storing breast milk

I have a few questions - my first day back at work was today and dd is at daycare

I have to prepare her bottles for daycare each morning, so every night I take out the bags of breastmilk and every morning i put the milk into the bottles but the milk is still slushy so i have to spoon it in - it gets messy and some misses the bottle. anyone have any tips on defrosting the milk and making the bottles that will prevent loss of milk? can i take the milk directly from the freezer out of the bag and put it into an open container to defrost (basically taking the chunk of milk like an ice cube and putting it in a dish to defrost) - or does the milk need to stay sealed?

also - how do you store your milk at work? right now its in bottles in our refrigerator. does it make a difference if i freeze it right away or freeze it when i get home?

storing breast milk

Good luck today!
Re your question about work storage- no need to freeze it right away. You can even keep it in a cold storage bag as long as you have a frozen thing inside.
Re frozen milk, I usually stuck the bags of milk in the fridge, then kind of poured them into the bottles. They were still slushy and occasionally I had milk spillage but not too much. I also would cut the tops off rather than open the ziplock, b/c they seemed to pour better that way. I wouldn't defrost it outside of the bag, seems like it could pick up smells from the fridge or random germs. Maybe that's just me though?
GL, and HTH!

Re: storing breast milk

If you are pumping at work then give her what you pumped. You don't have to freeze them unless if you have surplus. Whatever you have in the freezer keep them there for as long as it will keep. It's better to give them fresh BM because freezing BM destroys almost half of the antibodies.

I have a frozen stash saved from my maternity leave. They last for about 3 months in the freezer. When they get old I rotate them and refreeze new ones but for the most part DS gets non-frozen BM from my pump sessions at work.

ETA: I store the BM in the bump bottle with an ice pack. It stays in the bottle till it's ready for use. I have 10-12 bottles for pumping use so I can have pump up to 5 times before I run out of bottles.

Message edited 5/15/2013 11:54:49 AM.

Re: storing breast milk

storing breast milk

Monday through Thursday I don't freeze the milk. At work I put it in a storage lunch bag with an ice pack and put into the fridge as soon as I get home. And when my dad watches my DD he cuts the tips off to so there is no spilling!! And on Sunday night I take the milk out of the freezer and let it deforst overnight. If its still slushy you can run it under warm water! Good luck today