Dear lovely mostly ladies of the Internet,
This is the post where I ask what you think, and don’t worry we’ll all still be friends at the end of this, I promise. You see, I never talk politics round these parts and also I come from the wrong part of the world to be especially involved in the merry game of who-has-the-most-hidden-mistresses/lovechildren/porn addiction/stuffed toy collection/nose picking habit etc that seems to be going on in one part of the world right now.
But seriously, you all get kind of up in your politicians lives over there.
Anyway.
I did have a question for you and it isn’t political at all. It’s about what to do with the extra breastmilk my poor freezer is carrying because the old girl can’t take the groceries I need to jam in there to avoid multiple shopping trips a week and thus my life kind of sucks right now in the way that repeatedly going shopping (popping out to the shops, ha!) with three children will do.
Bhaji doesn’t do bottles, I pump because of morbid fear of repeat mastitis and I keep taking the domperidone because I am not crazy enough to mess with what is working. There is only one milk bank in town and it only takes from women who delivered at that hospital and are therefore trustable sorts.
I did not deliver at that hospital and am clearly extremely untrustworthy I guess. Hence the bursting freezer problem.
Is it wrong to give it to Saag and Naan in their sippy cups in lieu of the moo variety?
On the face of it I can’t see a logical reason why not, per se, and there is a nice belated full circle element of closure about my utter failure to manage lactation for THEM at the appropriate juncture.
But.
The thought makes me feel a bit squarmy and wrong and I-can’t-do-THAT, I just can’t quite put my finger on exactly why.
I mean, it’s not like extended nursing, which is a bit of a social taboo even though there’s nothing wrong with that either. It’s just that we’ve all be cultured to not like hearing somebody’s three year old ask her Mama for her booby in the supermarket.
It’s just a sippy cup.
So why does it feel all odd?
Thoughts and opinions and suggestions for other use of human moo all welcome.
G
January 26, 2012 at 7:10 pm
I threw onky one mesly bag of expressed milk and I cried for an hour. If I were to have so much of myhard won milk go nowhere, I would cry tears of blood. As long you don’t advertise it (there is no shame, but people judge anyway so let’s not give them more than they already have to judge on) and the girls take it (without yelling ‘Bloody hell, mum, what IS that?’) I would say go for it. But do keep some for B as well – she will take a bottle eventually, and you will feel so self righteous and saint-like to give her your own milk in a bottle, honestly, it would be a pity to pass on feeling like that.
So, one vote for.
January 26, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Sorry for the typos. Bloody hell, tablet!
January 26, 2012 at 7:36 pm
I do it. Egg just turned 3, and if I have extra and he’s fighting the same cold that I am I split the fresh milk between him and Coop (8mo). I don’t nurse Egg, but giving him human milk is far better than cow milk. Plus I know where it has been. Currently I have no stash of frozen, so I envy your freezer filling milk. Damn I’m too tired to type.
Give them your milk, lady! We call it mama’s milk around here, we also drink cow’s milk, coconut milk, and almond milk. Egg asks for whichever he wants by name. You can call it something else if you’re afraid of nosey pants judging you. Goats milk? Do you drink that there? Call it that.
January 26, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Absolutely do it! Extra antibodies never hurt! They don’t have to know where I comes from, either. It’s sad that your hospital won’t take it, but, hey, you’ve got other kids!
and I agree with previous commenter, do keep some, as BN will eventually come around on bottles.
January 26, 2012 at 7:50 pm
I see no problem with the sippy cups as long as they will drink it. One very pro brestmilk friend did that once her kids were old enough to use sippy cups. She didn’t stop bedtime breast feedings until they were two, and then began to transition them from boob juice to moo. She even had daycare give breast milk in a sippy cup until they were fully transitioned. Granted, she is a bit hard core about breast milk. But she still calls La Leche League militant.
January 26, 2012 at 9:44 pm
A friend of mine did that with her two year old’s sippy cup. If they’ll drink it anyway, it tastes rather different. Otherwise I think you should learn to make cheese.
January 26, 2012 at 10:31 pm
I say go for it. Pumpkin (nearly 3) just recently asked me if she could drink like Little Bear… from mommy’s b00b. I said- ‘oh really’ and politely steered the conversation away from that route- but I would have no problem giving her some in a cup. Especially as we are all fighting the dreaded winter colds.
