freezing breastmilk?

[denaverbena]

What are my options for freezing breastmilk? Do I have to buy those bags? Any plastic free options? ~thanks

[MissMommyNiceNice]

For many reasons, including cost, space, ease of storage & thawing, and size/portioning - the bags are really the best bet.

[beep]

Can one pump directly into a bag?

[Heba]

LLLi guidelines for storage are here:
http://www.llli.org/FAQ/milkstorage.html

They mention a couple of options for freezing.

[msmiranda]

If you plan to store a lot of milk, or store it for a long time, the bags are the best way to go if for no other reason than storage space in your freezer. I use the Lansinoh ones and like them a lot. I think there is a way to pump directly into a bag, forget which brand of pump/bags this works with, but I think it's easier to pump into the bottles and transfer the milk to bags, in part because I've never figured out how to use the little measuring marks on the bags. With the bottles I know how much milk there is and write the amount on the bag before transferring the milk into it. Then the bottles can just go in the dishwasher.

[Blessed_Mom]

Originally Posted by msmiranda

If you plan to store a lot of milk, or store it for a long time, the bags are the best way to go if for no other reason than storage space in your freezer. I use the Lansinoh ones and like them a lot. I think there is a way to pump directly into a bag, forget which brand of pump/bags this works with, but I think it's easier to pump into the bottles and transfer the milk to bags, in part because I've never figured out how to use the little measuring marks on the bags. With the bottles I know how much milk there is and write the amount on the bag before transferring the milk into it. Then the bottles can just go in the dishwasher.

This is very confusing to me because as I understand- if the milk is pumped directly into a sterile container then (and only then) can they be stored in the fridge for upto 6 months. So if you pump into bottles first - do you sterilize them first? I consider washing with soap and water - just washing and sterilizing in microwave or UV sterilizer as ...sterilizing.

Which is why I pump directly into medela sterile bags to keep for 6 months...else bottles to use on a daily basis.

[phrogger]

Medela has the sterilizing bags. You put the bottle in the bag with water and put them in the mircowave. Pump into that then put them into the bag.

[Blessed_Mom]

Originally Posted by phrogger

Medela has the sterilizing bags. You put the bottle in the bag with water and put them in the mircowave. Pump into that then put them into the bag.

My brain must be addled but I totally did not understand this....sorry.

You put a bottle in the sterile bag? With water? Asin water in the bottle? Or the bag? Why? And put the whole set-up in the microwave?

And pump into this set-up and put them(?) into the bag?

I am sorry ...I didn't sleep well....and I am trying to show how my brain is(not) working.

[MommaSuzi]

The sterilizing bags are not the same as the storage bags if that is what confused you Blessed_Mom. The sterilizing bags are just used to sterilize bottles and pump parts. They are big bags that can hold a couple of bottles or the pump "horns" then you put in some water and microwave to sterilize those parts. Then you take the bottles out and pump into those sterile bottles.

[phrogger]

Originally Posted by Blessed_Mom

My brain must be addled but I totally did not understand this....sorry.

You put a bottle in the sterile bag? With water? Asin water in the bottle? Or the bag? Why? And put the whole set-up in the microwave?

And pump into this set-up and put them(?) into the bag?

I am sorry ...I didn't sleep well....and I am trying to show how my brain is(not) working.

You stated you pumped directly into the bag for sterilztion purposes for extended freezing. I was saying that Medela makes a bag (not a breast milk bag, but a large bag for bottles and pump accesories) that you pour some water into this large bag, seal it with the accesories and bottles inside, place it into the mircowave and heat up all the parts. This process sterlizes the bottles in which you pump directly into, then you pour from these bottles into the bags that you are freezing the milk into.

I wouldn't pump into a bag because you don't know the exact amount of milk in there, and it is more of a pain because it is hard to get a good suction on it. If you are concerned about the sterility of what you are pumping into, the process I described is how you avoid that. Or basically, boil the bottles. The microwave with the medela bag is just an easier way of doing it.

eta: Sorry, I didn't see what Mommasuzi wrote, YES what she said.

[Blessed_Mom]

Oh Ok...Got it - thank you both. So yes - what I suspected is right - that you need to first pump into sterile bottles and then tranfer into sterile bags.

I am thinking that you cannot pump into just "washed with soap and water" bottles and then transfer into sterile bags because that defeats the purpose - IMO. Right?

[BoogarBeansMom]

Just to address the amount of time you can keep BM in the freezer...

Yes, theoretically it can be frozen up to 6 months, under certain conditions. Generally, for a standard freezer/refrigerator, frozen breast milk is good from 3-6 months, depending upon the placement of the BM in the freezer and how often your freezer is opened. The farther back in the freezer, the better.

Here's a link to a great resource for breast milk storage and guidelines, etc.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html

[phrogger]

Thats the theory, about the sterilization, however, I don't even bother anymore. I pump into a washed bottle now (only did the sterilizing when my baby was in the nicu). I do however have a deep freezer and doubt that anything would last over 6 months anyway, I don't pump too much and I don't give him a bottle often either, but I would do oldest first anyway. So really, I wouldn't even bother, but if you wanted to bother, or felt it was needed, you could just use the medela sterilizing bags.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I only ever sterilized my bottles with boiling water for the first 6 mos or so. After that, the heat of the dishwasher was enough for me.

[LROM]

I figure the only thing going into these bottles (I use 4 bottles ONLY for my pump) is my BM. Just like the bottles my babe drinks from, as long as I'm washing them with soap and hot water regularly, I don't need to sterilize them often.

So I pump into bottles and especially at work I don't even wash them out with soap, just run hot water through the shield and bottles, then air dry then back in bag.

My LO is 10 months old and totally healthy, so I'm thinking that pumping into bottles that are at least rinsed, if not washed with soap and water, and then boiled once every 2 weeks or so, is fine.

Works for us anyway... And I use the Lansinoh bags, those work great for us too.