Advice on Frozen Breastmilk

[LeannieB]

Hi On Friday I am planning on leaving my 8 Month old with my MIL for the day. Its the first time I am going to be away from him and im very anxious. He is EBF. Over the last couple of weeks I have been expressing when I can so I have lots of milk to leave for him. Is it ok once the milk is defrosted to mix them together in a bottle even if they were frozen on different days? Thanks in advance xx

 

[noon_child]

what amounts have you got frozen, how much were you thinking of mixing? As far as I know there is no issue with mixing them, however if it is your baby's first time away from you he might not be too keen to drink much in one go. I'd rather prep small amounts and go get more if needed than mixed lots together to make a big bottle only to have to throw it out because baby fussed over it on and off for an hour and only drank half.

 

[LeannieB]

Thank you. I have roughly about 21oz frozen so far. 5 × 3oz bags and 1 x 6oz bag. X

 

[noon_child]

I have read somewhere that breastfed babies only drink about 3-4oz in one feed anyway so I think you won't need to mix them.

 

[LeannieB]

Lovely thank you thats really helpful. xx

 

[BlingyGal]

Mixing batches of milk is fine. My daughter was in the NICU when born and the nurses did it all the time. Good luck!

 

[misspriss]

I'd just feed in small batches, BF babies drink 3-4 oz usually. DS only took 2.5 max at a feeding, just ate frequently. Other babies drink more, some (especially when first getting bottles) may not like it well enough to take a lot.

 

[lisaalove]

Mine drinks about 2-3 oz per feeding while at work. I think he's only had more than that in one feed once while I'm gone. He's more of a snacker anyways than a big meal kind of guy so small portions work really well for us.

 

[Amalee]

My 11 month old son is breastfed, and I've been pumping since December for him during the day while I work. I mix milk that was pumped on different days all the time. He started taking 5-6 ounce bottles once he was about 6 months old, and that's started tapering off over the last month or so as his solids have increased.

Has your baby ever taken a bottle before? If not, I'd recommend defrosting one 3 oz bag and offering him an ounce or two at a time between now and then from a bottle so it's not brand new for him on Friday.