How much milk is in your freezer and how do you plan on using it?
There is a huge range of the volume of milk breastfeeding parents have in their freezer depending on their unique circumstances.
Your freezer temperature should be 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. When storing milk according to CDC guidelines, follow the rule of 4s. Four hours at room temperature freshly pumped, four days in the refrigerator before you use it or freeze it. Up to six months in the freezer is best, but up to a year is acceptable. Use defrosted milk within 24 hours. Milk that has partially thawed and still contains ice crystals can be refrozen.
If storing in bags, remove all the air before sealing it well. Try freezing it laying flat so it is easier to store.
Once you have offered a bottle of breastmilk to your baby, they have 2 hours to finish the breastmilk bottle before it should no longer be fed to the baby. Milk from an unfinished bottle baby drank from should not be saved after two hours
Before you start filling your freezer, check to make sure your milk defrosts without issue. Taste and smell your milk before you freeze it. Freeze an ounce, then defrost it. Smell and taste your milk to compare. Some lactating parents find their milk has changed to a metallic or soapy smell and taste. This milk isn’t spoiled, it has just undergone some oxidation of fatty acids. It is safe for your baby to drink this milk if they are willing. Some babies will refuse this milk. Some babies will take the milk when mixed with fresh milk. Be sure to offer defrosted milk to your baby to test it in a bottle before you begin to fill your freezer.
If you are a nursing parent who isn’t planning to return to work, you may not have any milk in the freezer at all, or you may only have one to two bottles worth, or about 3-6 ounces.
If you are a nursing parent and you are going back to work, ideally you have a minimum of three daycare days worth of milk in your freezer. Estimate you will need 1-1.5 ounces of milk for every hour you’re away from your baby. Consider this your “work milk stash.”
You’ll be borrowing milk on Sunday night from the work milk stash to feed your baby on Monday. Monday you will pump for Tuesday, Tuesday for Wednesday etc. On Friday, you will use the milk you pumped to replace the milk you borrowed from your freezer. With this pattern, you will be turning over the milk in your freezer every few weeks by using the oldest milk and replacing it with fresh milk.
You may also want some frozen milk in excess of your work milk stash. Let’s call this “fun milk.” Use this milk for time away from the baby or anytime you want to give a bottle for convenience.
If you are an exclusively pumping parent, you may have a good bit more milk in your freezer. Your freezer stash depends on how much milk you pump daily compared to how much milk your baby eats daily. If you are making an excess of what your baby is eating, you will freeze that milk. Some parents who pump and don’t nurse end up with enough milk in the freezer that they can wean from pumping and still have days or weeks of milk in the freezer to feed their baby.
Just remember, your job is to feed the baby, not the freezer. Any extra milk you are able to freeze is just a bonus!
