Right now, I am getting 1-3oz per pumping session. It seems a little silly to freeze such a small amount, so I've been keeping it in the fridge until I have 4-6oz to freeze. Should I just freeze them all, or keep waiting for a larger amount? What amount do you freeze?
-
I froze 4 ounce portions for the first 3 months then I moved up to 6.
-
I think its fine to wait til you have 6 oz to fill a bag before freezing. It saves bags this way and will be easier when you need to defrost the milk
-
I would add to a bottle in the fridge until I got to 5oz, then I would freeze that.
-
I always freeze 6 oz portions.
-
I was freezing 4 oz portions, but now I'm doing 5-6. I do the same thing as @mediagirl - just add to one bottle in the fridge until I have enough to freeze!
-
I always freeze 4oz. I wait to freeze until I have at least 6 oz in the fridge because she gets 4 oz dozen and 2 oz fresh in her bottle every day.
-
I add to a bottle until I have 4 oz and then freeze that.
-
I frezze in 4oz increments with a couple of 2oz 'snack packs' in case I need a little extra.
-
When I started to pump i would freeze 2oz then when DD demanded more it would go up to 3oz and now my bags range from 4-6 oz depending on pumping sessions.
-
I always freeze in 2oz portions. DS eats 4oz at a time so I just defrost two bags if needed.
-
I always froze 6oz portions, but now I wish I had smaller bags too. I've started to freeze 2oz bags so that I can send them for his little afternoon "snack" which tides him over 'til he can BF when he gets home.
The LC at my hospital's BF support group tells the working moms group to freeze in 2oz portions because you can combine them to make whatever you need (2, 4, 6, etc.) as your baby grows.
-
I always froze 4-6 oz, but once we were weaning I regretted not having smaller 2oz bags because sometimes I only needed half a bag and then didn't want to leave it in the fridge too long. Next time around I'm planning on doing some smaller bags as well.
-
Am I weird??? LO still eats 3 oz portions at 10 months old so I freeze 3 oz portions, and a few 4 oz for the bedtime bottle when I'm at work.
-
I used to freeze in random amounts - what ever needed to be frozen at the end of the day. When I went back to work I needed to cycle through my frozen stash, so LO got 1 fresh and 1 frozen bottle a day. It was a pain to make all the random frozen bags work out to be 1 bottle.
I started freezing in 4 ounces at a time, which works for me. In hindsight it would have been nice to have a few 2 oz portions too.
-
For you ladies that store in a bottle first... doesn't the fat rise to the top and stick to the sides of the bottle? I see this happening with mine so once its been sitting in a bottle all day (in the fridge) I don't want to disturb it since I don't want to lose all the fat.
-
@sunny: If you swish it around, it re-mixes.
I never even thought about planning the amounts to freeze! I have ever increment imaginable. When he was really little (preemie) the milk had to be frozen within an hour. I bet it doesn't matter anymore.
-
I freeze 5 ounces at a time. Freezing small amounts is a lot easier once you start defrosting it.
-
I used to freeze 1 oz. portions when I used the milk trays and they are incredibly convenient to defrost. I can fit about 6 in a bottle, then leave it overnight for the next day's feeding. BUT freezing/cleaning the trays was a pain, so I used to wait until I accumulated at least 8 oz. before I would freeze.
Now, that I have switched to bags I freeze in 6 oz. portions because it is easier for me to keep track of and I'm cheap and don't want to "waste" bags.
My plan is to exclusively pump for a year.. so she will be getting fresh milk until then (while cycling through the freezer stash to keep it current). If my supply ever takes a dip then I will freeze in 2 oz. portions, to make sure we are defrosting the exact amount each day.. but I'm hoping that day never comes.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
18 comments