storeing breast milk? cloth diapers? Any Advice!!?

Question

I am pregnant with my 3rd child. I am wanting to brestfeed, I have breastfeed my other kids but never used the freezer bags/or stored breast milk before. How does that work? I know they have certain breastmilk storage bags that you can buy, but how long can you store them before they expire (go bad), is it safe? How do you thaw out the milk? I would really apprecite info on this. With my other kids i always produced ALOT of milk but never stored it. And I want to breastfeed this baby as long as i can to help with formula cost etc. Also Cloth diapers. Are they good? What about with newborns? Do they leak? please info on this. I have never used them before but am really looking into it.

Answer 1

You can pump your milk and keep it in the frig for up to 8 days. On the eighth day, toss it. You don't need a special storage system. Most pumps are set up for you to pump directly into the serving bottle so once you are done pumping you can just take that bottle and put it in the frig and you are done.

You can pump and store your milk in the freezer for 3 months. They suggest that if you plan to freeze the milk you should put it in the freezer within 6 hours of pumping it. There are special freezer bags you can buy for that. Most of those bags are 8 oz bags. You can also use the ice cube method (which is cheaper). You pour the milk into a ice cube tray and leave it overnight. The next day you take out all the milk from the cubes and put them into a ziplock bag. Make sure you put the date on the bag. What is great about the ice cube method is that you can thaw out one cube (about 1/2 - 1 oz) or a bunch of cubes depending on how much you need. With the 8 oz freezer bags you have to defrost the entire 8 oz bag. The third way to freeze the milk is to freeze it in the bottle. Again, if your pump is one that you pump into the bottle and you can freeze the bottle (check with the manufacturer) then just cap the bottle and put the bottle in the freezer (you can freeze Avent bottles by the way and they sell the freezer caps very cheap). The only bad thing about freezing it in the bottle you pump to is that you need to make sure that you have enough extra bottles.

How do you thaw it? It is highly recommended that you just put the freezer bag or freezer bottle into the frig the night before. It will thaw in about 12 hours on its own and you can then just use it the next day (use thawed milk within 24 hours after it has thawed). You can also float the bag or bottle in a pot of boiling water if you want to thaw quicker. Try not to use the microwave unless you have to, it causes hot spots and loss of nutrients.

You thaw the frozen ice cubes by first putting the amount of cubes you wish to thaw into a bottle and then thawing it the same way as listed above.

Cloth is great! There are a ton of chat rooms out there that all swear that cloth is not that bad. Join one you can learn alot. Do they leak? You are supposed to change a diaper when it gets soiled. Usually every 2 hours for a newborn. The reason people say they leak more than disposables is that some people use disposables like a strap on toilet and let the baby wet a few times (disposables will hold a lot of waste). You can't do that with cloth because they normally won't hold that much. You want to try and change them often. But I also think you should change a disposable that often too. I think it is gross to leave a baby sitting in pee into the diaper "fills up". If you change the diaper every other hour or so you should find no more leaks with the cloth diaper as you do with the disposable.

There are so many cloth systems to choose from. I like the pockets myself but some people like the fitted with covers, AIOs and some even use prefolds with covers. You have to choose what you think is right for you (prefolds w/covers are the cheapest followed by pockets and then followed by AIOs). Pockets and AIOs are very close in style. AIOs take longer to dry in the dryer than pockets because you have a removable stuffer that you put in the pocket and wash separately allowing the diaper to dry quicker. That is why I went with the pocket instead of the AIOs. A lot of cloth moms swear that the AIOs are better with leaks, but most people never have a leak problem with any cloth system they use. Prefolds are great if you want to do the folding the pinning or snapping. AIOs and pockets have velcro and go on just like a disposable so they are great for dads and others that are not folding experts.

I have one-size pocket diapers. You might want to research those. This one-size diaper fits the baby from 8 pounds until toddlerhood so it is very cheap, I don't have to buy a new size every few months (You have to buy AIOs in sizes and some pocket diapers even come in different sizes.) A one-size pocket is not a good solution for a newborn though. Newborns are often born under 8 pounds. So you need to have a solution for your newborn. Since most newborns are only under 8 pounds for the first few weeks I would recommend using disposables until she/he is 8 pounds. If you don't want to use disposables, then try and get a used newborn diaper system from someone so it is cheap. (They do make newborn or XS size AIOs and pockets. I just thought it was not worth the money if my daughter was only going to wear it for a month or less.)

