expressed breastmilk, how to manage??

[♥ms.pacman♥]

background: my DD was born 2.5 weeks ago @ 35 weeks gestation, she couldn't nurse well consistently at first and had other issues and had to be in NICU (still is there) so i have been pumping with a hospital-grade pump 7-8x a day (in addition to nursing her 3x a day).

well, the pumping paid off apparently bc within 10 days I was pumping out ~800 ml (~27 oz) per day and have been pumping at least that much every day since then. as a result, i have a ridiculous amount of milk that i'm not sure how to best make use of. i have no idea how to manage it, so i could really use advice with those with experience on this. i BFed my DS for 1 year but i rarely pumped (never had more than a few ounces in the freezer) so i don't really know what to do.

so far, what i've been doing is giving some breastmilk (~10 oz a day) to my DS (14 months). i had weaned him at 12mo and he has been drinking cow's milk with no probs but i was happy to be able to give breastmilk to him again, especially since now with DD i am more worried about him getting sick. but even with me giving him some, i still have lots left that i must deal with (i have been building up a freezer stash at the NICU and a smaller stash at home). plus, i'm not sure if giving DS the milk would be the best use. in the NICU i think they were saying that they try to use the freshest milk when bottle feeding my DD, (i guess bc it has more nutrients, it's better for preemies, etc).. ..so once DD comes home (hopefully soon) i figure i should save the fresh milk for her and give DS only thawed frozen breastmilk (right?).

also, am wondering if getting a deep freezer would be a good idea? at home i don't have much in the freezer and i'm already running out of room. but once she comes home, i'm hoping to quickly move to EBF (not using many bottles) so i don't know how useful it would be in the long run.

sorry this is long. i just have no clue with pumping/storing since with my son i almost always just nursed him. i plan to do the same eventually with DD, but if having a big freezer stash is useful for something (getting DH do a few middle-of-the-night feeds? ) then i want to make sure i do it right...

[lalasmama]

Semi-OT, but not really... with all that preemie milk, have you considered donating? Especially the preemie milk, if you were getting any... Milk banks make a special preemie blend for babies in the NICU when their moms can't provide it, and it's made completely from donated preemie milk.

http://www.hmbana.org/

[CharlotteMommy]

I EP'd for 10 months with my DS. I used the Lansinoh storage bags and laid them down flat to freeze. Once the milk was frozen, I arranged the bags by date order in a shoe box, which fit nicely in my regular freezer and didn't take up tons of room. HTH you. GL!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thx for the responses. about donating, i was thinking about it, though the nearest drop off location is a 30 minute drive from my house, and with things as busy/crazy as they are right now, that would be difficult for me to manage. though definitely a possibility in a few weeks once things settle down.

anyway, i guess i am asking more about what kind of system to use to manage all stored breastmilk. like do you keep in the fridge for X period of time and then if it's not used, freeze it? and how do you decide when to use fresh or frozen milk so that baby gets optimal nutrients but no milk goes bad?? also, i guess i don't understand the purpose of having such large amounts of frozen milk (i'm not going back to work any time soon). plus i imagine that every time my DD gets a bottle i will have to pump some anyway so i'm not sure how having a frozen stash will help me much.

[truly scrumptious]

Congratulations on your DD's arrival!

For now I would focus on building a freezer stash. If you don't end up needing it, you could always donate it in a month or two when things settle down a bit at home.

I second the PPs suggestion about freezing flat in freezer bags, and storing it.

When I was pumping for DS, I had a simple system of one or two feedings worth kept in the fridge (for emergencies/babysitter/etc.) and the rest I'd freeze. I would allow the milk to stay in the fridge for a max of 2 days before freezing. My priorities for feeding DS pumped milk would be in this order:

- Freshly pumped (within the last hour), if any
- Refrigerated milk (within the last couple of days), if any
- Oldest thawed milk from the freezer

I also found that once I really started dipping into the freezer stash seriously (at around 4 months), he was drinking much larger volumes than I had frozen in those early days, so I went through the freezer stash very quickly.

My reason for building the stash was for going back to work at 4 months (although I continued to pump at work). I know you said you're not planning to go back soon, but it won't hurt to have a stash, which you can always decide to donate in a couple of months if you need to. But for right now your priority is getting as much breastmilk into your DD as possible.

[Pinky]

http://greenlitebites.com/BreastMilk/
Check out that website for a neat way to make a dispenser for your freezer. Like the other mentioned, I also froze my milk flat in the lasinoh bags and then put it in a plastic shoe box for organization in the freezer. We also purchased a small deep freeze (milk lasts much longer in a deep freeze too) and after we were done with it we sold the freezer on Craigslist since we didnt really need it anymore.

I was also mostly pumping just to have a stash for later on... I BF'd until around 6 months and then fed her the frozen stash after I went back to work. You'd be amazed at how fast they can go through what looks like a ton of milk.

For now, I'd keep pumping and then give your baby the fresh milk that hasn't been frozen yet. (loses some of the nutrients after being frozen, I think... but still better than formula)

Keep up the good work! That's awesome that you are able to pump so much for her.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanx for the replies, it is very helpful. it sounds like using freezer storage bags is the way to go, as it will take up a lot less space in my freezer. right now i have like a dozen of the medela 80ml plastic containers and they take up so much space already. i guess i wil probably eventually stop freezing those and just use them for the fridge.

pinky - thanx for the link, just saw that video..that is a pretty genius idea,i will have to try that!!

i have some medela breastmilk storage bags that i used for my son...i guess i will start using them soon. i liked them a lot bc i could just pump directly into them and there was no container/bottle to wash. but i wasn't using them this time with my DD bc i wanted to know & record exactly how much i was pumping (in mL) and that's hard to do with the bags. though know that she's a bit older and i know i am pumpnig a decent amount i think it will be ok to just pump directly into bags and just estimate how much it is

[sunshine873]

You've gotten some great suggestions. We bought our deep freeze originally to store breast milk, but now that that is all done, I find that I really like having it.

Also, another note about why it could be good to have this milk stored. If you ever get sick or need to take some medication that isn't compatible with breast feeding, you'll be REALLY glad you have all of the milk stored. Congrats on the great supply!

[twowhat?]

Just wanted to note that on the freezer bags, you get the most accurate estimate of how much is in the bag if you open it completely fully (unfold all the folds at the bottom, etc so that it stands on its own). You can try it with water first and the medela 80 ml bottles so you can see how accurate it is once you put it into a fully open bag. Once the bag is flattened by any amount, the measurement becomes an overestimate.

So I do think you'll be able to get a good enough idea of how much BM you have by using just the bags.

[egoldber]

I always pumped into a bottle to get the most accurate measurement and then stored it in 2-3 ounces increments in bags. I froze them flat and then used the storage boxes in the freezer to get the most efficient storage space.