Breastmilk Storage

Hi,

I am breastfeeding my 4mth old boy currently. I will be returning to work soon and thought of expressing milk in advance to be frozen.

Has anyone had any suggestions on the type of storage containers which can be sterilised? Tried milk bags but sometimes they leak. Milk bottles are a bit too costly for a bulk supply.

Thanks in advance.

I don't know if you use the Avent bottles, but Avent do have a Disposable Bottle Bag which you can buy 40 at a time of. They are pre-sterilised. I can't tell you how well they freeze though,....I've actually never tried them, but maybe they would work....unless that is what you mean by saying that you've tried milk bags? Sorry if I haven't helped at all.

Georgina

hi
what about that range of plastic called glad ware?
although the only way u could steralise these would be using milton. others ways i spose they'd melt :S
i've got a 4mth old and i have 8 bottles in the freezer of ebm. i've found the better containers are the 4 pack of 125ml bottles AVENT make.they come in a pack. they dont come with teats, but a rubber seal, this gives it room to compress and expand in the freezer i've had no problems. just keep them in the back of your freezer. and when you are ready to defrost them, dont but the bottle in boiling hot water as this may crack the plastic. start by running it under cold tap water then slowly make the water warmer/hotter til the outside of the bottle feels warm then place the bottle in a cup of hot water until its fully defrosted and go from there.
also these bottles dont have to be used for milk alone. my friend used to prepare vegies and pureed fruit when her kids got older. they may be a bit more costly but they do last a while.
thats my 2 cents worth anyway. smile

Hi there,
i have replied to your question on another post. but it has gone to the moderator. hopefully it will come thru soon.

Hi

I stored my breast milk in freezer safe containers, they were quite cheap from the a plastics shop and it was fine.

Hi There,

Thanks to all who have replied to this post. I will try the alternatives suggested.

One thing I can tell you is dont freeze the milk in icecube trays, I tried that after hearing about it....the milk is so sticky that when it freezes is impossible to get out of the trays!! Very annoying when you have pumped heaps and it gets wasted!
I agree the milk bags are expensive but so far I have found them to be the most convenient and easy way to store.
I use the medela bags, I dont have a medela pump though so i pump into the bottle (nuk pump) and then pour it into the bag...i found these bags seal well when you follow the instructions.
I dont mind the sound of the avent bottles that someone has suggested especially if you can use them for food aswell.
Good luck