Storage containers (and a big thank you to Cecily!)
First of all, I owe a big heartfelt thank you to Cecily for linking to my blog. I'm so happy to get so many comments, suggestions, and support from fellow pumpers!!
It sucks, doesn't it?
I especially want to thank the ladies who suggested lukewarm water for thawing out the milk. I tried it yesterday, and it worked like magic. I put a few bags of breast milk in a bowl with lukewarm water, and fifteen minutes later, it was almost (but not quite) completely thawed out (but still very cold). Perfect for putting back into the fridge. By the time I needed it, it was thawed out completely, and I just warmed it up in the bottle warmer. It took less time, and I didn't have to wonder about the milk thawing out unevenly.
So now I need some collective advice when it comes to freezer containers/bags. I've been using the Lansinoh freezer bags to freeze my milk. But I'm really not satisfied with them at all.
1. They have these plastic flaps over the ziplock, which can suddenly fold over the openning as you're trying to pour in the milk, making the milk spill out.
2. They don't stand up by themselves.
3. The measuring ounces written on the sides of the bags are completely wrong.
4. The milk is difficult to pour out of the bag without spillage (also because of the flaps).
5. The bags are actually not that durable. Just yesterday, I had to throw away a six-ounce bag of breast milk, because as I was thawing it out, I realized that there was a hole on the bottom of the bag, and the milk was dribbling out. Which also meant that contaminants could have gotten into the breast milk.
Gerber makes a self-standing bag, but their bags also have the flaps over the ziplock. (In fact, now that I'm looking into it, it looks like all the ziplock bags have flaps over the tops.) The Mother's Own Milk storage bags look really difficult: they don't have a ziplock system at all, just have some kind of twist-tie. Spillage looks way too likely to me. (But if you've used the twist-tie bags, and you've had good experience with them, please comment!)
You can also buy storage containers for the freezer, as opposed to bags. Evenflo makes some really cool looking containers, for instance. So does Avent. But the containers seem to be way more expensive than the bags, and some of them can't be used more than a few times.
Of course, the most convenient way to go would probably have to be buying freezer containers that match your pump, so that you can just pump right into the freezer containers. For instance, since I have the Ameda Hollister pump, I could buy the Ameda bag of containers; Medela also makes containers specially designed for their pumps. But this way can get extremely expensive if you are planning on freezing a lot of milk.
Any advice, ladies?
It sucks, doesn't it?
I especially want to thank the ladies who suggested lukewarm water for thawing out the milk. I tried it yesterday, and it worked like magic. I put a few bags of breast milk in a bowl with lukewarm water, and fifteen minutes later, it was almost (but not quite) completely thawed out (but still very cold). Perfect for putting back into the fridge. By the time I needed it, it was thawed out completely, and I just warmed it up in the bottle warmer. It took less time, and I didn't have to wonder about the milk thawing out unevenly.
So now I need some collective advice when it comes to freezer containers/bags. I've been using the Lansinoh freezer bags to freeze my milk. But I'm really not satisfied with them at all.
1. They have these plastic flaps over the ziplock, which can suddenly fold over the openning as you're trying to pour in the milk, making the milk spill out.
2. They don't stand up by themselves.
3. The measuring ounces written on the sides of the bags are completely wrong.
4. The milk is difficult to pour out of the bag without spillage (also because of the flaps).
5. The bags are actually not that durable. Just yesterday, I had to throw away a six-ounce bag of breast milk, because as I was thawing it out, I realized that there was a hole on the bottom of the bag, and the milk was dribbling out. Which also meant that contaminants could have gotten into the breast milk.
Gerber makes a self-standing bag, but their bags also have the flaps over the ziplock. (In fact, now that I'm looking into it, it looks like all the ziplock bags have flaps over the tops.) The Mother's Own Milk storage bags look really difficult: they don't have a ziplock system at all, just have some kind of twist-tie. Spillage looks way too likely to me. (But if you've used the twist-tie bags, and you've had good experience with them, please comment!)
You can also buy storage containers for the freezer, as opposed to bags. Evenflo makes some really cool looking containers, for instance. So does Avent. But the containers seem to be way more expensive than the bags, and some of them can't be used more than a few times.
Of course, the most convenient way to go would probably have to be buying freezer containers that match your pump, so that you can just pump right into the freezer containers. For instance, since I have the Ameda Hollister pump, I could buy the Ameda bag of containers; Medela also makes containers specially designed for their pumps. But this way can get extremely expensive if you are planning on freezing a lot of milk.
