploc Brand Freezer Pint sized bags with my daughter and it worked great. I didn't find them all that messy compared to other bags. We did have an occasional leak, but threw them away every time.

I'm not sure of the science behind how much plastic smell was absorbed, but my daughter didn't seem to reject the milk at all. My theory is whatever works for you go with it.

To freeze we bought one of those breast milk storage containers that makes the milk into little popsicle bags, so you could throw it into a coffee cup of warm water to thaw. We also stored them flat occasionally for space reasons, but then the thawing was a little more tricky.

Good luck with what you decide to do.

I have seen these trays that you can make cubes, and then remove them after they freeze into zip lock bags(I always double bagged). The trays were $7-10 each. So I found some plastic covered ice cube trays at Bed Bath and Beyond. I think they were less than $5 each and I used the store 20% off coupon as well. BTW, are you using the zip lock bags that are made for the specifically for the freezer?

Hi M., I have been doing reading on Breast Milk storage. And there reasoning for the special breast milk storage bags were as the advice you have recieved from others. The plastic is too thin and leakage could be a problem. For steralization it is recommended to wash containers in hot soapy water or dishwasher. The source, "What to expect in the first year." by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, and Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N. AnitaJ

Personally, I wouldn't trust Ziploc bags to be sterile enough for breast milk. I've been using the Lansinoh breast milk storage bags which seem to be the cheapest. You can get 50 of them for under $10 at Target. I would search around on the internet to see if you can get a good deal on them.

When I dont plan on freezing my milk, I store it in rubbermaid containers. I think they are only a dollar or two for pint ones and only a little bit more for the larger ones at walmart or target. They are nice because they are easy to keep in the fridge and they poor easy too. Then you can put them in the dishwasher to sterilize them (though I think soap and water is ok too). That would be more environmentally healthy too because then you wouldnt be tossing plastic bags every day. Hope that helped.

I started using Tupperware containers because even the bags would split and it was easier to transfer it to the bottles for the daycare lady. Also, the other baby at daycare was using the same bags, so I wanted to do something different, and it ended up being easier to transport.

M.,
I guess I would worry about storing the milk in ziplock bags. I think it's messy to work with milk in any bag since it's hard to pour out etc. I would also worry about the plastic leaching into the milk. Another idea might be to store the extra milk in something like a canning jar or instead of recycling your old mayonnaise or other glass jar, wash them well and sanitize them and use that for milk storage. Personally, I trust the glass better and it's easier for me to pour in and out of bottles etc. Jelly jars might be perfect!
S.

the suggestion we got from the lactation nurse was to freeze the breast milk in ice cube trays. this way you can store more per bag in turn using fewer bags and take out only what you need. each cube is roughly 1 oz.