Alas- Little Bear already eats more than I make so I have to settle for getting him 50/50.
And cheese- or in oatmeal, or anything instead of water or milk just so the precious stuff doesn’t get tossed!
January 26, 2012 at 11:05 pm
it’s 5000% less weird than making it into cheese or ice cream and selling it to adults, but people do do those things, and really, so what? it’s food. someone should eat it.
if you decide you’re too squicked out to give it to the take-out twins, i’d imagine you could find someone who would be very, very happy to have it. the listservs here anyway are full of adoptive and otherwise unable to nurse parents looking for donations of milk. (milk banks don’t have enough for everyone and are often outrageously expensive, at least here.)
but really, i hope you’ll go for cheese-making, instead. a nice marscapone, maybe? wait, paneer! pretty please?
January 26, 2012 at 11:07 pm
Yes! Go for it!
January 26, 2012 at 11:56 pm
I don’t know why we should even pause and consider, but it’s there, isn’t it? Whatever you do, don’t let it go to waste. That’s all I can say.
January 27, 2012 at 1:08 am
I agree with the others on the sippy cups, why not?! Can’t think of any reason against it. Also, for what it’s worth — after my (now 9 yr old!!!!) daughter was born at 32 weeks I pumped and had so much extra milk that we bought a chest freezer just for milk storage! Having all the extra frozen milk came in very handy when I returned to work and I was never as good as I’d planned at pumping regularly. The freezer’s been pretty handy since then too.
January 27, 2012 at 1:12 am
I totally would give it to them, why not? It was hard earned and it’s good for them(I do agree that 3 year olds BFing freaks me out, this doesn’t). But, ye know, I’m weird like that.
January 27, 2012 at 2:03 am
Share away. However, if you are looking for the magical antibodies in breastmilk, give it to them out of the fridge rather than the freezer. Freezing breastmilk kills quite a few of the antibodies (this is why you can leave fresh breastmilk out for 8 hours and it’s safe to give to your kid, also why it’s good for up to 7 days in your fridge but only 12 hours once you defrost it from the freezer). If they notice the taste difference, put it in cereal or smoothies or something to mask it a bit. But yes, there are huge health benefits for an older kid too.
I know that we fall definitively on the loony side of pro-breastfeeding, but I also use fresh breastmilk for my daughter’s skin rashes, pink eye, etc. It works really quickly (although much better when fresh).
Also, are you storing in the milk in flat bags? I know that you don’t live in the U.S. and I have certainly dealt with small freezers before in Europe, but you should be able to store quite a bit of frozen milk in flat bags without filling the whole freezer. Given that it’s good for up to 6 months you can always feed it to the little one cooked in food in about … 5 months. We used it in purees, pancakes, teething biscuits.
Finally, if you opt against sharing with your twins, I’m sure that there are informal ways to find another mother looking for breastmilk. In the U.S. we have all sorts of websites were people set up their own exchanges/share systems for premie babies, sick kids, twins, etc. If you are going to spend the hours to pump it, just don’t let it go to waste.
January 27, 2012 at 6:52 am
I agree with the others! Give it to the twins, in a sippy cup (or mixed in a smoothie, cereal, etc.) if they will take it. I would mix it with cow’s milk though – probably 50/50 – I agree it tastes significantly different so you will likely have to mask the flavor a bit.
I have a bit of a supply in my deep freeze as well. =). I consider myself incredibly lucky to have anything left over! I am expecting #3 though, so I am thrilled to already have s frozen supply ready for him. Then of course if I make as much for his as I did for the twins I will probably have to buy another freezer just to house it all!
I also like the other suggestions of finding a momma who would like the milk for her adopted/preemie/multiples if you are feeling incredibly gracious. Otherwise, if you make your own baby food in a couple of months, add the breast milk right in! I added it in to sweet potatoes, pears, veggies, cereal…the girls weren’t the wiser. USE IT thought! Don’t chuck it!
OH – and one other tidbit – my supply diminished drastically after the girls were 6 months old and I started pulling from my freezer supply…I would maybe save some of it for later…use what you have to now to get the space back in your freezer, but otherwise, save it! You very well may need it later!
