How To Freeze Breast Milk

Freezing breast milk is cost effective, easy to do, and can be very beneficial to working moms or moms who need to be away from baby for a period of time! If you’re breastfeeding for the first time and aren’t sure about how to freeze breast milk – keep reading! These tips to freeze breast milk are easy to follow and extremely time efficient as well!

 

Tips To Freeze Breast Milk

1. Choose your container.
Some people choose to freeze milk in ice cube containers for older babies who have things like mesh feeders and such. This is one way to freeze breast milk, but if you’re looking to freeze more at a time or will be continuously freezing milk, you might want to consider breast milk bags. You could use something like sandwich bags as well, but typically breast milk bags are easier and most of them come with a douple zip lock, preventing leakage in the fridge or freezer. Most brands make similar bags, so just pick what’s cheapest or that works best for you.

2. Write the date!
Always write the date of your frozen milk somewhere. Whether you write it directly on the bag with a sharpie (something that won’t smear), or you write it down in a journal or on a sticky note somewhere, just make sure you know the date for each container! This will help you utilize the oldest milk first so you’re staying on top of the freshness of all of it.

3. Keep it all together.
It’s pretty easy for frozen milk to start taking over your freezer space if it isn’t organized well. If you’re not planning on buying an extra freezer just to store milk in, consider using a specific shelf or drawer in your freezer just for when you freeze breast milk and build up a stash.

4. Don’t refreeze!
Once you thaw milk for consumption, do not refreeze it. Thawed milk is safe for 24 hours in the refrigerator, so be sure to only thaw as much as you need and use it right away.

5. Freeze in small amounts.
Even if you ultimately end up freezing in breast milk bags, consider freezing in smaller amounts so you won’t have to thaw too much at once. The bags generally hold 6-8 ounces, but freezing in smaller increments like 2-4 ounces will allow you to thaw less at a time.

 

 

What other tips would you share for someone who wants to freeze breast milk? Let’s discuss in the comments below!