Freezing breast milk

[notts04]

What is the best thinng to use to freeze breast milk in? Can you use bottles with sealing discs or are there other better options? Thank you.

You can get breastmilk storage bags from Boots (and other places). They're great.

The storage bags are definitely the easiest. They have places to write the date & volume on, so you can use the appropriate ones for your needs & know if it goes past 6mths...

We got Avent storage pots off eBay. They fit strait to my pump and u can write on them. Plus you can add a teat and use them as a bottle. Aaaaaand we've used them to store pasta sauce in the freezer for dd

It depends how much you want to store! You can use an ice cube tray for small amounts (like if you want little quantities to mix with baby cereal, for example). For larger quantities, breastmilk storage bags are great as they can store small or large amounts and take up much less room in the freezer. Lansinoh or Medela do them :)

i think that bizarrely the boots ones say not suitable for freezing - The're was a thread about it at one time. It's maybe changed but I'd check the box.

I've used the Lansinoh ones a lot with no problem, i think i found the medela ones were more expensive.

hi just hijacking the thread with another question; can you freeze breastmilk that has been in the fridge for 48 hours?

I'm not sure whether they will still have them in but I got loads of breastmilk storage bags from Home Bargains. They were loads cheaper than the Boots ones and the bit you write on is in a better position IMO too.

Nancy as the guidelines say you can keep in the fridge for 5 days then I would think freezing after 48hrs would be OK, but I'd try to make sure it had been fridged quickly and kept in the coldest part of fridge etc. See here:

Oops sorry pressed Post by mistake Breastmilk storage guidelines

I used Boots and Lansinoh bags for freezing.

Make sure they're as straight and upright as possible in the freezer, I was surprised on defrosting at how many (esp. the Boots ones) had little tears where they'd got folded or indented. Often these made it hard to pour out the milk without spilling, so I put the whole thing in a tupperware box, so it could drain into that. Not ideal.

If not torn, they are brilliant and act like little jugs.

The Boots ones say not suitable for freezing. Lanisoh bags are good

Hah, that could explain it (and save me a letter explaining the unsatisfactoriness of their product). What are they for then? Just the fridge? Seems hardly worth bothering to sell something so limited.

I used Tesco and lanisoh and found both leaked when defrosting, the Tesco def say ok to freeze, guess you just need to be really careful and gentle with them!

Home Bargain ones are great and only £1.99 for 40 so incredibly good value. I place mine upright in the door pocket of the freezer then transfer to the drawer once they are frozen and haven't had any problems with leaks.

Nancy I have transferred milk from the fridge to the freezer to save it from going to waste. The only thing to be aware of is that there can be a lot of the creamier milk left stuck to the bottle if you are transferring it to a bag before freezing.