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misty 
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Joined: 25 August 2007
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 Topic: storing breastmilk
Posted: 13 November 2007 at 3:03pm |
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Hello, hope someone can help. My midwife told me I can pump and store my breastmilk in the freezer in bags. And I forgot to ask her, what type of bags? Can I just buy ziplock bags from the supermarket or should I buy those quite expensive Medela bags for freezing? Any help much appreciated.
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cuppatea
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Joined: 05 February 2007
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 3:12pm |
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Hi, I used Avent Via cups to store, but a lot of ladies freeze into ice cube trays and then transfer into freezer bags, the ziplock supermarket variety would be fine.
The via cups cost about $20 for 10 and each one holds about 180ml (they can be used for storing baby food later as well).
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peachy
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Location: Auckland
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 3:23pm |
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I used the smallest sized ziplock bags, cheap is good!
I also have the via cups, but they would take up too much room in my freezer, whereas teh ziplock bags I have frozen flat so take up less room!
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misty
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 4:19pm |
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and then how do you defrost the bags of milk again when ready to use? How long does it take to do?
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cuppatea
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 4:37pm |
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I would just put it in the fridge the night before I wanted it and it would be defrosted by the morning. I think it is also safe to stand in warm water to defrost, just don't microwave as it kills off the goodness and can heat it unevenly.
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hailstones
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 5:07pm |
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I used the glad Ice cube bags - they are great, fill em up and chuck in freezer and then you can just break off what you need.
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peachy
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 6:10pm |
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I defrosted some today. I took a little 70ml bag out of the freezer and it took about 15 minutes to defrost on the bench! It defrosts super fast, then I popped it into the fridge for when/if I need it later tonight!
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mum2paris
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Posted: 13 November 2007 at 11:32pm |
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Yep that's about right - freeze in small numbers - we had an icecube tray that had 10 mls per cube - was great as i knew i could grab 6 cubes or 7 cubes and get the 60 - 70mls i wanted etc.. with freezing - when you stick them in bags, try not to mix ones from different weeks etc.. add the date on the bag so you know when you expressed them. In a freezer above the fridge you'll get 3 months max before you should chuck them, in a deep freezer you can safely keep for up to 6 months before you need to throw out.
Fresh milk in the fridge can keep 48 - 72 hours, however when it has been defrosted, breastmilk should only be kept for 24 hours before being chucked away.
hope that helps
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Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja
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misty
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Posted: 14 November 2007 at 6:46pm |
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All wonderful advice - thanks!
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storing breastmilk
