Storage dilemma

I've been pumping and storing since almost the beginning after DD2 was born.
She's 3 months old tomorrow (wow!)
She's had bottles of EBM every now and then, and when I first started
pumping and storing, I bought the stupidly expensive bags that are
zipper-sealed, intended for storing EBM.
They're stupidly expensive - about $8-9 for 25 bags. A girl friend of mine
suggested using the regular Playtex bags for the Playtex nurser bottles
(these are the couple bottles I have and use) and said to pump and then
store in the Playtex bags. Freeze them, tie them up with a twist tie or a
rubber band and then put them in a big Ziploc freezer bag as an extra
precaution.
I went out and bought the drop-in bottle liners. They were cheaper per
unit, by far, and this morning I pumped 8 oz.

I'm not 100% sure how much DD2 eats as far as actual amount goes. If she's
offered a bottle, sometimes she'll drink 5 or 6 oz, sometimes she'll only
take 1 oz or less. It all depends. I know, though, that by her age, they
tend to eat a little more at feedings. I have quite a few bags of EBM
stored up in the freezer right now (in those zipper storage bags) and those
are all frozen and stored at 6oz. I thought to maybe store more per
freezing, thinking that as she gets older, no matter what, she'll start to
take more. I thought I'd store the full 8oz in each bag because since DD2
has MAYBE a bottle every 4 or 5 days, the stored up bags will last for some
time still. Come the time she'll move on to the ones I want to freeze now,
she'll be a lot older and doesn't it make sense to store more at a time?

The problem is, the bags I bought claim to be 8oz capacity. I noticed that
they have marked on the bag where the 2oz line is, as well as where the 8oz
line is. Might be more in between for marker lines, but I didn't notice or
look. I poured the 8oz bottle into the liner only to find out it only takes
just over 6.5 oz of milk and then it's completely full to the rim - there
wouldn't even be room to tie the bag up with just under 7oz in the bag. 6oz
fits alright, but I wanted to fit the full 8oz in there, as the bag claims.

Am I worrying about this too much? Lately I've had a few (hormonal?)
meltdowns, and some things just really get to me. Some of the stupidest
things, I might add. Like this milk storing thing. Should I just forget it
and put whatever fits in the bag? Should I get new bags? I am starting to
think I'm worrying about nothing and should probably pick my battles, and
fighting with a bottle liner probably isn't worth it, but still... It's a
big difference in a feeding from 6-8oz, and come the time where she does
want more, I don't think I want to thaw out 2 bottles for her to get one
good feeding and have half of the second bottle be wasted.

I think I'm losing my mind... Don't know if it's hormones still or if it's
lack of sleep, stress, whatever.

If I were you, since the liners are pretty cheap, I'd store just 2 or 3
ounces in each. If she wants bigger feedings, you just thaw more.
That's not a big deal, and MUCH better than wasting precious milk, IMO.

Leslie

xkatx wrote:
I've been pumping and storing since almost the beginning after DD2 was born.
She's 3 months old tomorrow (wow!)
She's had bottles of EBM every now and then, and when I first started
pumping and storing, I bought the stupidly expensive bags that are
zipper-sealed, intended for storing EBM.
They're stupidly expensive - about $8-9 for 25 bags. A girl friend of mine
suggested using the regular Playtex bags for the Playtex nurser bottles
(these are the couple bottles I have and use) and said to pump and then
store in the Playtex bags. Freeze them, tie them up with a twist tie or a
rubber band and then put them in a big Ziploc freezer bag as an extra
precaution.
I went out and bought the drop-in bottle liners. They were cheaper per
unit, by far, and this morning I pumped 8 oz.

I'm not 100% sure how much DD2 eats as far as actual amount goes. If she's
offered a bottle, sometimes she'll drink 5 or 6 oz, sometimes she'll only
take 1 oz or less. It all depends. I know, though, that by her age, they
tend to eat a little more at feedings. I have quite a few bags of EBM
stored up in the freezer right now (in those zipper storage bags) and those
are all frozen and stored at 6oz. I thought to maybe store more per
freezing, thinking that as she gets older, no matter what, she'll start to
take more. I thought I'd store the full 8oz in each bag because since DD2
has MAYBE a bottle every 4 or 5 days, the stored up bags will last for some
time still. Come the time she'll move on to the ones I want to freeze now,
she'll be a lot older and doesn't it make sense to store more at a time?

