Q's about feeding thawed breastmilk

[momtoonegirl]

DH will be watching 2 1/2 month old DS while I take DD to a birthday party. During the work week, I breastfeed DS mornings, evenings, and overnight and supplement with formula while I am working. On weekends, I exclusively breastfeed. Since the party is on the weekend, I wanted to give DS some milk from my freezer stash while we are away. I am also trying to make it less complicated for DH, who gets frazzled when he has to babysit.
I have not used any freezer stash before, so I need your guidance. Here are my questions.

1. If I thaw the BM overnight in the refrigerator, can I pre-fill the bottles before I go so that DH only has to warm them before he uses them? Is overnight sufficient for thawing in the fridge?

2. Is the milk only good for 24 hours from when you put it in the refrigerator to begin thawing, or from when it is completely thawed?

3. Should I just let DH give DS a bottle of ready to feed formula, and keep my frozen stash for another time? I would like to start using my frozen stash so it is fresher (oldest milk a few days over one month old).

Any help/suggestions are appreciated :)

[lhafer]

My milk is never thawed enough doing it overnight in the frig, but we keep our frig really cold. I always run it under warm water.

You can run it under warm water before you leave and put it in the bottle in the frig before you leave.

I don't waste BM. I breastfed and pumped and had an over abundant supply. So even though I BF 98% of the time, I still ended up with over 800 ounces in my freezer! It's October and I am STILL using March and April frozen milk - starting to move on to more April milk!! My baby was born in Feb.

I am one of those moms who will warm up BM and if it's not finished, I put it back in the frig. I will warm it up one more time and give it. If it's not finished I throw it out then. You can smell milk and tell if it's good or not. Just like smelling regular milk in the frig. It will have a sour smell to it.

I say if your baby is already used to formula, it would probably be easiest for your DH to deal with that. You are only going to be gone a few hours. I would probably wait and give the frozen stuff later.

[wellyes]

Use the stash, that's what it's there for, right?

Is your frozen stuff in bags (like Lanisoh?). You get the best result by heating the milk in the bag, then transferring the warm milk into a bottle. Warm milk pours easily, defrosted but chilled milk separates and clings to the sides of the bag.

It should be no problem for your DH.
1. Put a bowl of water in the microwave to heat it up.
2. Stick a bag of frozen milk into the bowl until it is warmed.
3. Open bag, pour into bottle.
4. Once you're sure the milk is not too hot, feed the baby.

[wendibird22]

Use the stash, that's what it's there for, right?

Is your frozen stuff in bags (like Lanisoh?). You get the best result by heating the milk in the bag, then transferring the warm milk into a bottle. Warm milk pours easily, defrosted but chilled milk separates and clings to the sides of the bag.

It should be no problem for your DH.
1. Put a bowl of water in the microwave to heat it up.
2. Stick a bag of frozen milk into the bowl until it is warmed.
3. Open bag, pour into bottle.
4. Once you're sure the milk is not too hot, feed the baby.

This is what my DH does.