Breastmilk Storage

I pumped for about 4 months for my daughter (exclusive pumping). We used several different kinds of bags, but the ones I found the best are the Medela ones. (Medela Pump & Save Breast milk bags) I had trouble finding them in stores, but you can get them delivered from drugstore.com. They have a ziploc top, so they're easy to close. (Some of the bags have twist-tie tops, and I found those horrible. Milk leaked EVERYWHERE.) With the Medela ones, they were easy to freeze, easy to thaw, never leaked at all. Good luck with it!

I really liked the Lansinoh (spelling?) storage bags for the freezer. You can use a marker to write the date and quantity pumped, and they hold up for quite a few months. I haven't had much luck with refrigerator storage outside of bottles. Good luck!

I always used the Gerber or Lanolish storage bags. You can write right on them the date ounces etc..and freeze and store flat. They are also very easy to thaw under warm water. However, I was givein a good suggestion after I was done nursing. It was to freez your milk in one ounce ice cube trays and then put into a plastic freezer bag. The idea being you dont have to thaw too much or too little milk (since you really don't want to save again and reheat, as many nurtients are lost.) With the ice cubes you can simply grab as many ozs. as you'll need. I plan on trying this next time around (at least when the baby only drinks a few ounses at a time, as it seems a waste to only store 2-6 oz. in bag i can't reuse, and since they are expensive, I like to fiil them up all the way:) Good luck
C.

I've been really happy with the Lansinoh storage bags (can get at Target). Very easy to use for freezing. For fridge storage, I use the little free bottles I got from all of the formula companies, or just use the bags. Good luck!

You can safely use regular ziplock freezer bags which are cheaper than official milk storage bags. Also know that if your baby starts eating more at a feeding than what is in your bags, you can add COLD breastmilk to a bag in the freezer (relabel the amount and only add milk from the refrigerator). When going back to work, realize you will use your freezer supply first because it lasts for 3mo and freshly pumped milk in the refrigerator lasts 3 days. If you use your fresh milk for the next day's feedings, you'll never get to the milk in the freezer and it will be wasted. Your freezer supply should be for one week of work approximately so your babysitter can use that first as you pump at work. Eventually, if you do not continue to pump outside of work and your baby starts to need more at each feeding, your freezer supply will dwindle and you'll use the fresh milk. If you use a daycare center that is required to throw out unused milk in each bottle, you may go through your supply much faster and need to pump more ahead of time. If you have an individual babysitter who will heat up frozen milk, make sure she knows to place the plastic bag in hot but not boiling water (if too hot, the bag will leak). I pumped for a year with my daughter (22mo) and now my son is 3mo old and I plan to go for a year with him (working 3d per wk, breast feeding otherwise). Please let me know if you have any pumping/feeding questions.

I loved the Lansinoh (something like that...at Target) storage bags!

Hi it's been 12 years since i pumped my last breast milk, but i used the platex nurser bottle bags. Then i placed those in a plastic bowl in the freezer. Also i am not sure what your pump is like. The second time around i had acess to a Medula. It is a well made medical pump and that made all the difference in the world when it came to pumping. i would highly suggest that, you can rent them from large pharmacies.

I stored my milk in the plastic storage bags that had a ziploc type closure. They also have the bags that fit right on the bottles and u just have to tear off the top part.
The plastic bags worked really well cuz they have the ounces right on the bag so u know how much u r feeding baby.They also have a place to write the date(use a permanent marker-it works best). They are also easy to defrost. I would just heat up hot water in the microwave using a coffee cup and stick the bag in the heated coffee cup and kept it in there until the milk was lukewarm. It's a good idea to take the bag out after a little and kind of mix it and knead it to spread around the ice.

I love the Lansinoh bags. They are great becuase they have a double seal and you can store them flat to take up less space. This is what I do since I have so much milk in the freezer. They also have never leaked on me like the gerber bags while defrosting. There is much controversy over how long breastmilk is good in the freezer. Everyone says something different. Per my Lactation consultant it is good in a normal fridge freezer for 6 months, so don't throw out any of that millk. Good luck. Oh one other thinkg about the lansinoh bags. They are the cheapest bags on the market and great quality!!

Great job breast feeding! When do you have to go back to work, why?
I'd use the bags for the freezer and some bottles too, makes it easier to pour. Anything works just buy what you prefer.

Reseangeli,

I'd highly recommend you join this group:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/PumpMoms/

I've been a member through 2 babies and the advice and support is amazing.

