DS will be 8 weeks old on Sunday and I started pumping to get ready to go back to work about 2 weeks ago. I get between 8 and 10 oz each time I pump (only pumping 1x/day right now). I've been freezing it in whatever amount I get- so I have some bags with 8, 8.5, 9, etc oz. right now he eats 4 oz when we give him a bottle. Should I freeze it in 4 oz portions? Not sure what will be easier when he starts daycare in a month. How do you portion your breastmilk?
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I freeze in 2-4 oz portions. But I usually only need a single feed at a time. If you'll be defrosting a whole day's worth for daycare maybe it isn't as important? Still, it will make it easier in the long run to do 4oz portions, probably.
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I've been doing around 3 oz portions because that's about what LO is taking at each feed. With LO1, I think I did similar and just sent two bags per bottle when he was drinking 6 oz. My little guy never drank more than that per bottle and I felt like it was easier for daycare to not have to pour and then stick back in the fridge. I also didn't want to chance any milk being wasted - that stuff is priceless!
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I usually tried to freeze in similar portions to what was taken in bottles. It started around 4oz and eventually moved it up as needed.
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I froze in 4-5 oz bags because that's what LO took from a bottle and I usually only needed one serving at a time. if he will need multiple feeds a day then you can definitely double up. Frozen breast milk is good for 24 oz after thawed!
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I freeze in 4 oz portions because that is how much he takes from a bottle.
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I froze 4-5 oz in a bag. Sometimes if I put 6-8, I found the bag more likely to leak even if the bag was supposed to hold 8-9 oz.
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I weaned this summer, but I always put 4 oz per bag. As she got older she always took 3.5-4 oz, and even if she didn't, we would easily finish it over the course of the day.
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I always froze in 2 oz portions because it gave me the most versatility. For a while, I needed three 5 oz bottles for daycare, so I'd thaw 8 bags and have basically the perfect amount. Now I sent 6 oz bottles, so I thaw 9 bags. And when I start mixing with WCM to transition off breast milk, I'll be able to mix in 2 oz increments.
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I wanted to minimize transfer loss, so I typically just stored whatever I pumped. Then each morning I would match up a combination of bags that added up to whatever bottles I needed for the day.
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I did 4oz portions. This has served us well and she is 10 months now. She has taken 4, 6, and 8 oz bottles. When she took 6oz bottles, we would use 3 bags to make 2 bottles. I will do the same for the next baby.
ETA: now I remember I did some 2oz portions too, for when she needed 3 - 6 ounce bottles. They would thaw 4 - 4 ounce bags and 1 - 2 ounce bag. Honestly, the bags were too expensive for me to put 2 oz in every single one, so this system worked well. I'd just make more 2 oz bags whenever they were running low.
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Since your LO takes 4oz I would freeze in 4oz portions. Most likely with BM his intake won't increase because BM is supposed to adjust nutritionally as they get older. This was true for both my girls.
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I freeze 4 oz bags and I used to do some 2 oz extra bags, too. Now T is 7 months old and eats a lot of solids, so I don't do 2 oz anymore. I freeze flat and stack in a box
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@regberadaisy: I was wondering about that, I read that he shouldn't need more milk as he gets bigger but was curious if that was really the case for most babies.
Thanks everyone! Looks like it's a mixed bag. I think I'll do some 4 oz, 8 oz and 2 oz bags. I have a super small freezer and live in an apartment so I want to fit as much as I can.
Next question: Did you send the bottles with defrosted milk or send the bags and they divvied it up at daycare?
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@peaches1038: our daycare will thaw the frozen bags for us and portion them out but most don't
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At first, I froze in 4oz portions. When I felt like I had a decent amount, I started freezing in 2-3oz portions as toppers when he got older/was extra hungry.
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Usually in 6-8 oz portions. I thawed what I needed for daycare. .I think it was three 4 oz bottles for a long time.