Any advice, ladies?
posted by pumpmom at 9:56 AM
18 Comments:
Hi, I found you from Cecily's blog. I pumped exclusively for my daughter for just over 5 months. She was born with a cleft palate and couldn't breastfeed. It was really hard and took alot of commitment (especially since it took us 45 minutes to get 1 & 1/2 ounces into her at first). I commend you for sticking with pumping, alot of people would just think, oh well, he doesn't want to latch, bring on the formula.
I used the Lansinoh bags and they were OK, but I did occasionally have problems with leakage at the bottom during thawing. It would break my heart to have to throw away milk after struggling so hard to pump it. I have a box of lansinoh bags that I only took a few out of if anyone wants it.
I rented a double electric pump from the hospital. It worked really well. I'm pretty sure it was a medela.
As far as milk storage, I kept fresh milk in the fridge for no more than 3 days. I only thawed milk when I needed it. Like I might throw a bag from the freezer into the fridge in the morning if I knew I would use it that day. Also, I read somewhere to make sure not to store BM in the door of the fridge, since the temperature there varies so much. I kept it on the top shelf and always put new bottles in the back and took the older ones from the front.
Hope this helps and keep up the good work. It may feel like you are alone doing what you are doing, but that's far from the truth.
I haven't had any experience w/ storage yet, but my friend Maryam, who is also a fellow pumper, says these (http://www.babybungalow.com/breasmilmat.html
are great and completely adaptable to most breast pumps. Including your Ameda. They don't seem to be that expensive and she says that the best way to mark them, date wise, is w/ a grease pencil since it can be erased. It also keeps track of old and new BM, since it slides the oldest milk toward you. Hope this helps.
I just used regular zip lock bags and then when I needed to pour it out instead of fighting the the "zipper" at the top, I snipped off the corner of the bag at the bottom. (So it looked kind of like an icing bag)
It worked great for me!
Hi there. I found you from Cecily's blog as well. I pumped exclusively for a year for my now-5 year old triplets, and then also for my daughter who is now 10 months. I invested in some food safe plastic containers that my DH was able to get through work contacts. I believe the company that manufactures them is called Freund Container. They are safe for breastmilk and freeze without any problem. Because my newest daughter was a surprise, we hadn't kept any from the first pregnancy, but remembered what we used. We bought a whole case of them (my body apparently thought it was triplets again!), and now we have a bunch left over that have never been used. They are 8 ounces, although you surely don't have to fill them that high. In any case, I'm looking to get rid of the new ones since I am no longer pumping and our childbearing days are now done. If you or anyone else is interested, I'll give you a great price on them...I just hate to see them go to waste when they work so well for frozen breast milk! Email me at cocajo01@yahoo.com.
Myrita, I looked up your link. Those bottles on the rack look amazing, and it's not too expensive either. But I couldn't make out how many ounces each bottle holds.
Ceece, from what I read, it's not a good idea to use regular freezer bags, since they're not designed specifically for breastmilk, and aren't sterilized. However, I LOVE your idea of snipping off a corner of the bag before I pour. I wish I had read your comment earlier, before I accidentally spilled a few ounces of thawed milk when the milk poured out of the bag too fast. UGH!
I used the twist-tie bags and they worked fine. I pumped into the regular medela bottles, marked the bag with how much I was going to put in the bag and then poured into the bag and sealed it up. Then I would put two or three individual bags into a ziplock freezer bag. Those little bags are so small we lost a few of them behind other things before I started putting them together in larger bags.
Hi-
I also found you from Cecily's blog. Boy I wish your blog was around about two years ago! I pretty much began pumping along with nursing my daughter about five days after she was born. I had low supply issues and pumping helped. Also, I needed to stockpile milk for when I returned to work. Then I pumped exclusively from the time she was 4 months through 10 months. It was a lot of hard work and I have a cousin who still to this day asks me how long I breastfed. When I tell her I nursed and pumped and then pumped exclusively, she always makes a comment like pumping is inferior to nursing. In my mind I see myself giving her the middle finger. Hey...I had to go back to work and it's not like I could bring my baby with me.