Of course if you decide to go the prefolds and covers route then you can use those for newborns. You just buy newborn covers.

Noone can tell you what cloth system to use, you have to research that yourself and decide what you think it best for your family.

Most people have about 24 diapers which is enough for every other day laundry. Yes, you have to rinse the diapers (you don't have to rinse if only breastfeeding) and wash them every other day, but who cares. It is one extra load of laundry every other day. It is not that big of a deal. The real big deal is running out of disposables and having to run to the store at 8 oclock at night with baby in tow. You run out of cloth, big deal, you toss a load in the washer and you are done.

You are going to be doing extra laundry with the baby coming anyways so that extra load is not going to seem like that big of a deal.

P.S. I spent a total of $230 on 24 one-size pocket diapers, 38 pocket liners and 36 wipes (yes, I even bought cloth wipes). Because I bought one-size diapers (they have snaps that snap down to the different sizes) I NEVER have to spend another dime on cloth diapers. It would cost between $2000-$3000 to diaper the same baby in disposables. Save lots of money with no waste to the environment...

Answer 2

pumped milk that is frozen can be stored in the freezer for about 2 months. Longer if you have a deep freezer. To thaw it, I would just pull out one of the storage bags and put it in the fridge. It would thaw overnight. You can also thaw it by placing it in a container of warm water for several minutes.

As for cloth diapers, you can use a diaper service but that will cost you close to the amount that disposables cost. To save money on disposables, buy them from costco or sams club if you have a membership. If you're serious about the cloth, search around online to find good prices and only buy a few to begin with til you know for sure what works for you.

Answer 3

If you work, cloth diapers ar a lot of work. They have to have plastic pants over them which keep the moisture in. They tend to give babies diaper rash. Disposable diapers are made to keep the moisture away. When I had babies, they were just coming out with disposables. You have to rinse out cloth diapers when you change the baby, even if you have a diaper service. If you are a stay-at home, full time mom, they are still a lot of work. Think hard before you go with this idea. They are good for the environment but hard on baby and mom! They only leak if you don't change them. You also have to rinse them really well when you wash them, to avoid a rash.

Store and save the breast milk. It not only saves $$$ but it is convenient and is really what nature intended for your babie's health. It has benefits that formula doesn't have. Also, the modern breast pumps work really well!!!! Definitely a good idea! Breast milk stores well also.

Answer 4

check out the info Tanya gave on breast milk storage

and cloth diapers....I LOVE MINE

i use hemp growing greens and cricket's fitteds....they are totally awsome

there are lots of fabulous vendors on the web for cloth diapers....do a search engine...but be careful you could get hooked!....and be on the net all damn night falling in love with cloth diapers

and every site sells covers for the diapers....and most sites also sell wet bags and other accessories and give you good info on why it is best to cloth diaper and how to care for your diapers

have fun and good luck.....and please ignore the nay sayers that will inevitably creep in here to question why cloth when they have never the research on modern cloth diapering systems

my diapers take minimal care....i use them....then get tossed in a basket and then washed in the washer about every 3 days....easy as that

and they are so cute.......oh and i attend the university and the day care uses my diapers ....since leaving the hospital i have never used a sposie diaper....it's not anymore work

Answer 5

Yeah the special baggies are necessary... they're sterile and specially lined so the fat does not cling and extra freezerburn protection... totally safe Gerber and Lansinoh are the 2 major baggie brands... to thaw, either let sit in fridge for a day, or soak the baggie in a bowl of room temp water, replace water when it's really cold - maybe once or twice, once thawed then warm in a bowl of superwarm/almost hot water...

this link has all the "rules" for breastmilk and a storage timetable... different temps=different times:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html#storage it's a site run by an IBCLC, those credentials behind her name mean she's got the highest level of breastfeeding education... I'd take her advice as breastmilk law!!
here's her main index page, search it for everything breastfeeding related: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/index.html

I haven't used cloth for myself, but do w/ some kids I babysit... I really like them!! this site has great info: http://diaperpin.com/home.asp

Answer 6

go to kidsurplus.com and check out the new cloth diapers they are great. kushies and bumkins brands. as for the milk my daughter said could be stored up to 24 hours and then she pumped more. fresh is best.

Answer 7

Diapers:

We used cloth - no diaper rash, ever. Not once.

Have you thought about a service? They will tell you what you need.

Answer 8

everyone's answers seem to be good ones. can't give much help .i had 3 kids and used formula and dispose diapers.

Answer 9

YEW COULD STORE IT UP TO 2WEEKS