What is needed to freeze breast milk?

[charcb]

Hi all,

Apologies as this may be a dumb question (first time mum here!) but I've seen that mums freeze breast milk that they either pumped out or that they recovered via one of those suction bottles (like the Hakka) out of the other breast when they breastfeed.

Aside from these two things and bottles of course, what else do you need? Is it just a matter of tipping the milk you recovered into a bottle and freezing it? What if you didn't get a full bottle? Can you add to previously frozen bottles as you go to "top it up"?

I've also seen some plastic pouches that you'd fill and put in the freezer when pumping but again I'm puzzled as to how you'd defrost it - do you just leave it out or in the fridge to prep for when you need it?

Any tips to warm it up? I'm asking as if you'd do this in a microwave I'd be looking at getting glass bottles - any brand recommendations for good glass ones?

Again apologies - this must sound so basic but thought of getting myself one of those Hakka suction bottles but I'm unsure how I'd use it as it only recovers a small amount per time from what I read!

www.laleche.org.uk/storing-your-milk/

Some basic info. La leche and Kelly mom are really informative breastfeeding sites.

Thank you! I just checked la leche and learnt something already in that they are clear microwaves shouldn't be used to warm the milk up! I guess the glass bottles still are a good idea even if warming it up under hot water.

They also mention that you should store the milk in the fridge rather than freezer if possible and not store for more than 3 days. I guess then most do this to allow their partner to help with the feeding?

That link says fridge milk can be kept up to 8 days but might be best within 3 days

You can order breast milk bags from the internet. Much easier than bottles imo.
You can top breastmilk up from the same day, or maybe one day later but then I’d freeze it (as in don’t mix too many pumps from different days).
I’d just defrost my milk either in fridge over the day or if I needed it ASAP I’d pop it in a mug of hot water.

I bought a Hakka too, in the early days I would leak like absolute hell when my let down happened.

So I would smash that on, it was only 30ml odd but enough to pop in a bag.

I don’t use it anymore because I don’t get the leaky letdown, electric double pump works wonders.

Thanks all!

Amazing so as I understand it you'd keep same day milk in the fridge, top up during the day and then freeze it/leave in the fridge for future use?

So I've always been told use the rule of 6
6 hrs room temp
6 days in the fridge
6 months in the freezer (date the bags)
I used bottles last time. would pump straight into them this time I've ordered bags for the freezer
If using freezer stash then leave to defrost in fridge over night or in hot water if needed ASAP

I express for a milk bank, these are the instructions they provide on freezing milk.

put expressed milk in a bottle and label with the date of the first milk
· freeze immediately
· you can top this bottle up with fresh cooled milk over a number of days until full - just freeze immediately every time milk is added, you don’t need to redate it

I use the bags for my own baby. I usually get enough for a bag of around 120ml from 2 haakaa sessions over one day. I decant from the haakaa after the first session into a bag. From the second session I place the haakaa in the fridge until cool then add to the bag and freeze.

Every day is different so you may only get 30ml one session or 150ml, just add chilled milk as you go.

To defrost either do it in the fridge or run under a warm tap/sit in a jug or warm water. As you've read never microwave.

I used lansinoh bags and froze them flat. I always had enough to do a full bag, but I’d have been happy filling gaps up a bag over a day or two and freezing. I think the held 5oz, but can’t quite remember now.

BM defrosts really quick, it’s possible to do it under a tap. Or in a jug of hot water when you’re ready to use it.

I discovered that my milk is high in lipase, which meant DD wasn't liking it very much (it tastes soapy and unpleasant). It's apparently fairly common. You can check for this easily by tasting the milk after it's been stored for a while - mine started tasting rank after about 24 hours in the fridge but this varies depending on how much lipase is present. I ended up heat treating my milk immediately after pumping - it's a bit more faff, but there are good protocols online.

Thanks all - this is so helpful, I think I'm clear on how to do it and will invest in some glass bottles to freeze along with the haaka and a good manual pump to top them up