Forum Index
»
Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
what to do with freezer stash, extra milk?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I am EBF and have a 14 week old who recently started daycare. I have been pumping once a day since about 6 weeks pp to either have a bottle that dad gives or build a freezer stash.. I am pumping 2x/day at work to yield 12 oz, which is exactly what DS takes in at day care. I’m still pumping another 6 oz in the morning, which either gets frozen or used for a bottle –I could stop this but sort of thought it might be useful if my supply starts to drop. However, we no longer have room in the freezer (I estimate about 300 oz in there) and I’m not sure what to do with the milk that is starting to get a little old.
Should I stop pumping at home or throw away the old milk (sigh) and keep restocking, in case my supply dips? |
Anonymous
| Can't you just rotate out the old stuff? Like - first milk in should be the first milk out, for daycare. |
Anonymous
|
Why don't you start recirculating? By that I mean use a few pouches of the frozen milk for bottles now and replace those with what you pump now? You won't necessarily be increasing the freezer stash but 300 oz is a ton to have and you would at least maintain that supply for a while.
Also, at some point you may want to drop pumping the extra 6 oz since you are getting enough for your baby. But do it slowly and over time. |
Anonymous
|
Not a bad idea to keep pumping in case your supply takes a hit or DS's demand goes up, but if it really makes you crazy to pump, by all means give it up!
If you do keep up and need to get rid of milk to make room, consider donating, either through a formal milk bank (hmbana.org) or milkshare, an informal network (http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/). |
Anonymous
|
I guess we'll rotate. I also wanted to get rid of the older stuff soon because it was produced when he had different nutritional needs, I assume.
I would be happy to donate it, but I never pasteurized the milk and it looks like you're supposed to do that. I'll see if someone wants it anyway. |
Anonymous
| Definitely rotate - but also keep pumping. I wish I had. Also, test the older milk...I stashed A TON of frozen milk, but a lot mine went bad/sour after a month or two in the freezer. I ended up discarding a lot, which became more painful because my supply started to go once I got back to work full time. All that milk wasted.... |
Anonymous
no need to pasteurize for milkshare. just make sure it was stored properly and isn't too old. |
Anonymous
| I EP'd for a year and by the end our side-by-side freezer was completely full of milk (I still remember going to the grocery store and telling DH not to even think about buying anything from the frozen section unless he planned to eat it immediately). I rotated my stash every Wednesday -- so on Tuesday I'd pull enough of the oldest milk from the freezer for Wednesday, and freeze everything I pumped on Wednesday. I also froze the milk bags flat and stored them in gallon-size ziploc bags by date, which helped me keep things organized and made sure I was using the oldest milk first. In the end, we used every drop. I weaned off the pump after DS's first birthday, and he had enough freezer milk for another month before we switched him to whole milk. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| OP- I went back to work at 3 months and had ~400oz. I dropped some of the extra pumps when I started working just to make life easier AND b/c our freezer is full. Now, at 5.5 months I'm having trouble keeping up with his demands. I'm SOO glad to have the milk. Remember, LLL says frozen milk is good for 6 mos. My ped confirmed 6 months (rather than the 3 you frequently read). I gie DS frozen milk 1x/ week to keep the stash rotating. I also had concerns that it might somehow be inferior to the fresh, but ultimately decided rotating the stash was the best way to increase my chances of not having to supplement with formula. GL!! |
Anonymous
| i used my extra freezer stash in pancakes. they were surprisingly good. recommend donating though. just reading the reasons why some of the moms need milk will break your heart. |
Anonymous
| OP here, I looked into milkshare and lo and behold have donated much of my stash, leaving some for emergencies at home. I hope my supply keeps up for my little one, but the kid I donated too has serious health problems and needs it even more--he can't tolerate anything but BM (feeding issues, GI tube) and mom's supply is dropping. I encourage others with large stashes to consider donating--I thought I would have had to do a lot more legwork than I did. It was very easy and I feel I am making a difference (albeit small). |
Anonymous
| Hi OP, just wanted to let you know I'm a fellow mom who's baby just started daycare as well, and also had a big freezer stash. Thanks to this thread, I just offered up some milk on milkshare. Hope I end up doing some good, like you! |
Anonymous
| Don't forget the option of getting another freezer! I had to do that last year in addition to rotating the stash (using old and freezing new). We bought a used chest freezer on Craigslist for pretty cheap and it was really worth it not to have to worry about freezer space. |
Anonymous
| 16:12 (milkshare recommender) here. just wanted to say I'm so glad others have found milkshare. Like OP, I donated to several babies/moms that really needed it, with very little hassle. After all that miserable pumping, it feels good to do something useful with the proceeds! |
Anonymous
| Definitely rotate your stash, and keep pumping for awhile. You'll be surprised how much more milk they end up drinking. Also, when the time comes, you can use the extra milk to make up cereal. For me, I always used formula because it does waste a lot of breast milk, but if you've got extra to spare, why not. You'll get a better idea in the next several months how much milk your DS will take. Donation is a great idea too!! |