If you’re male, this post is NOT for you…
I’m sharing this for a few reasons: 1. People have asked; 2. I want to remember; 3. I think it’s important. So…I’m still a nursing. There are several reasons for that (of which I’ll detail another time). But, for now…I thought I should share my insights on the subject. I bought a pre-owned Medela Pump in Style pump (yes, U-S-E-D)! So what – it seems to be fine and my child is fine – so far. I spent approximately $219 less than I would have if purchased new (not counting tax/shipping). It’s been cleaned thoroughly.
Now what? Well, you have to get parts. Should you already have them, skip this part. I purchased my parts from a store in Northport, AL. However, our local hospital has them and if purchased, there is no tax added. It was cheaper for me to purchase them from the site in Northport, AL. They also have information on what is needed for your particular pump.
Storage: This is what got me. What to buy? Do you get the same brand as your pump? Not necessarily. I prefer the Lansinoh bags. They are made of durable plastic. I’ve tried Gerber and Medela brands (uh, why are these also sold @ BBandBeyond?). When traveling, the Medela bag is nice because it has a neat little paper part that holds onto the end of the pump (that attaches to you). Gerber doesn’t freeze as well for me. Be careful when sealing the Medela ones – they can leak. Bottles are nice because you don’t have to deal with a mess. At first, the 2 oz. ones are perfect. When your baby gets bigger and eats more, the 7 or 8 oz bottles are ideal. When at home, I use a bottle and pour the milk into the plastic bags to freeze.
Before I pour the milk into the bag, I label the same with the date and number of ounces. I make different sizes because he doesn't always drink a certain amount each time. Sometimes it's 4, 5, 6 or 7:
Next, I lay it flat in this little container and place it in the freezer. Thanks to Mary, I know that freezing them flat equals easy thawing.
The only downside to freezing the bags is you have to throw them away afterwards – and it’s plastic!
Lastly, here is my collection as of the end of January. As you can see from the date, I took the photos in January. Over a month later, I am now running out of space for milk. I'm grateful because I think it's a good problem to have. Thank goodness we have a refrigerator/freezer outside - I've taken up one shelf out there. I don't want to waste any milk, either. Storing it in a freezer like this is okay for 3, maybe 4 months. In a deep freeze, it's good for 6 months. In the refrigerator, 5 days (about the same as cow's milk). Room temperature milk (not previously frozen) is good for up to 10 hours although I don't keep it for more than 6 or 7 hours. Thawed milk is okay for about an hour.
4 comments:
Hey Elyse- good for you for putting this info out there for other new nursing/pumping moms. I also pumped into the bottles and then put it in a Lansinoh bag to freeze (they are cheaper than Medela too). If I didn't have enough to freeze, I would keep it in the fridge w/ the date and add to it until I had at least 3 or more ounces depending on her age. Once she was about 6 months old though, she almost consistently always drank 5 or 6 oz at a time.
hmmmmmmmm....things to store away in the back....WAAAAAAAAAY back of my mind. :)
haha.
When we moved to New York from Alabama, we transported 300 oz of frozen breast milk on dry ice in our van, and our two cats sat in their kennel on top of the cooler. It was an interesting journey to say the least, but there was no way all that liquid gold was going anywhere but into Claire's (and LEAH'S!) belly! HA! Great job!
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