The problem is, the bags I bought claim to be 8oz capacity. I noticed that
they have marked on the bag where the 2oz line is, as well as where the 8oz
line is. Might be more in between for marker lines, but I didn't notice or
look. I poured the 8oz bottle into the liner only to find out it only takes
just over 6.5 oz of milk and then it's completely full to the rim - there
wouldn't even be room to tie the bag up with just under 7oz in the bag. 6oz
fits alright, but I wanted to fit the full 8oz in there, as the bag claims.

You need to leave space for it to expand when frozen, so put less. IN
any case, it's not worth it to freeze in large amounts, since you have
to use it within 24 hrs after thawing (I've held onto stuff longer,
just to see and it stinks...even 24 hrs is pushing it for my milk,
YMMV). Very easy to thaw multiple bags of small amounts, with no
wastage. Thawing a larger amount means you toss whatever she doesn't
eat.

I freeze in no more than 4 oz, usually less

"xkatx" wrote in message
news:kBqth.180152$hn.91557@edtnps82...
I've been pumping and storing since almost the beginning after DD2 was
born. She's 3 months old tomorrow (wow!)
She's had bottles of EBM every now and then, and when I first started
pumping and storing, I bought the stupidly expensive bags that are
zipper-sealed, intended for storing EBM.
They're stupidly expensive - about $8-9 for 25 bags. A girl friend of
mine suggested using the regular Playtex bags for the Playtex nurser
bottles (these are the couple bottles I have and use) and said to pump and
then store in the Playtex bags. Freeze them, tie them up with a twist tie
or a rubber band and then put them in a big Ziploc freezer bag as an extra
precaution.
I went out and bought the drop-in bottle liners. They were cheaper per
unit, by far, and this morning I pumped 8 oz.

I'm not 100% sure how much DD2 eats as far as actual amount goes. If
she's offered a bottle, sometimes she'll drink 5 or 6 oz, sometimes she'll
only take 1 oz or less. It all depends. I know, though, that by her age,
they tend to eat a little more at feedings. I have quite a few bags of
EBM stored up in the freezer right now (in those zipper storage bags) and
those are all frozen and stored at 6oz. I thought to maybe store more per
freezing, thinking that as she gets older, no matter what, she'll start to
take more. I thought I'd store the full 8oz in each bag because since DD2
has MAYBE a bottle every 4 or 5 days, the stored up bags will last for
some time still. Come the time she'll move on to the ones I want to
freeze now, she'll be a lot older and doesn't it make sense to store more
at a time?

The problem is, the bags I bought claim to be 8oz capacity. I noticed
that they have marked on the bag where the 2oz line is, as well as where
the 8oz line is. Might be more in between for marker lines, but I didn't
notice or look. I poured the 8oz bottle into the liner only to find out
it only takes just over 6.5 oz of milk and then it's completely full to
the rim - there wouldn't even be room to tie the bag up with just under
7oz in the bag. 6oz fits alright, but I wanted to fit the full 8oz in
there, as the bag claims.

Am I worrying about this too much? Lately I've had a few (hormonal?)
meltdowns, and some things just really get to me. Some of the stupidest
things, I might add. Like this milk storing thing. Should I just forget
it and put whatever fits in the bag? Should I get new bags? I am
starting to think I'm worrying about nothing and should probably pick my
battles, and fighting with a bottle liner probably isn't worth it, but
still... It's a big difference in a feeding from 6-8oz, and come the time
where she does want more, I don't think I want to thaw out 2 bottles for
her to get one good feeding and have half of the second bottle be wasted.

I think I'm losing my mind... Don't know if it's hormones still or if it's
lack of sleep, stress, whatever.


You have two options - buy the expensive bags that hold a full 8oz, or put
less in the Playtex bags.

I think the more important issue is your mental health! I went through a
period of time after Emily was born where every little thing set me off.
Not a good place to be. Here I am feeling exactly the same way as I was in
the beginning, because our nights seem to be getting longer and more sleep
deprived as we go along. I've been having meltdowns myself, so I at least
understand your emotional state.

Betsy