Looking for some advice learned from a first time mom and her breastfeeding experience? Keep reading to discover new terms I never heard before, products I loved to help store breastmilk and even my system for storing it in my freezer!
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Once my daughter arrived, I received some great hands on advice (literally HANDS ON) from the lactation consultants at the hospital and thus began my breastfeeding experience. We had a few hiccups at first but once I read up about block feeding, snackers and cluster feeding at night, we were on our way to full tummies! I’m happy to report that at almost ten months, we still going strong and much of this experience was thanks to Lansinoh and their breastfeeding support products!
The first few days can be the most demanding on a mother’s body. I used the Lansinoh HPA Lanolin Cream to help relieve any immediate pain I had from her eating and help heal my body. I was glad to read that you can apply it on yourself and still feed the baby. It isn’t poison or a toxic substance you’re putting on a surface where they eat! When she wasn’t eating, I used the Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads to help protect my clothes from any leaks between feeds.
At 3 weeks, I began to use my electric breast pump and started pumping a stash of milk that I planned to freeze and bottle feed in later weeks/months. The Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags were key to creating the stash I still maintain today. Tip: Keep a Sharpie right where you keep the bags so you’re never in search of one when you need it. After pumping, squeeze out all the air from the bag (better than I did in my example photo above) and label the date and measurements.
Take your bag and bring it to your freezer to build your stash. Here’s how mine is set up in four stages:
- Stage 1: Last milk pumped – lay the bag down flat until it is frozen. We have a grate in our freezer so I use the information tag that came with our freezer as a surface to get a flat shape.
- Stage 2: Bag I’m currently filling – after it’s frozen, the milk goes in a Ziploc bag that I have laying on its side. I alternate the labels facing in and out so they stack together better (the whole ‘laying flat’ first stage isn’t really perfect!)
- Stage 3: Additional bags – once a bag is full, zip it up and place a note inside labeling it 2,3,4 etc.
- Stage 4: Dispensing System – this where the oldest milk is and thus the first you should use to feed. I use a dispensing system similar to the one seen on this blog but with a box instead of a bag. And yes it’s labeled “BOOBIE MILK” for my husband’s enjoyment every time he opens the freezer. :)
Lastly I have a SPREADSHEET! (everyone who knows me in real life is now going “of course she does!”) I use my Google doc spreadsheet to keep track of the date and ounces of each bag. It gives me a sum so I know how many ounces are in there at any time and I can easily delete a row when I take the bag out to feed.
Thanks for sharing your storage system! We are expecting our first in October and milk storage is one of the things I was wondering how I ought to organize. This gives me some great ideas. Thank you!
Congrats on your upcoming little one! Make sure to check out my other posts as a first time mom for more tips!
My daughter is having first child/grandchild in October. When she goes back to work I will have the baby and will need stored breast milk. As a mom who was unable to breast feed I am not familiar with all of the products. Thank you for your information it is helping me and I am sending your pin to my daughter.
Awe congrats on the upcoming arrival! I’m glad you found my post helpful. Sending positive vibes for a safe and healthy delivery and easy breastfeeding experience!
So someone shared this on Pinterest this morning and …. I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS BLOG! First time mommy in September and while I am overjoyed; I am also VERY nervous! Reading through some of your posts have helped me get ideas and think about things! And this storage system for milk is just what I needed! The Hubby I bet will love to hear about it ;)
Congrats on the upcoming arrival! I’m so happy to hear these posts are helping ease your mind and help you prepare for your little one. Please follow me for additional advice! Sending you positive vibes for a safe and healthy delivery!!
Could you please send me your spreadsheet, if you still have it?
Hi Lindsay. It was a google doc and just had two columns: date and ounces. I made the ounces column have a sum total at the end so it would let me know how many ounces I had in storage. If i ever took a bag out, I’d just delete that line. Having it as a google doc is great as you always have access to it on your phone!
Do you reuse the ziploc gallon bags once they’re empty or toss them?
The Ziploc bags contained sealed baggies of milk so you don’t have to. But certainly if you’re concerned over contamination you can toss. Get them cheap at the dollar store! Off brand is fine for this situation
How did you make your cardboard dispensing box? Need a how to please
Sorry that’s the only photo I have but it was a cardboard box that is open at the top so that I was able to add new milk storage bags on top. The bottom at the open slit cut so I could slide the oldest one out of the bottom. Hope that helps!