January 27, 2012 at 7:23 am
First of all ….holy congratulations on an oversupply of milk. Wish I was having such issues around these parts with my 7 week old. Secondly …absolutely do it. We just went through a lovely round of gastro with a side of bronchitis for the older people in the family and RSV bronchiolitis for the newborn. I swear the only thing that got the 2 year old through the bronchitis was the mama milk smoothies because his immune system is appartently crap now that he’s not nursing. Go for it. You’ll prob have to hide it though …the 2 year old thought it was “gross” (though he just stopped nursing when I was pregnant at 18 months of age). If worse comes to worse …make cheese. I hear that’s all the rage in England.
January 27, 2012 at 11:55 am
When Elora died I had the equivalent to over 3 gallons of breastmilk in our deep freeze stored in 2 oz bags. I did give it to my then 2 yr old, because I couldn’t just throw it away. I’d tried to give it to someone on milkshare but she never showed up to pick it up.
January 27, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Give it to them! I also have an overflowing freezer & had the same thoughts as you when considering whether I should give it to my 2yo DD. After further analysis I came to two conclusions:
1. Why would my milk be good enough for my 3 month old & not for my 2 year old?
2. Why would milk from an ANIMAL be good for my 2 year old & not milk from her own mother?
So… Having said all that. I now put it in her cereal, make smoothies for her. And also shove it down her throat if she even shows a hint of getting sick. And let me tell you.. That milk works wonders!!
January 27, 2012 at 3:01 pm
You can give them moo milk, but you get squeamish over YOU milk??? maybe I’m missing something, but we must sincerely live in one hell of an arse-backwards society where it’s totally fine to drink lactation from OTHER mammals, rather than our own species. Logically, mama milk is better- it’s made specifically for the human species.
January 27, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Maybe I should have added that I’m totally pro-choice on the feeding issue- babe one was exclusively breastfed until my supply went kaput after she started solids- I managed to keep her in freezer boob juice until she was almost a year, and babe two was exclusively formula fed after a torturous two weeks where I had almost nil supply, a sleepy, jaundiced, unlatchable baby who would rather have starved than try to breastfeed- even with the aid of an at-breast supplementer.
January 28, 2012 at 1:40 am
Do it, do it, do it! What a great use of your milk, to give it to your toddlers! Love it!
If you’re still interested in donating, try Eats on Feets. I know they have a Facebook page for moms donating directly to other moms, therefore bypassing your local hospital’s restrictions.
What a great idea! That is SO COOL.
January 29, 2012 at 6:09 am
If they’ll drink it, use it. We bought a separate small deep freezer for me to store frozen milk in – it let me cut back on the pumping dramatically while still being certain she’d get BM to a year. It was totally worth the $200 or whatever we spent on it. Plus now I can buy stuff on sale in bulk and have it on hand when I need it. At some point, B’s going to have to drink from a bottle, and the frozen milk will come in handy then.
Otherwise, I’d say try to find someone to donate it to online. I’m sure the recipient could always pay to repeat your Hep/HIV whatever blood tests they wanted before accepting it.
January 29, 2012 at 7:17 am
Definitely give it to them. It does taste different so I seconds the mixing with cows milk to begin with. Maybe the babe will take it from one of those lapping cups that we have here now for newborns if they need extra in hospital so as not to interfere with learning to suck on a nipple.
January 31, 2012 at 2:10 pm
First of all, congrats for your successful breastfeeding and having extra milk to pump. This is like bars of gold in the bank.
Had the same problem of second baby only drinking from boob. It’s way more convenient than pumping, but did have oversupply at first and made quite a stash that sat in a deep freeze.
At some point, Bhaji will drink from a bottle or cup. It could be a year from now, and your milk will still be good and your supply will not be. SAVE IT FOR HER!!! YOU WILL WANT IT! I ASSURE YOU. Screw your frozen foods.
No harm in giving it to the 3yos, except when I gave it to my oldest child, she suddenly had breastmilk poop, like an infant again. We didn’t care for that.
When my second baby (the one who only did book drinking) turned 11 months, she got very cranky and suddenly refused the breast and wanted a bottle for the first time EVER. It was shocking and horrifying. Turned to to be the first of a horrible series of ear infections and I could never get her back to the breast. Besides being devastated in a way I found very surprising, I was at least glad to have the stash still in my freezer because my supply went away very fast at that time with no baby on the breast. Got her to 12 months with all breastmilk and hung up the pump.
Our pediatrician said it was no problem to give her milk that was 10 or 11 months old that had been in the deep freeze. He didn’t seem to feel there was an expiration date.