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Usually 4-6oz portions. In the early weeks I just froze as I pumped.... even if it was only 2-3oz.
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I usually freeze 4-6 oz bags. I was more strict about them being 4 oz in the beginning but as I got more used to the routine I was more lax.
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@peaches1038: I froze in 4oz portions and used the gift bag storage method to reduce storage space. It worked awesome and took up very little room. http://greenlitebites.com/2011/06/breast-milk-storage/
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I have those milk trays so I freeze in one oz cubes and then put into ziplock bags. LO takes 13 oz/day at daycare so it is convenient to supplement what I pumped or measure out just what I need.
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I started freezing in 4 oz portions when my LO was about the same age as yours, but he started taking 5 oz bottles before my mat leave was up and now it's a fairly frustrating volume. Now I just freeze in random volumes (up to 6 oz) so that I can mix and match what I need.
Are you sure your bags can handle 8 oz? Most that I've seen top off at 6 oz, there needs to be extra non-milk room because milk expands when it freezes. I wouldn't want you losing precious milk to leaky bags
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I always froze in 1-2 oz increments, with a few 3-4 oz bags. I figured that would give DH flexibility and ensure that LO wasn't overfed, since more could always be thawed, but unused portions couldn't be refrozen.
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@Ms.Badger: ack! I'm not sure!! I have lasinoh bags and they do only go up to 6 oz. maybe I'll have to defrost them inside another ziplock.
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I always froze in 2 or 3 oz portions. That way I could make up any number of ounces I wanted by combining bags. It worked well for us (though used more bags!).
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4 oz bags
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@peaches1038: I seriously recommend trying the nuk bags.
It's true about the volume increase tapping off eventually. DS started at 3oz per bottle and never got above 5oz. -
@MrsSRS: why do you like the nuk bags?
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4 oz portions. I have some 2 and 1 oz bags and they are fairly annoying, I thought they'd allow increased versatility but really the 4 oz ones are just simpler. Our daycare requires us to send in bottles ready to go, already thawed and with a nipple attached.
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Started out doing 3 -4 oz bags since that's what DS was drinking. Then I increased to 6- 8 oz. as I was EP'ing & had an oversupply so was trying to save room in our freezers. I mostly used Target's Up & Up bags & they seem to be thawing okay with 8oz in them. I hardly have any leaks with them (Lanisoh ones seemed to have a leaker every couple of days)
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I started doing 6 oz because I was trying to be efficient with bags. Then read it's better to freeze in smaller portions like 2 oz. So I did 2 oz for a while but it was such a PITA to portion out so many bags. So I switched to 4 oz, which is what I do now. Though I like the idea of doing 4 oz and 3 oz, so I can make different combinations, so I might start doing that.
Right now we're fine because my husband is home with the baby, but I don't know what we're going to do about daycare. Because he doesn't take a consistent amount at each feeding. Sometimes he'll take 2 oz, sometimes he'll take 8. It really varies a lot. And all the daycare centers that I've found require you to send filled bottles and if a bottle isn't finished they won't reuse the remainder at the next feed. So I'm thinking about sending in 2 oz bottles and they can just use multiple bottles per feed, but that would mean sending something like 10 bottles per day!
Also, when we thaw, we stand the bags upright in a tall tupperware container so that we don't risk leaks.
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@peaches1038: I also recommend the Nuk bags. I had much better luck with them. The plastic is thicker. The downside is they don't freeze as flat. The upside is I have never had one leak and I have literally used thousands. I can't say the same for Lansinoh...they have nearly brought me to tears many times by leaking. They freeze beautifully flat though.
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i didn't want to "waste" bags so i froze in 6 oz potions or more. Since i only defrosted to rotate my stash once a week. I also froze 2 oz reusable bottles for days she needed more than i pumped the day before.
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@SweetCaroline: I'm going to try the nuk bags, thank you for the advice!
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@peaches1038: they're big and the plastic is more flexible
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