I used Lansinoh storage bags. I'd freeze them flat and then put them in plastic shoe boxes in the freezer. I'd put them in date order with the oldest in the front so it was really easy to know what I needed to use first. It worked really well.

Good luck,
T.

The best way I have found is to use Lansinoh breast milk storage bags. They come in a purple box and you can get them at Target, Babies R Us, etc, They work great! Especially for the freezer because they lay down flat and you can stack them on top of each other--big space saver. You can also write on them--so you can date your milk. I used them the whole time my son was nursing and I was working. I've never had a problem with them. I have heard that some other less expensive brands leak and are not as easy to pour the milk into a bottle. We all know that mother's milk is liquid gold so I wouldn't chance losing any due to leakage or spilling. Honestly Lansinoh is the only brand I've used and I have been very, very happy with them.

I am a daycare mom. What is easiest for me is when Mom uses the plastic ziplock type storage bags made just for breast milk, there is a spot for a name and pump date, so you can use them in order. To make storage easier, freeze flat so that the bags of milk will stack nicely. The bags you first start to freeze should have no more than 4 oz of milk in the bag, so as to not waste any milk when thawing. I float the bag of milk in cool water to start the thaw, while a coffee cup of water is heating in the microwave for 2 min. the water is almost boiling and by then the milk can be broken up in the bag so it will fit in the cup of hot water. do not open the bag, just let it thaw the milk, and when it is all warmed up it should be just right to feed to your baby. I have been a daycare mom for 15 yrs, this hasn't failed yet!

You should use the medula storage bags found at target. It tells you have many oz that is in each bag so that you don't have to measure it and it won't take up a lot of room in the freezer. I hope this helps :)

I have always used Lansinoh breast milk storage bags and they have been great. I realized with my 2nd child that is makes storing them easier if you lay them down flat to freeze so you can stack them in some sort of container. Otherwise if you just put the bag in the freezer you get a big, awkward shape to have to store. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I just used the bags for the Playtex nursers. I would measure the milk in a bottle and then pour it into the the bag and close with a twisty. Then to defrost set in a cup of warm water until defrosted and warmed. Then pour into a bottle for feeding.
I was told it is best to not put it in the microwave to heat as it kills the antibodies that help their immune system.

Hi- I used 8oz Kerr or Ball Jars and put them straight into the freezer. I felt good using glass because of all of the recent research about plastic and its potential to leak toxins.
Good Luck!
S.

I don't have a what's best answer but I can tell you what I liked and didn't like about what I used.

The Lansinoh bags are great for storage because they have a double zipper and hold way more than 8 ounces. They also have a place to write the date and amount on. I didn't like pumping with the Lansinoh bags because there is no tape or anything to hold it on to the pump! They also are rounded bottom - don't stand on their own.

The Medela bags (I have the medela pump in style) have great tape hold so you can pump right in to the bag. This was awesome for those days when you are out of bottles or didn't bring enough to work - they are thin and I just kept a pile laid on the bottom of the pump storage area. They stand up in the fridge or freezer so that is cool too. They issue I had with these is they don't hold much milk. I had to keep it to less than four or five ounces so the frozen milk didn't burst out because it expands. Many of these bags leaked because I filled them too high.

Good luck! Happy pumping!

On my second child. I like the Lansinoh bags the best, they measure accurately, have a double zipper, pour easily. I mark all my bags w/ permanent marker and add an expiration date, then after they are frozen, put them in a big ziploc for extra protection. These bags are a good value when purchased in the larger quantity. Good luck to you.

Oh also, you can pump directly into almost any bag, if you use a twisty tie (the ones that come with plastic trash bags) attached to the bottle collar of your shield, so you can buy inexpensive disposable nurser system bags and seal them w/ the twisty too.

Freezer supplies are great for when returning to work and for when you begin to feed cerals and such. I had great success with the Lansinoh bags they are a thick material, double zipper that close easy, measured for milk amounts storing, write on for dates and ozs stored, (no leaks here butt if not closed properly that is possible as with any brand), and you can store flat or upright with out worry, plus the bonus in this day and age affordable. Medela has a great line of products also, although I found with their products they are harder to get at your average store we had to order on line most of what we had.

Congratulations on your little one.

I thought the bags would be the better choice. you can freeze them flat, thus saving room. but my husband said that sometimes in the middle of the night you can get clumsy and drop the bag. that could leave a hole in it letting that precious milk leak out and having to throw it out. so he opted for plastic bottles. i also remember reading when i had my first that you don't want to put breastmilk in glass containers because the good cells stick to it and don't get to the baby. not sure if that still holds true.

