Once I became an EP (exclusive pumper) I knew I had to make a freezer stash immediately when I found out I was making more than what Isla ate in a day. But I didn’t know how to organize my milk supply! I had a ton of bottles of milk in the fridge. I had stroage bags but didn’t know how to use them. So I turned to my friend, Pinterest, and searched “how to build a freezer stash.”
Since I was an oversupplier, making a stash was easier for me than it is to women who make just enough or under enough. Initially, I transferred all my milk into the 5 oz Medela bags and froze what I had left over for the day. Then I would rotate it out, using the oldest milk, thaw it out, and feed it to Isla. But I would also freeze my fresh left over milk as well.
It wasn’t a good system and I felt like I was doing it all wrong. Facebook to the rescue! My exclusive pumping group had so many threads on how they built their stash and I’m seriously so glad I found them, because I would literally still be a hot mess without them.
After a couple attempts, this is how I built my stash.
- Pump then make one bottle. Since I was pumping every 2-3 hours in the first couple months, I essentially pumped when it was time for her to eat.
- Put the rest of the milk into a pitcher. I would always try and feed Isla the freshest milk possible.
- Before bed, I made sure to have at least 3 bottles prepared and in a cooler to leave at bedside for the middle of the night feedings. The rest of the milk I would put in storage bags and freeze. (As time went by, I kept 2 bottles at bedside, then 1 as her night time wakings lessened. )
- Making sure that the bags are frozen flat because it is easier to store that way.
- Then I would put them in large ziplock bags making “bricks” so they are easily organized in our deep freezer. (Unfortunately, we packed our deep freezer up that I started using 80% of our freezer!) I recommend looking for a deep freezer on Facebook marketplace for deals.
Because we were running out of room in our freezer, I started to wean earlier than expected. I was able to feed Isla breastmilk past her 6 month mark which was my original goal (before I found out that I was an oversupplier and that being one, was a good thing!)
How did you build your freezer stash?
