Giving EBM Bottles

That is right. Once it is thawed it is good for 24 hours, but if you pump and put it in the fridge it is good for 8 days. After the 8 days you can put that in the freezer, so that may even be easier for your mom instead of thawing.
Also a suggestion- I used to do 3 oz bags so that way if you did thaw it out and it wasn't used you only lost out on 3 oz instead of 6.
Oh adn yes you can mix bags together :)

i express milk at work and so friday's milk goes in the freezer and I take the oldest milk in the freezer out for monday. I believe it is best to allow it to thaw in the fridge. So I take what I think I need all out at the same time on sunday evening and leave it in the fridge, then as Isabella's nanny needs it she thaws it more by putting it in warm water.

You can definitely only use thawed milk for 24 hrs.

I would tell your mom how much roughly she needs per day, take that out to thaw each evening. If she runs out, she can get more in the freezer and do a quick thaw in hot water. It thaws pretty fast that way. Since you have lots, you won't mind as much if a little had to get thrown out. I on the other hand have found it hard to get enough pumping during the day and so the milk is like gold and I do everything possible not to waste a drop. I wish I had stocked up more when i was home on maternity leave but hindsight is 20/20 vision.

The rule of thumb is to use thawed breastmilk within 24 hours, and freshly pumped within 8 days. It's so tough being away from babies this young (I did the same thing when my son was 3 months old). When my husband took care of my son he put the crock pot on low on the counter and filled it with water. He would just use it to thaw and heat up the milk as he needed it. I think he was pretty happy with that system.

I think mixing a day's worth should be fine as long as you use it within the time period. You probably have them stored in 2-6 oz quantities right now anyway, right? If you do the warm water/crock pot trick for thawing, you shouldn't need to do too much mixing anyway. Good luck with your trip. Feel free to email me if you want some tips for traveling via air with pumped breastmilk and without your baby. Been there done that :)

YOu can mix bottles together but she should only thaw out at most 1 day. Milk should be in refrigerator 24 hours. Use the oldest milk first and work your way toward newer milk. Has she only been on the breast or has she been taking bottles? If she hasn't taken bottles yet, start. Have Dad or Grandma feed her with you out of the room(she can smell your presence) several times before you leave her so she gets used to the bottle. Good Luck!

Hi E.,

I usually put a day's worth of frozen bags in the fridge and then have whoever needs to feed the baby put a bag in warm water to thaw before it's needed. If you just have them take out what they need for the day you won't have to worry about it expiring.

Also, I would suggest giving a bottle of the thawed milk here and there before you are apart from the baby so he can get used to thawed milk - it will be a bit different tasting to him than just straight from the breast.

Good luck!

only thaw one at a time or else you have 24 hours or less to use them and you don't want to throw away the precious supply. to thaw them just run bag under warm to hot water until lukewarm. goodluck
S.

It is good for 24 hours in the fridge after it has been frozen. So, she could probably make up bottles for the day, but once you warm it, you cannot put it back in the fridge. So if you put it in the fridge to thaw at noon, you could possibly make up slushy bottles by that evening to be used by noon the next day. You want to be careful not to do too much and waste it though. Then when you take the bottles out of the fridge you can warm them (in warm water in the sink, not in the microwave..creates hotspots and kills off some of the good stuff in BM).