Sounds like mostly everyone uses, including myself, the Lanisnoh bags. But I also use on occassion the Sensible Lines Milk Trays. They are BPA free and basically similar to an ice cube tray. They are separated into 1 ounce sections and have a lid. Once frozen I've been sticking the what I call "boobsicles" into the lanisnoh bags, but you can use ziploc too. These are convenient for when you want to measure the exact amount of milk you want to defrost.

Hello! I have used the milk storage bags from gerber and they work great! We store the bags in a ziplock plastic container with a lid and it doesn't take up much space in the freezer. The one thing I have found with the milk storage bags that is really important...they are really deceiving in actually how many ounces are in there (I assume because of theie shape and flexibility). I started writing the actual ounces on the bags so my husband knows how much is in one when he feeds the baby a bottle.

Also...beware with the Playtex pump. That was my first pump and it stopped working (the motor) after about 2 weeks. I was horribly engorged one night and had to pump...it didn't work! I ended up getting the Medela Swing (single) for more then I spent on the Playtex...but it was worth it. Just FYI.

A.

i was using the medela pump & save storage bags but have found my milk keeps longer in the glass bottles. i also discovered that my milk was taking on the taste of the plastic bags. yuck! we did not figure it out overnight... it took us quite awhile. i use the evenlo glass bottles as well as a couple of medela plastic bottles.

I use the Medela bags. I like them because I can pump directly into them, zip the top, and then store in the fridge or freezer. Some people complain that they can leak, however I've found that if you are careful when you zip it close (just like with ziplock bags) then the don't leak. Hope this helps.

I always used those really inexpensive breast milk storage bags or the disposable liners that go inside bottles. You can get a box of several hundred for just a few dollars in the baby section of most stores (Toys R Us, Target, Kmart etc). You can use a marker to write the date you expressed it. Also, I bought a box of mini binder clips from office supply store and used those to close the top tightly. My whole freezer was full of these little bags at one point.

I use the plastic breastmilk storage bags that are cheapest on the shelf in Target... I can't remember the name.
Make sure to use plastic to store your unfrozen milk and not glass - the leukocytes in the milk will stick to glass and you'll lose the antibody properties. I wish more doctors and lactation specialists made a bigger effort to inform people of this. (I want to clarify - store your FRESHLY pumped breastmilk in plastic [preferably BPA/pthalate-free] containers; freezing destroys the leukocytes as well, so it doesn't matter if you use glass after that point). Congrats on breastfeeding - it's well worth the effort for your little one :-)

Dear Roseangeli,

I don't know what bottles you are using, but I used the Platex Nurser, and just stored my milk in the bags, closing with a twistie. I told my husband again and again NOT to microwave the milk - but found out one day he did anyway (don't know how many times or how often this happened - maybe only the once, bc the metal twistie caught fire and melted the bag - imagine how mad I was when I found out he had WASTED THE MILD I WORKED SO HARD TO EXPRESS!!!)

I really don't know what options there are these days, I stopped having to store milk about 15 years ago.

Funny anecdote - My husband (now, thankfully ex!) took a picture one day while I was sleeping - he took everything out of the freezer, leaving a pile of all my frozen bottles of milk labeled "Maisano's Dairy" - it was so funny! My mom used to tell me I should donate to a third world country or sell my milk to start a college fund!

Good luck!
B.

My youngest is now 9 but I used the Medela storage bags. That did get expensive to at some point my peditrician told me that I could double up the Playtex bags and that would be fine.

Hope that helps and CONGRATULATIONS!!

I use the Gerber breast milk storage bags with my Medela advance pump. I like them because they stand up well and they seal well.
Hope this helps!

I used storage bags from the same brand as my pump and they work really well, just make sure to not overfill them with more than the amount of liquid recommended because when the freeze they expand and they will brake.

Good luck
U.

The bags work great and are so much cheaper than storing milk in all your glass or plastic bottles. They're also really easy to thaw the milk in. I've used Lansinoh and Medela and had great success with both. I would suggest collecting the bags in either a storage tub in your freezer or I just put mine in a large ziploc bag. Kept them all together.

Have fun.
-M

You should be able to find the freezer bags for breast milk where ever the breast pump is sold. My daughter had them when she breastfed her first son. The bags are made for freezing breast milk and they are really a life saver.

I used the Lansinoh storage bags for the freezer. They worked pretty well.

Any lansinoh products are the best. I tried several breast milk bags and lansinoh are the best. They totally cater to the breastfeeding mother.