Hellobee Boards

nahhhhh keep it! use it to wean from pumping earlier! use it to give you nighttime breaks when you need it! use it when you're out and about and don't want to nurse because you're busy wrangling things!

Obvi don't use too much all at once because it will impact your supply but enjoy the flexibility

With my son I had an oversupply for awhile and had 160 oz in the freezer when I went back to work at 6m. That freezer stash allowed my to cut down pumping sessions / times faster than I would have been able to, normally.

Also I felt like pumping sucked WAY more this time around.... just such an inefficient use of time and "extra" thing to manage.

I've donated over 2,000 ounces in my pumping days. While breastmilk does change, I don't think it's a major issue. When I was cycling for my son (I didn't cycle frozen for my daughter), I just tried to do at least 1 pumped bottle during the day. I'm assuming you are still nursing morning and night? If so, I wouldn't worry too much about the changing properties as your baby is getting fresh then.

I donated using Human Milk for Human Babies. Both times it was to NICU babies.

I had a decent sized stash when I went back to work. I was still over producing until DD turned 6 months. After that, I just managed until 9 months. What I thought would be donated just managed to get me until she was a year old.

I would be wary of donating as long as the milk is still good.

I had a huge oversupply with baby #1 and also donated over 2,000 ounces. I honestly couldn't keep it all in my deep freezer, so keeping it all was not an option! I probably had an additional 1,000 ounces I kept as "backup" for my son, so I still had plenty in case of an emergency.

There are informal milk sharing groups on facebook (human milk for human babies was already mentioned). Although I think that's great, I wasn't comfortable with it (I'm a lawyer and the potential liability/issues makes me uncomfortable).

Most states have a donor milk bank (or multiple banks) that is run as a nonprofit and provides donor milk "officially" to babies in the NICU in hospitals. It is affiliated with hospitals. In my state this is the milk bank: https://milkbankofflorida.org/

They have "pick up sites" at local hospitals throughout the state. So I called the lactation department at my local hospital and arranged a drop off time. I didn't donate all 2,000 ounces at once. I donated probably 5 separate times. I brought it in a huge cooler and they took it for me. Then they ship it on dry ice to the milk bank headquarters. There, the milk bank thaws and pasteurizes the milk and analyze it for composition (fat, calories, etc). They then repackage it and label it with the nutrition composition and send it to NICUs throughout the state as needed.

It is great to donate!! I am so glad I did. I worked really hard with baby #2 not to have as much of an oversupply, so I only have a freezer stash (maybe 300-400 ounces or so?). I'm keeping it for now, but I will donate it as he gets older if he doesn't need it. The milk bank will accept the milk up to a year if it's been in a deep freezer.

Oh yeah, thanks @lbee I totally forgot - I did have to get lab work done and disclose all medication/complete a medical application form for the milk bank. Yeah, if you are on some medications it is an issue and you may wish to go another donation route.

@lbee oh yeah, I think mine did too now that you mention it. It was 3 years ago and I have not slept a lot since then!

@LCTBQE: HA! I have an obscene LOVE for my deep freezer. It's the first thing we bought when we moved into our new house 5 years ago. I think I'm a food hoarder......I love to batch cook and can't pass up a good deal.

@LCTBQE: I donated after I went back to work and was getting a good idea on how much milk my baby was going to drink. I didn’t want a huge freezer stash because I could tell my second, while better than my first with bottles, still never became a real fan and just drank a little bit. I loved donating informally through Facebook since I didn’t want to keep the milk more than 4 months and I freed up freezer space!

@LCTBQE: they used to say 6 months, but this time one nurse did say 4 months and I don’t love the way the milk seems the older it gets, so I was more inclined to go with less time.

I was always told 3-6 months in a regular freezer, but my personal comfort was also closer to 4 months.

I had an intense oversupply and had donated just about 3000 ounces by the time DD was 1 (and had lost close to 1000 ounces due to two unfortunate freezer situations). I donated to a family member so I have no experience with the other groups/programs but I know my SIL got donations using Human Milk for Human Babies. If you think you might want to donate I would definitely start looking around now so you have a game plan if you reach the time frame when the milk is going bad.