Milk Stashes

We’ve all seen those bf moms with freezers FULL of little bags of milk, for the “just in case” or “because my baby goes to daycare for 8 hours a day.”

Hundreds if not thousands of oz of milk in tiny plastic bags in large extra freezers. Get ready for a truth pill.

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The unnecessary waste surrounding that entire picture. I won’t call the milk a waste IF you donate it in time to a mom in need.

That doesn’t always happen though, so milk is being wasted. The amount of plastic bags being thrown away after use or expiry is a waste, the energy used to cool the freezer is a waste. Your time to pump those thousands of oz, gone.

What I’m saying is hundreds and thousands of ounces of milk is NOT normal, is not what any mother should be shooting for and is NOT necessary. Even tens of ounces of milk isn’t necessary.

“But what if…” if you pump only whilst you’re away from babe, your answer to your “what if” is: just latch them.

“But what if, surgery?” It’s so unlikely you’ll have a random surgery pop up without time to prepare for it —Aka without having a chance to pump.

I get it, anxiety tells us we could have an emergency appendectomy at any moment or that we’d be in a car wreck and need to be in the hospital for a week. I get it.

The chances of those things happening is not common. Not common enough to need 100’s of oz of milk stashed away for the “just maybe what if’s.”

If the surgery is planned, then prepare for it. If it’s a quick couple hour procedure, then just latch before and after.
A bottle shouldn’t be used as comfort for a babe to make the lives of the caregivers “easier.” They need to comfort baby appropriately.
Let me say it again, food should not be used to comfort.

“But my baby goes to daycare for 8hours every day so I need a stash.”
No you don’t.
You need 8-10 oz in your fridge which you should be pumping daily anyways whilst you’re away from babe. Women do have pumping rights at work.
And that amount (8-10oz) is also assuming you’re not feeding them right when you get to the daycare for drop off and pick up (which most daycares will (or should) allow you to bf in their facility).

Is it ever appropriate or necessary to have a thousand oz stash. Not really—keep reading.

Oversupplies do happen, but it’s not ever something a mom should strive for. Oversupplies increase, significantly, the risk of mastitis, clogged ducts, and other breast infections. It’s uncomfortable and can lead to weight gain issues in babe.

There are times when a mom will naturally have more milk than needed, maybe babe skipped a bottle. That’s fine but isn’t going to lead to 100’s of oz in the freezer.

If you do have a stash of milk, I STRONGLY recommend donating any extra (after 10oz) to a preemie mom first. Preemie babies should ONLY have breastmilk as formula increases the risk of NEC for them.

Please, don’t hoard milk just to have hundreds of thousands of oz of milk. Donate it to a baby that genuinely needs it and could save their life.