Anyone used breast shells to collect breast milk and used it to give a bottle feed?

[Rowlers]

I have been thinking about expressing so I can let DP give DS a bottle feed a day of EBM.
HV mentioned breast shells so I bought some.
Just tried them out whilst feeding DS and got one and a half ounces just on the one feed.
So if I do this at every feed will I get enough for one feed a day, and mean I don't need to express?
Anyone managed this?

[belgo]

I used to sterilise the breast shells, and then freeze the milk.

It's a good idea

[sparklyjen]

I could never catch enough in the shells to make it worthwhile.

[Indith]

A friend has done this, still does I think! She never stopped leaking stupid amounts and could easily collect a few oz every feed off the other breast! She juse did as belgo says, sterilised the shells and froze the milk.

[Rowlers]

I was hoping I could just keep adding to the same bottle in the fridge over a few feeds and then give to DS the next day - within 24 hours of first lot collected though.
It seems more logical than freezing an ounce of milk at a time.
? Or should I freeze it to be on the safe side I wonder?

[belgo]

you don't need to freeze it if you use it the next day

[juuule]

I did this with my older children. Kept the bottle in the freezer and just topped it up after each feed. Looked quite strange when I got a bottle out as there were different layers in different shades. Defrosted and shook it all up and it was fine. Collected loads of milk in the early days before milk supply settled down.

[Stefka]

I do what you are planning. I sterilise the shells and collect the milk throughout the day and use it the next day. I get the most milk in the morning feeds and it gets less throughout the day. I can get a fair bit though so it's worth trying.

[mamijacacalys]

Ditto most others. Sterilized the shells each day and tipped milk into freezer bag (suspended in sterilised bottle) in fridge throughout day. Froze bag at end of day - used to collect between 4-8oz per day depending on how hungry DS was.
Never pump expressed at all with DS and froze loads of ebm to use when I went back to work (he was only 4 months as there was less ML in those days).
Remember not to lean over too far if you haven't emptied the shells for a while though, otherwise it all sloshes out over you!
Never had to bother with the shells with DD as she absolutely refused bottled ebm despite many attempts - wish she would've taken it becuase it would've given me a break and allowed DH to get a bit more involved with the feeding.
(She's 17 mnths now and still loves her night time bf's ).

[Rowlers]

Fab. That's great to know - thanks for the advice.
I must say it's a skill to get the milk out of the shells into bottle / bag without spilling it all - might find it hard in middle of the night!

[sparklyjen]

Adding fresh, possibly warm, milk to frozen sounds a bit dodgy to me. You have to be careful in the freezer that things don't defrost (having come into contact with warm unfrozen stuff) then "refrost".

I'd keep it in the fridge until there's enough and then use it or freeze it.

[Holymoly321]

Could I collect milk in the shells during the night and put the milk into a sterilised bottle the next morning or will the fact that it's been sloshing around in the shells all night make it unusable?

[juuule]

I think if you try to collect it during the night it will probably slosh all over you as you turn over. I don't know if there are different designs of shells but mine had a small spout so I had to be careful that I positioned it upwards when I was standing up otherwise the milk would run out of the spout.

I think that adding fresh milk to frozen is better than adding to chilled. The milk being added is the same temperature whatever you add it to but surely it will chill quicker when added to frozen in a freezer rather than chilled milk in a fridge. If you consider the added milk will warm up the stored milk then the same would happen when added to the chilled milk only it would take longer for the over all temperature of the milk to drop. That was my reasoning anyway and my ds didn't have any problems with the milk.

[sparklyjen]

"You may combine milk you collected that day with frozen milk as long as it's chilled for at least an hour first, and the amount that you are freezing is less than half of the frozen amount. Fresh milk retains more of its protective properties than frozen milk, so whenever possible, use refrigerated rather than frozen milk for feeding your baby." (from babycentre.co.uk)

[tutu100]

I used to collect my breastmilk in shells when feeding. It saved me quite a lot of hassle not having to express and also saved a fortune in breastpads as without the shells I would go through up to 10 pads per feed.

It was my HV who suggested it, but you can only keep the milk in the fridge for 24 hours from the 1st collected lot. I used to either save it up during the day for dp to do a feed at night or freeze it for later use.

However if dp did a feed in the night I used to feel so uncomfortable that I would express then (quicker than feeding ds myself at that point). I would then freeze what I got from that session.

I did a lot of freezing at one point I had a freezer so full of breast milk I think if I'd died ds could have had ebm feeds for a least a month. (That used to be my comforting thought when I was still slightly loopy through hormones!)

[tutu100]

I forgot to say I was told only to save milk collected when I was feeding and if I wore the shells at for a prolonged period of time not to save that milk as it might not be safe if it wasn't fresh enough IYSWIM.

[Rowlers]

Well so far I've collected about 4 oz over one day and frozen it.
Not collected overnight as I can't be bothered going downstairs and fiddling with steriliser, bottles etc. Too tired for that!
I suspect I could get a lot more overnight but hey ho.
I'm not finding it a problem in the day so will continue for the moment and save up a pile in the freezer.
Then will have the issue of actually getting DS to take a bottle - hope he plays ball!!
Thanks everyone for your info.

[katwith3wisemen]

Bit late here but never mind ....

I collected milk in a shell then transferred to an ice cube tray to freeze. Very useful when starting weaning as I could add a cube of milk to cereal, new tastes etc.

[Pannacotta]

I have done this but I didn't worry about sterilising the shells. Breast milk is sterile, it's not like formula so if you wash them in the dishwasher its fine.

[NappiesLaChristmasGit]

when i donated bm to a milk bank for preemies, the milk bank lady said to add freshly collected milk to frozen bottle, and keep topping up frozen bottle till it was full.

hth.