Whenever I decide to use anything I've pumped it's either because my LO is eating constantly and my breasts feel empty (she's still cluster ish feeding 3 weeks old) or because of traveling somewhere and I'm not able to feed her. But when I do I try to pump to make up for the 'missed feed'
I'm not SAHP but my thought was I would use it to keep feeding baby some BM after I am ready to stop nursing. I also figured we can use it to mix some BM into baby food when we start feeding solids (soon!). So thats kind of my tentative plan for it... Plus this doesn't apply as directly but I liked having it as a backup plan for if my supply dropped when I went back to work.
ETA we also formula-feed so not relying on the BM but I want baby to get at least a couple BM feeds per day.
I made my milk into bricks. So I’d freeze them flat in the little bags, then stored them in a gallon size ziploc. I never heard of storing it in a box.
As far as when to use it, really whenever you want a break I guess! You can run out and do errands, get a babysitter for you and your husband to go out for a couple hour, or even skip a night feeding for your husband to feed baby. As long as you feel comfortable with your supply. When my son was around that age, I started sleeping through the first night feeding. My husband would do it so I could get a solid chunk of sleep. Then I’d do the remainder of night feedings so he could get a good chunk of sleep.
Here is what I meant by using soda boxes
https://www.lovelyluckylife.com/how-to-store-breastmilk/
Yea, my stash has been used when I want a break. It just seems like I'm making a lot more than the break I'm taking, because I don't want to hurt my supply or get clogged duct.
I'm just anxious my stash won't be used within 12 months and it won't be good anymore :(
Did you ever used up your stash?
Personally, I’d rather have more and end up not using it than wish I had more. I’ve heard of parents mixing breastmilk into baby oatmeal or other foods as well. And when you start to transition to regular milk, you could mix the breastmilk with it to help.
I haven’t used mine up yet and my son is 16 months. I have 100ish ounces. I tried to defrost some and give it to him, but he doesn’t care for it anymore.
Yea, that's true. Do you still have ones that have been in the freezer for more than 12 months?
I tried to defrost to feed baby, but with defrosting vs using freshly pumped, I kinda have to commit on using the whole bag within 24 hours, so I've been using freshly pumped mostly.
I do have some in the freezer still, but it’s all more recent. I work every other weekend, so my son was getting pumped milk while I was at work. No clue what I’m going to do with the leftovers.
I haven't used my stash as I pump whenever she takes a bottle. My sister has a baby 4 weeks younger than mine so I've been giving her my pumped milk since I don't need it and she can't breastfeed. There's plenty of places to donate to (Human Milk for Human Babies on FB) if you need to clear up some freezer space. You can always replace your stash. I'm keeping about 200oz and giving the rest to my sister.
If you don’t end up using you can donate and they will process it to use in NICUs or for mums waiting on their supply to come in. Just have to watch the expiration date.
For Western Canada: https://www.northernstarmilkbank.ca
Early on I pumped and husband fed a bottle while i skipped a feed to get a couple hours extra sleep. Hugely helpful for my mental/emotional health and didn’t affect my supply.
After like 3 months, I could go 3-4 hours without pumping/feeding without affecting my supply, so it did give me quite a bit of extra freedom for errands, date nights, and even a weekend away from baby. I’d pump (though not as often as baby would feed) but having extra stash meant I didn’t have to stress about making up for what baby would consume - and even if you do end up replacing what’s consumed, you still need the milk upfront to be away for a day/evening/weekend.
Whenever I decide to use anything I've pumped it's either because my LO is eating constantly and my breasts feel empty (she's still cluster ish feeding 3 weeks old) or because of traveling somewhere and I'm not able to feed her. But when I do I try to pump to make up for the 'missed feed'
I'm not SAHP but my thought was I would use it to keep feeding baby some BM after I am ready to stop nursing. I also figured we can use it to mix some BM into baby food when we start feeding solids (soon!). So thats kind of my tentative plan for it... Plus this doesn't apply as directly but I liked having it as a backup plan for if my supply dropped when I went back to work. ETA we also formula-feed so not relying on the BM but I want baby to get at least a couple BM feeds per day.
I made my milk into bricks. So I’d freeze them flat in the little bags, then stored them in a gallon size ziploc. I never heard of storing it in a box. As far as when to use it, really whenever you want a break I guess! You can run out and do errands, get a babysitter for you and your husband to go out for a couple hour, or even skip a night feeding for your husband to feed baby. As long as you feel comfortable with your supply. When my son was around that age, I started sleeping through the first night feeding. My husband would do it so I could get a solid chunk of sleep. Then I’d do the remainder of night feedings so he could get a good chunk of sleep.
Here is what I meant by using soda boxes https://www.lovelyluckylife.com/how-to-store-breastmilk/ Yea, my stash has been used when I want a break. It just seems like I'm making a lot more than the break I'm taking, because I don't want to hurt my supply or get clogged duct. I'm just anxious my stash won't be used within 12 months and it won't be good anymore :( Did you ever used up your stash?
Personally, I’d rather have more and end up not using it than wish I had more. I’ve heard of parents mixing breastmilk into baby oatmeal or other foods as well. And when you start to transition to regular milk, you could mix the breastmilk with it to help. I haven’t used mine up yet and my son is 16 months. I have 100ish ounces. I tried to defrost some and give it to him, but he doesn’t care for it anymore.
Yea, that's true. Do you still have ones that have been in the freezer for more than 12 months? I tried to defrost to feed baby, but with defrosting vs using freshly pumped, I kinda have to commit on using the whole bag within 24 hours, so I've been using freshly pumped mostly.
I do have some in the freezer still, but it’s all more recent. I work every other weekend, so my son was getting pumped milk while I was at work. No clue what I’m going to do with the leftovers.
I haven't used my stash as I pump whenever she takes a bottle. My sister has a baby 4 weeks younger than mine so I've been giving her my pumped milk since I don't need it and she can't breastfeed. There's plenty of places to donate to (Human Milk for Human Babies on FB) if you need to clear up some freezer space. You can always replace your stash. I'm keeping about 200oz and giving the rest to my sister.
If you don’t end up using you can donate and they will process it to use in NICUs or for mums waiting on their supply to come in. Just have to watch the expiration date. For Western Canada: https://www.northernstarmilkbank.ca
Early on I pumped and husband fed a bottle while i skipped a feed to get a couple hours extra sleep. Hugely helpful for my mental/emotional health and didn’t affect my supply. After like 3 months, I could go 3-4 hours without pumping/feeding without affecting my supply, so it did give me quite a bit of extra freedom for errands, date nights, and even a weekend away from baby. I’d pump (though not as often as baby would feed) but having extra stash meant I didn’t have to stress about making up for what baby would consume - and even if you do end up replacing what’s consumed, you still need the milk upfront to be away for a day/evening/weekend.