How much milk do you put in a freezer bag? I've been freezing in 4 oz portions but I'm wondering if I should up it to 5 which is the max for the bag. We haven't bottled fed LO yet so I'm not sure yet what she'll drink.
Thoughts?
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We did 3-4 ounces at first and then went up to six. It was nice to have some smaller bags.
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At the beginning we did 2-3 oz and slowly went up. I don't know if you're staying at home or going back to work - I SAHM and don't go through milk very quickly (one bottle a week normally + a few other times). Now I'm cycling through older pumped milk so I like having the smaller amounts again to mix in with solids - but LO drinks 5-6 in a sitting. So, I have no answer, but if I could re-do it I'd just freeze everything in 3 oz increments.
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My first never drank more than 4 oz at a time so that's how I froze it but then when we started solids and I wanted to use to mix with oatmeal it was way too much. So this time around I'm also freezing some 2 oz bags.
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@scg00387: I'm not going back to work for a year so I'm only looking to have a small stash for nights out. She'll probably get a bottle maybe once a week at most. Sounds like 3 oz portions might be the way to go... We need to try a bottle soon so I'll know how much she'll take!
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@Baby Boy Mom: hmmm so maybe 3 oz bags would be better, with some 2 oz ones in there... So confused by all of this.
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@sslm: yep we've done a bottle a week since he was maybe 4 weeks and it's worked well! if i were you, i'd just do smaller amounts. the bags aren't that expensive, and it's easier to use 2 smaller than waste if one is too big (in my opinion).
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We had a lot of 5-6oz bags (whatever the Medea and lansinoh max amounts were) plus a lot of 2oz bags for top offs, etc.
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@sslm: yeah! Remember that you can always defrost two bags if you need more, but if you defrost a larger amount and then don't use it it's sad.
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@Baby Boy Mom: totally agree! I try to freeze in 2oz bags because throwing out milk I don't use is really annoying! I'd rather have a ton of bags in the freezer than waste any milk.
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I freeze in 2 and 3 oz portions, that way I can make any size bottle using combinations of frozen milk bags.
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I froze in 2-3 oz portions, I wold rather thaw multiple bags per feed then end up pouring unused milk down the drain.
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I only freeze in 6 or 7 ounce portions.
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If I got 9oz when pumping, then I'd do a combo like this: 3oz bag, 2oz bag, 4oz. That way, when I thawed, depending on how much I needed, I could make a variety of combinations. Sometimes i'd use only the 4oz bag, sometimes i'd need to a 2oz + a 3oz, or sometimes just a 3oz. I varied it up everyday so I had many to mix and match to get the amount I wanted.
I think by the time we actually used the milk (10-12w), he was on 4oz anyways. -
@sslm: you may want to defrost some milk to make sure your LO will drink frozen milk.. Some babies are picky like that! I freeze in 6 oz portions bc I EP and we never have problems cycling through defrosted milk.
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I do 2 or 3 oz
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3oz per bag!
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Thanks everyone for the tips! At the middle of the night feeding I pumped 5 oz and froze it in a 3 and a 2 oz bag.
@LaineysMom: yikes! I hope she'll drink it! We are going to try next weekend I think
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LO is 4.5 months and taking 3 bottles at daycare--each about 5.5 oz. so i freeze in 6 oz portions. there was a recent hellobee tip about freezing in smaller portions when it comes time to wean because so lessen wasted milk--so at some point (don't know when), i'll start freezing in 3 oz portions.
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Same as @hilsy85 - I freeze everything in 2 oz because I REALLY hate to waste BM and this way, the most I'd ever waste would be an ounce.
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I freeze in the portion she eats which, at the moment, is 3.5 oz. That way I don't have to thaw more than she needs to eat..I would hate to waste any and since it can't be refrozen I just do "single serving" freezer portions
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@hergreenapples: we really need to try a bottle so I know how much she'll take!!
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@sslm: In theory, it should be 3-4 oz. for our DDs' ages.
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@hergreenapples: that's what I read too. I figure we'll try 4 and see. I'm a little scared she won't take a bottle. Did you have any trouble?
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@sslm: No! I was worried we would, but no problems at all. DH gives her one every night before bed. We use the Tommee Tippee bottles with the lowest flow nipple (got them at Target). We break her bottle feeds up into two smaller feeds with a 10-ish minute break between halves to give her brain time to catch up with her tummy, since she really guzzles her bottles down (can finish 3.5 oz in 10-ish minutes, as opposed to 30+ minutes on the breast).
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