Breastmilk storage

[incyspider]

Hi I was wondering if someone could please clarify how long breastmilk can be stored for? I've read conflicting advice which have quite big differences.

One said fresh milk can be stored in the back of the fridge for 5 days or the freezer for 6 months. The other was 24hours in the fridge & 1 month in the freezer.

Having read the first advice originally thats what I've been doing but now I'm a bit worried I might have given my DD milk that was too old??

I'm on my phone so this may or may not work...

www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html

Wow it worked! Kellymom is a great site, spend some time having a look around :)

Thank you :) Loving the "quick reference card"

I never froze my milk because it gets rid of loads of the " goodies" in it. The nhs leaflet I had said store for 5 days in the fridge. TBH I never felt comfortable leaving for 5 days and used it up by 3. Also glad I shopped around the local supermarkets for breastmilk storage bags, so much cheaper than the branded ones.

It's true that freezing kills off some of the nutrients in breastmilk but even so its still a better option than formula for your DD. FWIW (and before I get flamed) I'm not bashing formula feeding, I use it myself on occasion.

My intention is to express enough to build up a bit of a store in the freezer for when I'm back at work but as my DD seems to have a growth spurt every other day I end up using it to give my poor overworked nipples a break!

Raspberry where did you get your storage bags from in the end? I'm using Boots own brand at the moment, can't remember how much they were but they weren't cheap.

I have the same intention to store for when I go back to work. I take your point though raspberryhead so if I know I'll need the milk soon I'll keep it in the fridge.

I thought this link might help for cheaper storage bags. They have different brands too... www.amazon.co.uk/Breast-Milk-Storage-Bags-Lansinoh/dp/B002IW4LY4

Argh I just spent A bloody fortune on medela bags as iw was the only brand my local Boots stocked. I will get them from Amazon next time

I initially bought the medela bags, but then pumped into a bottle and transferred to tesco bags. They worked fine in the fridge, but never used them to freeze milk......
Only found them in the massive tesco tho.

I store in 200ml pots bought from Lakeland Plastics.

If you want reusable ones, you can get axifeed ones on ebay for the same price as a box of bags.