I am not OC. Well, I am just particular about some things being in order, but I am not OC about everything. But when it comes to my son's milk, I am very, very OC. You can't blame me or any mother out there for storing our milk in a very orderly manner.

Before I share how I store my breastmilk, let me first share with you this guideline from Medela.

Photo from http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/

I pumped way earlier than the advised time to express milk because Taglet and I had latching problems. I had to make sure he feeds, so I expressed milk. My friend Faye, lent me her Medela Swing which she used about five years ago.



I normally express about 3 to 4oz of milk every pumping session. Sometimes, I make 8oz! I used to pump every three hours, but it has been greatly decreased since we started direct feeding. I just pump when my boobies feel so engorged and when he doesn't feed.

I used to store my milk in small Looney Tunes feeding bottles that my sister-in-law gave me. And then we moved to milk storage bags, which I find very expensive. So I decided to buy milk storage bottles. I use the Bebeta storage bottles, which are four pieces for P200. We also bought the Medela bottles that I can put directly to the pump, and put a cap on afterwards. We have a small personal refrigerator that I got from my parents' house only for the sole purpose of milk storage.



Yep, I normally have that much milk stored in the fridge everyday. I also label them the date and time I expressed them using packing tape and a Sharpie. I have morning and evening batches and feed Taglet the morning batch during daytime, and the evening batch at night time. This is because I read somewhere that your night time milk helps the baby sleep better at night. True enough, Taglet is now less fussy. Hehe.

Lately, since we are doing direct feeding more frequently, I noticed that I do have a lot of 'old' milk. And by old, I mean I have expressed it two days ago. According to the guidelines I got from Medela above, milk stored in the refrigerator can only last for three to eight days. I don't want to spoil milk, so I recently decided that it is time to build my stash while I still have a lot of milk.

I came across an article from Chronicles of a Nursing Mom that inspired me to do my latest OC milk storage trick. I already have some of the things that I need, like the Playtex liners. I thought I could actually store milk in there, but it turns out that these are bottle liners. So instead of just tucking it away in a box, I decided to use them.

Here's what I use:


I didn't have a sealer, so we bought one from National Bookstore for P1065. It is quite expensive, but I will use it for other things so it's okay with me. (Also, it is still a lot cheaper compared to buying formula hehe).The Playtex liners are way cheaper than other milk storage bags as it only sells at P400+ for 125 liners.

First, I get the two-day old expressed milk and portion it. I put 2oz per liner, like the one indicated in the other blog, because Taglet drinks 2oz of milk every two hours. This is the standard amount of milk until the baby's sixth month. Also, it is easier to thaw 2oz of milk compared to frozen 8oz in a big milk bag. I label the bags with the date it was expressed, regardless of the time. If I have to put together milk from different dates, I put the older date. I put the sealer on the lowest temp possible (just 1) because if it is too hot, it will burn the plastic liner and will cut the upper part, and worst, the milk will spill. I put the sealed liner flat in the freezer to it'll be thinner and easier to store. It only takes a few hours for it to freeze.






This is what it looks like when it's frozen:




I only intended to freeze 2oz of milk everyday, as of today, I already have 20oz of milk stored in the freezer. I have that much old milk, yes? Haha!

So there, that's how I store my milk. How about you? How do you store yours?