4 Breast Milk Storage Hacks

Before you have a baby, your fridge and your freezer are places where you store food. After you have a baby, your fridge can quickly become overrun with multiple, half-filled bottles of breast milk, right next to your leftover Chinese food containers.

To reduce the clutter and make it easier to find the right bottle of milk to give to your baby, here are four breast milk storage hacks to help you tidy up your fridge and freezer in a snap.

Breast Milk Storage Rules
Before we get to the hacks, it’s important to understand the basic safety guidelines you need to follow for storing breast milk. According to the CDC, fresh breast milk can be left out for up to 4 hours on the countertop, kept up to 4 days in the fridge, and stored up to 6 to 12 months in the freezer. However, if you are heating up frozen milk, it is only good for up to 2 hours after it’s been thawed or up to 24 hours if it’s in the fridge.

1. Use a Color-Coded Labeling System
   Because milk can expire so quickly, it’s essential to have a good labeling system for your breast milk so you can always use the oldest milk first. Creating an easy, color-coded method to label each bottle or bag of breast milk that lists the day and time that it was pumped is an important first step in keeping your breast milk organized. This is also essential if you are sending your child to daycare because all of the milk that you send with your baby must be labeled with his or her name on it and the date and time it was pumped.

• Labeling Bottles
  If you’re going to store your breast milk in bottles, you can buy cute reuseable labels that can be wrapped around the bottles and written on with a dry erase marker. Or you can use colorful food storage label stickers to help you keep track of which day of the week the milk was pumped. Whatever method you choose, keeping the days color coded can really help, making sure to use the same colored labels for all of the milk that was pumped on the same day.
• Labeling breast milk storage bags
  Breast milk storage bags usually come with areas on them where you can write down the date and time that the milk was pumped. For example, the Unimom Breast Milk Storage bags come with a neat labeling system. However, if you want to color code your bags, just like you do with the bottles, you can also use day of the week stickers, or try using different colored Sharpies for different days.

2. Use the Pitcher Method
   One way you can reduce the space the various bottles take up in your refrigerator is by combining all of the milk that you pump in one day into a pitcher. Then at the end of the day, you can pour all of that milk into individual storage bags in the freezer, usually in 4 oz. increments. This is also a helpful time saver because you don’t have to transfer the milk into storage bags every single time you pump. Check it out here.
3. How to Organize Your Breast Milk Storage Bags in Your Freezer
   If you’re planning on freezing your breast milk, transferring your milk into storage bags, rather than keeping it in bottles, is the way to go because storage bags can be laid flat and stacked on top of each other.

   However, the downside to storage bags is that they don’t stack very easily because they can be in uneven shapes, so you’ll probably need some kind of box to keep them in. Some DIY methods that work well are putting them in soda can boxes, tissue boxes or other types of cardboard boxes with the lids cut off, placing the newest breast milk in the back so you always use the oldest bag first.

   You can also try putting the storage containers in a gift bag that can stand upright in the freezer as well.

   When looking for breast milk storage bags, try to find one that are extra thick, such as these 8 oz. storage bags from Zomee, so they are less likely to crack when reheated.

4. Freeze in Small Batches
   It’s always best to try to freeze your milk in small batches, rather than in large batches, because once you thaw the milk, you can only use it for up to 2 hours (or 24 hours in the fridge), so you don’t want to end up thawing milk that your baby won’t drink.

   One handy way to thaw just a little bit of breast milk at a time is to store your breast milk in about 4 oz. portions, and whatever you have left over, freeze in a mini silicone ice cube tray, such as these Luxe Milkstache ones from Ceres Chill or these from My Milk Trays. Both brands allow you to freeze breast milk in about ½ oz. portions, making them perfect for when your baby just wants a little bit extra. To use these, fill the mini ice cube trays with breast milk and then pop out one cube of frozen breast milk when you need it. Put it in a bottle and warm the bottle up in a cup of warm water to thaw. (Here are some tips for warming up breast milk).

We hope these tips help keep your fridge and freezer neat and tidy and keep you just a little bit more sane!