Freezing breast milk

[Donna Kent]

Hi All

I am due to get married soon and for part of the day (possibly two feeds), I wont be able to breastfeed my DS. I was going to give him aptilmil formula for the two feeds as I have trouble expressing, but it is now possible that he has a milk allergy and wont be able to have it.

If anyone can give me advice on my questions below, I would be greatful. I have looked it all up and just ended up confusing myself...

My questions are:
1) I can only express between 1oz and on a good pump 3oz... If I was to freeze the smaller oz or 2oz milks, can I take the two feeds out their pots and put them back in the freezer in a pot together (whilst they are still frozen..) I am just worried that if I open the pots that this will cause more chance of bacteria getting into the feed. I just dont have a big freezer to have pots upon pots stored... Worst case I will just have to cut back on my foods in the freezer temporarily to keep more milk space... lol... Hope that makes sense...

2) Alternatively can I just express and keep adding to the same pot of milk through the day and freeze that together at the end of the day?

3) When it comes to defrosting, the hotel can give me a cool box with ice in... Will this be ok to keep the milk safe to drink for 6 hours?

I am probably worrying unnecessarily, but as a first time mum... its all a learning curve... lol...

 

[tweetyfoo]

I exclusively express for my son, this is what I would recommend.

I would ditch the pots (they take up too much room) and get some bags (£1.99 from Home Bargains)

I often add milk to a bag throughout the day and then freeze it.

As for your volumes of expressing, how long are you leaving between bfing and expressing as it takes a minimum of 90 mins for milk replenish fully (but your boobs are never empty). I find my best time for expressing is morning time (I don't get much in the evening)

Other people recommend pumping from one boob while bfing from the other.

As for defrosting and storage, I would keep them frozen until you need them, then defrost them in some warm water (in the bags it only takes a few minutes to do this)

Hope this helps x