When I pumped at work, I always used the Lansinoh bags because they were really the only thing I could find. I did try the Medela ones one time and they were horrible for me. They didn't have a ziploc and used only a twist tie. I would always end up spilling half of the milk I pumped into the bag by trying to close it with the twist tie. I did have a few times that the Lansinoh bags split in the freezer because I just slightly overfilled them and had to throw it away.
Not that you asked, but the thing that I did find helpful with cleaning my pump parts at work, were the Medela bags that steam sterilize the pump parts. You can use the bag like 20 times and that was helpful. I always felt weird in the office kitchen washing my pump parts while some 22 year old single guy is coming in to get a cup of coffee wondering what in the world I was doing. Not that you asked, but I thought it may be helpful to someone out there.
I use a Whisper Wear for pumping at work, so I've got no options regarding storage bags. Fortunately I like their bags.
DH has got it down to a system, since he's the one that handles the bagged milk.
We refrigerate bags during the week and freeze over the weekend, rotating freezer stash. This means that Monday is the only day frozen bags must be thawed - a day's worth of frozen bags go in the refrigerator in the morning.
Refrigerated bags are gently warmed for a few min in a coffee cup of warm water, then DH snips a good sized hole at the top of the bag and pours into a bottle. Whisper Wear bags have a handy tear-away notch at the top, but he finds scissors easier as tearing sometimes results in spilling.
I found a better link w/ more info on those breast milk containers. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EGZ40G/ref=olp_product_details/103-5522533-4458208?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
They hold five ounces, but you can buy more bottles (6 for 11.50) in case you need more storage. Again, not too bad on the price. I'm getting sold on them myself, lol.
http://www.mothersmilkmate.com/
Even better link.
http://www.mominventors.com/featuredinventors/featured_weinstein.htm
Check it out!! The inventor of this system was a fellow pumper!!
Hi,
I just read your post and can sympathize. The bags you see in my picture of the Freezer Stash were actually given to me by the NICU. They are not branded as far as I know and they do not stand on their own and do not show the ounces. They simply have a white space on them so you can label them as you wish.
I didn't start labeling the ounces until I was well into my third month of pumping! (No one suggested it to me.) So now I just grab one that looks like it might be about 4 ounces and hope I can get two feedings out of it.
I put them into a zip lock bag when I thaw them in water to prevent spillage, etc. I have just purchased the Via containers from Avent with the adaptor so that my Madela pump can pump directly into the containers. I am not freezing these however so that may make a difference.
I guess this was a long way of saying I'm not sure if I can help you much. I separated all my smaller bags by weeks and put a week's worth of pumped milk bags into a grocery bag labeled with the dates of that week. I am now working my way through oldest to newest but now with the added challenge of giving fresh milk too. Now I have to really watch dates and whether the thawed milk is given first or fresh. Can't spend too much time in the fridge, etc.
Pumping is hard work and it takes a dedication that I never understood before. Keep up the good work!
one more thing.
When i was in the NICU and was pumping, I was supplied with little 4 oz bottles made by Similac and while they were an absolute Godsend, they are pretty expensice. Like $170.00 FOR 48, but they are reusible and really great.
if anyone wants the number to order them, you can shoot me an email. (in my profile)
Also, about the ziplock bags, I did check with my pediatrician and she said they will work fine.
Another reader from cecily here....
I currently breastfeed & then give approx 1 oz of EBM at every feed at the moment to fatten up my daughter. At the moment any extra I express (i don't seem to get very much) goes into an icecube tray in the freezer(Tupperware makes one with a lid). I have a label on the lid which indicates which cubes were expressed when..
I'm not an exclusive pumper, but do pump at least daily to build a stash for when I'm working.
Great post about storage options. I use the Lansinoh and Gerber bags. We haven't had any casualties, that I know of, yet.
One thing that I've found to be indispensable is my hands free pumping bra. It's really great.
http://www.easyexpressionproducts.com/
Ditto on the issues with the Lansinoh freezer bags - I end up measuring in the pump bottles, and then transfering the measurement to the bag. And I've had a few bags that have busted once I've started defrosting ... such a pain!
http://www.birthandbeyond.com/sllibmisttr.html
I have friends that swear by these...check them out
I pump only at work so I'm not an EPer. I use the gerber bags and lay them flat to freeze. I thaw them in warm water and then I cut the top of the bag off (just under the ziploc part) and then pour into the bottle.
I have some twist-tie bags but I was too worried about spillage to ever use them. BM is too precious and I would definitely cry over that spilt milk!
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