Breast milk & baby food storage

Wonder_Girl

Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice. My first baby is due at the beginning of June. :j

I plan to breast feed and express so hubby can also feed her (hopefully in the night ) I've looked at options for freezing my milk and the bags and storage pots seem quite expensive, also the bags aren't very environmentally friendly.

I've done a bit of research and found that I can freeze in ice cube trays and transfer to bags/boxes once solid. I was going to buy something like this

But then I though I may as well by something that can double up a freezer trays for baby food to save me buying something new further down the line.

So my questions are;

Has anyone got experience with freezing breast milk in this way and do you have any hints and tips?

Would these type of trays be any good for freezing baby food or would they be too small?

Does anyone have a recommendation of baby food freezer trays that would be suitable for freezing milk in?

Thanks for reading.

ANY advice would be appreciated as this is all new (and scary) to me:o

Thanks
WG x

notanewuser

Wonder_Girl wrote: »

Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice. My first baby is due at the beginning of June. :j

I plan to breast feed and express so hubby can also feed her (hopefully in the night ) I've looked at options for freezing my milk and the bags and storage pots seem quite expensive, also the bags aren't very environmentally friendly.

I've done a bit of research and found that I can freeze in ice cube trays and transfer to bags/boxes once solid. I was going to buy something like this

But then I though I may as well by something that can double up a freezer trays for baby food to save me buying something new further down the line.

So my questions are;

Has anyone got experience with freezing breast milk in this way and do you have any hints and tips?

Would these type of trays be any good for freezing baby food or would they be too small?

Does anyone have a recommendation of baby food freezer trays that would be suitable for freezing milk in?

Thanks for reading.

ANY advice would be appreciated as this is all new (and scary) to me:o

Thanks
WG x

Just a couple of things. If your hubby feeds expressed milk at night you will need to pump at the same time to keep your supply up. You'll have better supply at night and that's usually when babies feed the most. You can't take a break and maintain your supply.

Secondly, there's no reason to have pots for weaning - look up baby led weaning. They basically eat what you eat with no mashing or pureeing.

I used the bags to freeze milk when I was breastfeeding. I breastfed for a year and didn't get through that many!! I'm pretty sure I just washed them out thoroughly and reused them.

Gillyx

Agree with notanewuser, everytime baby feeds in the early days anyway if he/she is having a bottle Youl need to pump. I exclusively pumped so my OH would get up and feed and I'd be expressing at the same time.

Any ice cube trays will do for storing food, poundshop will probably have them Do have a look at BLW though, it's fab :j

Seanymph

I was too lazy to do any of that, and breastfed exclusively and let OH get involved once I'd decided to stop night feeds.......... then he got his And I slept for the next several years at night!

None of that is relevant, but as for 'advice'? Don't make too many plans, or buy anything until you need it - be easy on yourself, see how you get along, and be ready to change all and any plans.

It's the most wonderful time, but only if you are kind to yourself and ignore everyone else.

Gillyx

Id agree with don't buy anything until you need to, could have saved us a fortune

Unless you live rurally and it's difficult to get out and about then most other places have supermarkets that are open long hours and sell all manner of things xx

Tigsteroonie

Because Andrew had been on NICU, I had loads of plastic bottles that they supply which fit onto the breast pump - so I just froze my breastmilk in those (leaving an expansion gap). I recycled them no end of times.

When it came to weaning, I used pound-shop open ice cube trays for fruit and vegetable purees; once frozen I popped them out and into a bag. It meant I could mix cubes for a meal to give him variety.

Wonder_Girl

Thanks ladies, I've never heard of BLW and it looks great!

I'm lucky as my SIL has given me a breast pump so I've not had to spend anything so far.

I'll see how things go and buy any extra's as and when I need them. Thanks so much xx

katglasgow

I would also recommend the bags for storing breastmilk, they stack up easily in the freezer without taking up too much room and you can freeze them with different amounts which is handy. As you need to express at times you would normally feed or thereabouts it is quicker and easy to BF at night, you can do it sitting up in bed so you stay nice and cosy, you will be back to sleep in no time!

Lara44

There is controversy around some nasty chemicals used to produce plastics transferring into food, chiefly Bisphenol A. There is no conclusive science on the risks. However it has been banned from babies bottles (see here). So it might be worth thinking about some glass containers like these to store breast milk in?

meritaten

I mostly breast fed at night - all three babies. if I fancied sleeping through the 3-4am feed, I expressed during the day and collected the milk in a sterile bottle and kept it in fridge. I wouldn't be too sure the baby feeds on schedule - mine didn't and although I could be sure the newborns would wake at some point - it wasn't always on time!
I never froze milk - never occurred to me.
I enjoyed the middle of the night feeds - they felt 'special' - OH just seemed to see them as getting nutrition down the baby. even when I was exhausted OH would help by bringing the baby to me in bed, and to be honest - by the time feeds were done we were co-sleeping!
don't plan hun - the baby will set it own rules and you will just feel hard done by!

jackyann

There's good advice here. I would add - don't get anxious about expressing in the early days. Some babies get nipple / treat confusion if given a bottle too early, and it can be very difficult to express until your breast milk supply has established. So don't rush.
Also keep an open mind - some women find fiddling about with expressing & sterilising bottles, takes away one of the greatest advantages of breast feeding - others welcome the break. See what suits your family.