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expressing and giving ebm once back at work - more questions!

hi



am building up a freezer supply of ebm ready for my return to work, am freezing the milk in 4 oz portions in bags in the freezer. Ive read that it should ideally be put in the fridge overnight to defrost if needed, but if needed urgently it can be put in a bowl of boiling water. Am pretty sure if it is needed it will usually be a case of needing it quickly - my mum (who is doing a good part of the childcare) is nervous LO will need more than ive left. She wants me to let her have aptimal in the fridge so he can have something quickly, but have never given him formula and with 12 4oz bags in the freezer just in case i would rather he had this!



Can anyone say from experience how long it takes to defrost if put in a bowl of boiling water?



Also, for those of you who've stockpiled milk, how much did you save and did you need it?



My LO will be 8.5 months old and at the moment he is 7 months, taking 4 bfs (morning, mid morn, mid afternoon and night time). Sometimes ill have to miss his bedtime so as of last week oh will be giving him a bottle once a week at bedtime to make sure he can settle this way. He took 7.5oz at that feed. He is on 3 really good meals a day and drinking water. Any ideas how much i might need? I know babies are all different and i think we'll have to have a day where i leave him and he has his meals and ebm by bottle at the 3 other feeds and see what he takes, but im sure in the next 6 weeks it could all change again x

Replies

  • Frozen breast milk defrosts surprisingly quickly in hot water, about 10 mins if you keep jiggling it. Or you could keep a fresh extra one in the fridge in case of emergencies and then just use and replace. You can keep fresh milk in the fridge for a few days.



    There's no reason why you can't cut down to three feeds a day when you go back to work. My DD was only on three at that age, it's fine as long as they've got sufficient dairy in their diet. Just a thought - it'll make all the pumping a bit easier.



    Sorry I can't help with quantities - I've no idea!



    Good luck.

    Mrs B xxx
  • thanks monkey nuts...am giving it serious consideration. he still has a good mid morn feed but the mid afternoon one can be very short. its just that he really needs his naps and i dont know if he'd have them without the feeds. but im not sure if thats a breast feeding thing, if he has it in a bottle when im not there it might not make him sleepy anyway. my mum and oh might have to do some hardcore rocking and be very patient to get him to go off!



    still 3 weeks to go till we hit the 8 month mark and he might wind it down himself in that time. I have a good pump where i do both sides simultaneously and i dont get bad amounts, think ill just have to see what happens. he seems to take 7oz for last feed, so i imagine thats the biggest feed, think ill just have to leave ample to begin with and see what happens.



    Have just bought some medella teats to try as sick of pouring the pumped milk into a different bottle - need to think of ways to save time now. Medella teats dont get very good reviews online but its worth trying them.



    thanks for your advice. i dont think many people get to this point, where they are expressing once back at work, so its good to talk to someone who has x
  • Hi my 4th baby is 5 months old and I have had to express from the start with all of them due to slow weight gain. This lo has been the slowest and so I have been expressing 20oz a day for the last 4 months and he gets up to 15oz a day in top ups. I agree that it would be a shame to give your lo aptamil when you have ebm in the fridge.

    As Monkey-Nuts said, it does defrost pretty quickly but you can also keep expressed milk out as long as the temp is less than 22 degrees so if you are expressing before work or even in the evening, you can just leave it out for the next day. I have done this with all of my children and they have all been fine.

    With this lo I only put what is left in the freezer at the end of 24 hours of it being out at room temperature and in that way don't waste any from having to have heated it up.



    Well done for keeping going when you go back to work. xx
  • thanks ARG4 - sounds like you've done an amazing job 4 times over!! It blows my mind having a second - i wonder how id manage breast feeding - so you have my respect ha ha.



    Will keep in mind about keeping the milk out, although if its only 10 mins in hot water and im getting good amounts most of the time i hope i wont have to dip into it much. I was thinking though if he was poorly and off his food or something, then he might appreciate a bit extra from the freezer x
  • monkey nuts last couple of days LO forgot to ask for his afternoon feed! so only had 3 in 24 hours. We were busy both days though so not sure if he'll ask when we're home (and not sure how long it takes before milk supply has gone down - it may already not be there for him?!) am a bit worried though as he'll only take sips of water, and not much of that, if he's going all day without a breast feed (he feeds 0600, 0930,1900) then he needs some fluid. Last night i gave him water in a bottle and he seemed to take more. x
  • if you freeze the milk in the bags laying down it defrosts quicker as it isnt a big chunk to defrost. you shouldnt defrost in boiling water just warm, it is pretty quick though, when i was away i got hubby to put how many bags of milk he would need in the fridge the night before so they were ready for the day and if he needed extra there was then time to get another out of the freezer.



    dd can have up to 7oz of milk at 9 months x
  • thanks for the tip piggypops am always grateful for your bf advice! what sort of quantities did she take at her other feeds, if you ever expressed for these x
  • It's defrosts quickly in hot water but your not ment to use boiling water on breast milk x
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