What to do with Freezer Stash? Proper way to cycle through?

[@llli*stonesmom]

Hi Ladies,

I'm SURE there is a thread on here somewhere regarding this, but my search turned up so many things that I figured I'd ask again...

My little guy started daycare full-time and everything has been going great with EBFing, pumping at work etc. and I have a freezer stash built up from the last 3 months and have about 100oz in there.

Since I pump every day, and use that milk for the next day at daycare, what am I to do with this freezer stash? I also tend to pump MORE than what he is drinking at daycare, but I don't want to cut out a pumping session and risk dropping supply.

I have heard you should "cycle" through the frozen milk--using frozen 1-2x a week and replacing it with newer milk. Is this practice suggested?? My oldest milk is dated 8/28/12

Any suggestions?

I would donate, but I don't want to deplete the stash while i'm still BFing and I plan to breastfeed at least a year or more.

Thanks All!
xoxo

[@llli*auderey]

lots of moms use frozen on monday, fresh from the day before tues-fri, then freeze friday's milk. that seems to have a nice balance. but if you are making a lot more than he's eating - yay! - and think carefully about how much you will actually use before it's too old for the freezer you have. you might want to donate some sooner than you think, depending also on how big the freezer is. and keep in mind most moms hit a 9-10 month pump slump where they struggle to keep up, so you'll want your freezer stash to be good for at least that long.

[@llli*mima]

Yes, I think it's common to cycle through the milk so that you don't have to end up tossing out any milk. I found it helpful to figure out, roughly, how long the frozen milk would last if I were to just use frozen milk (which I didn't plan on doing but helped me see if I should be more or less conservative in using up the frozen).

Personally, I do about half fresh and half frozen milk every day. And sometimes on Mon use all frozen if I have forgotten to reserve some fresh from the Friday before. But I had a big stash (~400 oz) already when my LO started full-time daycare. I also am fortunate to have a strong milk supply and pump a bit extra every day. My LO takes 9oz of milk at daycare, which translated into about 45 days of milk that I already had stored, so I knew I needed to be a bit more aggressive in rotating.

[@llli*lidarose]

I use older frozen on Mondays. I save for any slump...your period can through you on occasion. I am thinking about using some if I start with cereals for solids; BM makes a great mixer.

[@llli*jenna562]

I used all frozen at daycare with both kids specifically for this reason plus it was easier I just froze every night and used the oldest frozen the next day. Yes I know that's not the ideal but it worked for me. I think would I could have done as someone mentioned was half fresh and half frozen, so you cycle through and baby gets some fresh.

[@llli*jenna562]

One other thing, I froze bags flat with 3-4 oz and stored in a small handle bag that you'd get from like Starbucks, I cut a slit in the bottom of one side so I took the frozen flat oldest bag each time, easy to cycle through. HTH

[@llli*mima]

I use the same freezing method. I think it's definitely the most space-saving way to organize.