Planning for return to work --- pumping questions

Irrational Number wrote:

Lara wrote:

Contrary to
popular "per pound" formula feeding charts, Prof Hartmann has found that
a normal baby doesn't progressively increase his/her 24-hour breastmilk
intake at all between 1 month and six months of age.
[snip]
I know Pillbug went from about 15 oz. to about
22 oz. in the same 10-hour period over a year.
Rocky's intake is also increasing as he approaches
7 months old.

This is just in the daycare day, yes? Did Pillbug go to sleeping longer
and feeding less frequently at night over that period?

Lara

Lara wrote:

Irrational Number wrote:

Lara wrote:

Contrary to
popular "per pound" formula feeding charts, Prof Hartmann has found that
a normal baby doesn't progressively increase his/her 24-hour breastmilk
intake at all between 1 month and six months of age.

[snip]

I know Pillbug went from about 15 oz. to about
22 oz. in the same 10-hour period over a year.
Rocky's intake is also increasing as he approaches
7 months old.

This is just in the daycare day, yes? Did Pillbug go to sleeping longer
and feeding less frequently at night over that period?

Well, not really; I got up at least twice a night
for over a year with him. (Now DH does it and
gives him bottled milk.) But, I do oknow what
you are saying. It makes sense that overall
consumption does not increase linearly, that
rate cannot be kept up!

-- Anita --

Anne Rogers wrote:
I tend to write the year on, I'm fairly scatty, if I write day month and
year, there is a chance I'll be able to work out when it was actually put
in the freezer, a while back I was thawing some out that said 06/06/05 on
it, which was impossible, DD wasn't born til 10th June!

So when was it from? Oh, July 6th 2005?

haven't a clue! can't recall whether she ate it or not, but that would be
nothing to do with what it tasted like

Anne

Mary W. wrote:

I would probably store Monday in the Fridge for Wed. Wed
for Friday and put Friday in the freezer, thawing the oldest
for the following monday. This way you should run through
your freezer stash, keeping it current and you definately
wont have to worry about writing the year.

I wouldn't do that. Paradoxically, breast milk that has been thawed
after being frozen doesn't last as long as breast milk that has just
been in the fridge, because freezing destroys a lot of the immune
factors that give pumped breast milk its long life. This means that
you lose the option of, say, saving some of Friday's milk for Wednesday
if he didn't drink it all on Monday.

The freezer stash will be more important at the beginning anyway. If
you haven't used the milk you're currently pumping within the next few
months when it's still current, it's pretty unlikely you'll need it
after that. I would just keep all the milk you pump at work in the
fridge for whatever the next working day is.


All the best,

Sarah

The freezer stash will be more important at the beginning anyway. If
you haven't used the milk you're currently pumping within the next few
months when it's still current, it's pretty unlikely you'll need it
after that. I would just keep all the milk you pump at work in the
fridge for whatever the next working day is.

I don't get quite how this works, obviously you only thaw from the freezer
what you need, when you need it, so you're not keeping it, but unless you
put some in the freezer, the stash will get older and older and if you are
pumping that much, if you can you always want something in the freezer, one
missed or poor pump session for any reason makes it a necessity

Anne

wrote:
Mary W. wrote:

I would probably store Monday in the Fridge for Wed. Wed
for Friday and put Friday in the freezer, thawing the oldest
for the following monday. This way you should run through
your freezer stash, keeping it current and you definately
wont have to worry about writing the year.


I wouldn't do that. Paradoxically, breast milk that has been thawed
after being frozen doesn't last as long as breast milk that has just
been in the fridge, because freezing destroys a lot of the immune
factors that give pumped breast milk its long life. This means that
you lose the option of, say, saving some of Friday's milk for Wednesday
if he didn't drink it all on Monday.

The freezer stash will be more important at the beginning anyway. If
you haven't used the milk you're currently pumping within the next few
months when it's still current, it's pretty unlikely you'll need it
after that. I would just keep all the milk you pump at work in the
fridge for whatever the next working day is.

I don't think I'd feel comfortable using milk pumped on Friday
on Wednesday still if it had only been refridgerated. In addition,
at least for the first 6 weeks (and most of the time for the next
2), DS will be with DH, at home. If I freeze the milk in 2oz portions,
DH can just defrost as necessary, nothing wasted. I probably need
to invest in more containers for milk storage, though...

Emily
--
DS1 5/02
DS2 9/05

Anne Rogers wrote:
The freezer stash will be more important at the beginning anyway. If
you haven't used the milk you're currently pumping within the next few
months when it's still current, it's pretty unlikely you'll need it
after that. I would just keep all the milk you pump at work in the
fridge for whatever the next working day is.


I don't get quite how this works, obviously you only thaw from the freezer
what you need, when you need it, so you're not keeping it, but unless you
put some in the freezer, the stash will get older and older and if you are
pumping that much, if you can you always want something in the freezer, one
missed or poor pump session for any reason makes it a necessity

I agree Anne. As long as DS is depending on my milk for a significant
portion of his nutrition while I'm away from him, I want to have at
least one day's worth in the freezer to cover any mishaps.

--
Emily
DS1 5/02
DS2 9/05

Anne Rogers wrote:
Sarah wrote:

The freezer stash will be more important at the beginning anyway. If
you haven't used the milk you're currently pumping within the next few
months when it's still current, it's pretty unlikely you'll need it
after that.
[...]
I don't get quite how this works,

Well, firstly, if someone has made it through several months of pumping
(between 3 and 6 depending on freezer type) and needed less than 20 oz
of freezer stash, then they're clearly pumping enough to cover needs on
a day-to-day basis, and the freezer stash is only going to be needed
occasionally.

Secondly, it's in the first four months that _exclusive_ breastfeeding
is really important. By the time the current frozen milk runs out of
date, Emily's baby is going to be upwards of six months. If she runs a
bit short on any given day, supplementing with a bit of solid food will
be an option unless he's a fussy eater, and supplementing with formula
(or ordinary diluted milk, for that matter) will also be an option
unless there's particular reason to worry about allergies.

Oh, another thing I've just thought of is that it's possible to pump on
weekends and replenish the freezer stash that way. That does get more
difficult as the baby gets older and you don't have such a surplus,
though. Besides, hooking up to that darned pump is probably the last
thing Emily will feel like doing on the weekend. ;-)

BTW, to the OP - the La Leche League site has some very useful
information about how long pumped (unfrozen) milk will last (8 days in
the fridge, between 4 and 10 hours out of the fridge depending on how
warm the room is, and between 3 and 6 months in the freezer depending
on freezer type).


All the best,

Sarah