adding to breastmilk?

Question

my daughter is almost 2 weeks old and I'm just starting to pump after every feeding- so I can 'stock-pile' some milk for in the future. However- i'm only getting about an ounce of milk after each feeding. (nothing wrong with that- i know every ounce quickly adds up) So my question is- so I don't go through 34534 breast milk storage bags with 1oz in them- Can i take 1 bag a day- and pump into it- and then put it in the fridge... and then just keep adding to it during the course of the day and then throw it in the freezer at night? If not- is there anything else i can do?
thanks.

Answer 1

NO, you can't do this. The problem is the milk is body temperature, then you cool it to fridge temperature, then you add more body temperature milk to it .... this will cause the milk to spoil.

Another solution, though, is to let the milk cool to fridge temperature THEN add it together. So that you pump, let that milk cool, pump again, let that milk cool, then add them together. I found it was easier to use bottles for this, then pour them all into a bag at the end of the day for freezing.

Also, pumping after each feeding will increase your milk supply. It will not take anything away from your baby--in fact, your body will continue increasing your milk supply as long as you are demanding more from it. I found that it was good for me to pump whenever possible between growth spurts, because what usually happens is during a growth spurt your child suddenly demands more milk and it takes your body a few days to catch up, which can leave you feeling tired and a bit cranky. By pumping when he wasn't having a growth spurt, I was already producing more milk than he was eating, and if it got to be too difficult or I was just too tired, I could give him a bottle to supplement his nursing.

Good luck and congratulations on your baby!

Answer 2

You can just keep adding to the same bag in the fridge and freeze it that way. You can keep an open bag in the freezer and add to it throughout the day too.

The thing you need to keep in mind however that for awhile your daughter will want 2oz bottles, then 3oz bottles, etc. And once milk has been defrosted it is only good for 24 hours, also once it has been heated it can be reheated once. As I don't pump I don't really have an answer for you but I wonder if freezing it in one oz quantities doesn't make sense you don't end up wasting it? Could you freeze it in icecube trays and then put a bunch of ice cubes in a bag and use a vacuum sealer to get all the air out? That way the milk doesn't get freezer burned.

You can usually get vacuum sealers at garage sales and on freecycle.com or craigslist.org for nothing or next to nothing. And rolls of bags are pretty cheap unless you get the ones that can be boiled. They make no-name bags, that's what I use.

Awesome milk storage card, stick it on your fridge
HUMAN MILK STORAGE - QUICK REFERENCE CARD
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html

About reusing heated breastmilk:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/reusing-expressedmilk.html

Answer 3

I have been exclusively pumping for six months now, and I add to the same bottle throughout the day. I've looked it up on several sites, and it's okay to do this as long as you lower the temperature of the milk before doing so (it's dangerous to add warm milk to cold milk, as the milk can go bad and make bubs sick). My advice is to have one bag in the fridge, and have another bag (or bottle, if it's easier) to pump into, and put the second bag into the fridge after pumping for a couple of hours, then when it's cold enough, add it to the first bag.

Answer 4

Yes, you can do that. If you are really worried, you can cool the breastmilk in the container you pumped it into before mixing it with the bag of previously pumped milk.
You can even mix milk into a frozen bag. But if you do that, you HAVE to cool it in the fridge before pouring it into the frozen bag. You do NOT want the frozen milk to thaw AT ALL. And make sure to go by the date of the older milk.

Answer 5

Just a couple of notes-

1. You may not want to have more than about 3 oz. in each bag right now. Often little babies don't eat more than this at one time, and once milk has been thawed and heated you have to throw out any unused milk.
2. Just remember, milk is only good for about 3 months in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. Unless you have one of those big cabinet freezers you may want to watch that you don't oversupply yourself and waste any of that "liquid gold"

Answer 6

Keep a sterilized ice cube tray in your freezer. After you pump each oz, pour it in a separate cube to freeze. At the end of the day, put them in a ziplock bag and mark the date.
Then you can take out the individual frozen cubes so you can only thaw what you will use as you need them.

Answer 7

I always waited until all of the milk was refrigerated to mix it. Then you're not re-warming the milk that's already been refrigerated. Pump, refrigerate. Pump, refrigerate. Then mix it together right before you put it in the freezer.

Answer 8

"You can add fresh milk to a container of frozen milk as long as there is less fresh milk than frozen. Cool the milk for 30 minutes first. For example, you can add 2oz. of fresh milk to 4oz. of frozen, but not 4oz. of fresh milk to 2oz. or frozen. You don't want it to thaw and then refreeze.

Label each container with the date it was expressed. If you are taking it to day care, put your baby’s name on the label."

Answer 9

I am not a baby doctor..but I did breast feed. My girls were hungry at breat feeding times and did a pretty good job of emptying me. I would never have had thought of additional pumping so early in their little lives. Your body is producing just what she needs right now. I am not sure I would mess with that balance with pumping. If you are on maternity leave and plan to go back to work in a month, why not wait til closer to your time? You are using up so much precious time with feeding and pumping that you may be finding that you get little else done. As in all questions, call your doctor and ask them what is most appropriate.

Answer 10

Yes, you can. Perfect.