Breastfed daycare baby... (pain in the neck)

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Today is his first day. He's almost two months old.

This is the first time I have had a baby who brings pumped milk in little bags.

These things are a HUGE pain in the neck. They are little ziplock bags called "Lanisoh". <--- or something like that. They look similar to the old playtex liners, but with ziplock tops.

He brought six bags, with about 1-2 oz in each bag. I need to use two bags per feeding. Out of six bags, four of them leaked when thawed. They are leaking from the bottom.

When she freezes them, she lays them flat to freeze, so I can't dump them while frozen into another container to thaw.

So... can anybody troubleshoot for me?

[LROM]

I used Lansinoh bags for months and months with DD and had no trouble with leaking or anything.

How are you thawing them?

And did the parent explain why there's so little milk in each bag? Does she know she can store an ounce in a bottle in the fridge until the next pumping session then put the combined oz in one bag so you only thaw one per feeding?

As for freezing them flat, don't know much about that either. I was putting more oz in each bag and kinda sat them up in the freezer.

Actually, why is mom freezing them at all? Is she workign through a storage of BM or fresh pumping, in which case why doesn't she just bring it fresh?

I guess I have more questions than answers! But I didn't have any trouble with sending breastmilk to daycare, although granted I also thawed and bottled any frozen milk myself so I was bringing already prepped bottles in, never frozen bags.

[akind1]

I haven't had a problem with Lanisoh bags myself (that is what we use, and store the same as you describe)

All I could suggest really, is maybe you can ask the mom to go ahead and prep the bottles, at least 2, and you could keep a couple frozen bags, just in case?

I have seen these bags made by Simplesse at BRU that look a lot thicker than Lanisoh, and still have the double zipper. You might also suggest this to her, to switch the sort of bag she freezes in.

HTH

[dachshundqueen]

Thaw in an empty pan.

Suggest mama leaves more headspace in the bag when freezing.

Liz

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I don't know why there is so little milk in each bag. This is the first time she's tried it, so, she's just trying to figure it all out I guess.

I'm wondering if this batch of bags could be flawed somehow? She said she had one other brand at home, and she'd try those. She also said "I guess I don't have to freeze them".

OH.. and I thawed the last two in a Pyrex measuring cup, in case it leaked. (which I thought was pretty clever. LOL) But, these two didn't leak.

I'm thawing it at room temperature, and then putting the bottles into a mug of hot water.

[Eligracey]

I used Lansinoh bags and they did leak occasionally. I'd thaw them in a bowl in the fridge so I could catch and use the leaked milk. Why don't you just ask her to bring pre-thawed and made-up bottles? That way it's not any more trouble to you than formula and she doesn't have to worry that the leaking will mean baby won't have enough food at daycare. That's what I did for my DCP.

[goodygumdrops]

We always recommend to only store 2 ounces at a time so as to not thaw milk unnecessarily.

[ASusan]

And, to be even more PITA, our daycare served in 2-oz increments, because once it was offered, they had to dump it if DS didn't drink it at one offering. Granted, he was much older and he WAS rejecting pumped milk at daycare.

Perhaps she is freezing them on the side because of space. That's what I had to do in the freezer. I didn't have room to have them all upright. And they never STAYED upright, either. When they're frozen flat, you can sort of stack them in the freezer.

[elsie123]

I'd definitely ask the parents to bring in bottles already prepared. Or at least the milk thawed already. I had infant classes for years and never had anyone bring in a frozen bag.

[Ellie'sMom]

When I was pumping I would bring in the already prepped bottles as well, but I also made sure my dcp always had some frozen BM on hand for emergencies (like the day I pulled out of the driveway with the bottles of EBM on the roof of the car...)

[MamaChicken]

I always prepped the bottles when I pumped too. They gave me preprinted labels for the bottles for her name/date. The center dd went to would not prep BM or formula, just warm it.

[bella99]

I used Lansinoh bags and had a batch that leaked from the seams on the bottom or sides. Just the one batch though.

I also froze my lying flat, because they thaw quicker and made storage easier.

I also froze 4-5 oz per bag.

I generally thawed my daughter's milk for the day overnight and then poured the milk into bottles and sent them that way. I also gave the daycare, 4-5 bags of additional milk at a time in case something was spilled or she hungrier than usual and they kept those in their freezer and thawed when necessary.

[pacificbliss]

I freeze bags on the side too to save space and I use the Lansinoh bags and they didn't leak. Can you ask Mom to make up bottles? I always took bottles to daycare.

[lifeguard]

We had a problem with one box of the lansinoh bags as well & not again. We just got in the habit of thawing them in something in case they leaked.

I don't think it is uncommon to freeze in 2oz increments. Pumping is not a lot of fun & to have any of it thrown out 'cause it doesn't get used is discouraging.

I would try to thaw in the fridge though - it's really better to keep it cold until you need to warm it for the feeding.

Good for mama for pumping & continuing to breastfeed!

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Thanks. I'll just be sure to always thaw them in a glass container in case they leak. I'm hoping it's just this particular batch of bags. Mom said she just bought them this week, but also bought some Medella bags. So, she'll use those for the rest of the week, and I hope I won't have any more problems.

I have formula here for him just in case... but, he's never had formula, so I certainly don't want to use that until she says to.

He's only seven weeks old..... SOOOO cute!

[Quinalla]

Yeah, I too would recommend that she prepare bottles in advance and have the frozen as the extra backup if he wants more one day. But yeah, I have definitely heard that it is always a good idea to thaw those bags in something in case they leak.

[ErikaS57]

I also don't see why she's providing frozen milk? Fresh is good for up to 8 days in the fridge, and it's better quality than frozen. I always give fresh - monday's milk on tuesday, tuesday's milk on wednesday... friday's milk on monday, etc. I do have some frozen bags as a 'back up' but have never really needed them.

For my provider, I pre-make my daughters cups (she's 14m now, but this went for bottles too), and label them in the order I want them given (so oldest milk gets a #1 on it).

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by ErikaS57

I also don't see why she's providing frozen milk? Fresh is good for up to 8 days in the fridge, and it's better quality than frozen. I always give fresh - monday's milk on tuesday, tuesday's milk on wednesday... friday's milk on monday, etc. I do have some frozen bags as a 'back up' but have never really needed them.

For my provider, I pre-make my daughters cups (she's 14m now, but this went for bottles too), and label them in the order I want them given (so oldest milk gets a #1 on it).

This. Frozen is good for back-up, but fresh is SO much easier to deal with. I pumped for a year and we got into a pretty good pattern. It took some thinking and adjusting, and the freezer stash was comforting to have while we figured out what he needed when, and how to balance nursing and pumping (I worked a block from home so I'd run... literally, run home on my breaks to nurse), but it got to the point that we never (or very rarely, anyway) had to freeze milk or bust into the freezer stash.

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She brought it in three bottles today. It makes all the difference in the world!

I didn't ask her to bring it prepared, she just did it. But, it's much easier than thawing two bags every few hours.

[HappyMommy2]

That is what I was going to say! Our daycare insisted on bottles already prepared.