What to Do with All This Breastmilk

I had a large collection which dwindled pretty quickly once my child started eating cereal. We used that as the fluid to mix with cereal... Definitely do not toss it!!

Can you check and see if there is a milk bank you can start donating to?

http://www.nationalmilkbank.org/
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Thank you to the person that pointed out that this organization is apparently a front for a for-profit group...... please check out non-profit groups that need donated milk. I just googled breast milk bank and got that one.... but check into more reliable organizations.

Keep it.

My wife and I saved and when she went back to work, the pumping slowed, and we got into the freezer stash. As it slowed more, the freezer stash turned into our savings account - using 3-4 of those little storage bottles per day.

Is there a hospital near you? Some take donated breast milk. Otherwise, you could google 'breast milk donation' with your area, and see if an organization near you will take it. Otherwise, hold onto it for a few more months. A freezer full of pumped milk is like a great insurance policy. Any illness, period where you need to go antibiotics (and want to keep breast feeding, so you pump and dump for 10 days - ugh!), evenings out etc...you might be surprised how handy it is.

Definitely look into donating! Be aware that "National Milk Bank" linked to in another response is a for-profit company- Prolacta. Their business practices have been pretty shady in the past.
http://breastfeedingtruth.com/topics/prolacta

If you prefer to donate to a not for profit milk bank, you might want to check out HMBANA:

https://www.hmbana.org/

Hold onto it until it's closer to expiring. My sister started throwing it out thinking her overage would last and it did not. It should last in the deep freeze past your child's 6 mo. growth spurt and then you can re-evaluate, IMO. One bad sickness, one really stressful week...you might really need it.

You can donate it. There is a huge need for human breast milk. Contact the La Leche League or your local hospital for more information.

How old is your baby?

If very young, then definitely keep ALL of it as when the baby hits a growth spurt, usually around 4 and 7 months, you'll both need it.

Since you are not actually nursing, I don't know how your body knows when to make more milk, as the baby's extra stimulation from longer, stronger nursing is not there to stimulate more milk production.

I would only recommend giving the milk to a bank after you've all experienced baby's first growth spurt and then you can safely gauge how much to give away and how much to store up for yourselves.

And, your family can also ingest it in your own meals.

Are there any milk banks in your area? If so, you can donate it. Otherwise, ask local hospitals or adoption agencies/foster care facilities if they can use it for the babies in their care.

She's only 2 months so I'd definitely hold onto it. She may soon start taking more milk at each feeding and you'll start to go through it. It's also nice to have if you and your husband ever wanted to go away for the day, there would be plenty of milk for someone to feed her w/out you having to worry. I pumped and bottle fed my baby from about 1 month on, I went back to work when he was 4 months old and we went through the frozen milk pretty quickly. Keep up the good work!

Definitely hang onto it. While it's great that your supply is keeping up, this may change in the future (hopefully not!). You'd be kicking yourself if in five months you're running low on milk.

I used mine when I made pureed food, but donating seems great.

I agree with Bridget as I also had the same issue. Good luck!!!

I used a mix of fresh and frozen so that it never got "too" old. I had a huge abundance in the beginning, I managed to BF both of mine until past a year but by the end my surplus had seriously dwindled. Unfortunately toward the end it's harder to keep up. Who knows how long you'll want to keep this up. Whenver you decide you're done, you'll appreciate having the stockpile and if you don't, then you can donate as long as it's not too old.

Check to see if there is a breast milk bank anywhere near you. They usually require a health background check, but the donation of breastmilk can help infants (usually NICU) who can use the healing properties of breastmilk but whose mothers aren't able to give this to them. Not all areas have this resource, but it might be worth looking into. Checking with your nearest children's hospital may also produce options for putting this wonderful gift (which some refer to as "liquid gold" for it's superior nutritional and immunological qualities) to good use.

If you're interested in getting rid of it, there are actually breast milk banks that will accept your donations for mothers who can't breast feed for any number of reasons or motherless babies etc.

That being said... you can stop pumping so much. Breast milk is a demand-side economy so to speak. Your body will always try to make as much as baby needs. In this case, the "baby" is the pump. If you are producing too much, it is because you are pumping too much. Start pumping for shorter periods (you know how many ounces you need, so stop when you've hit that... that's what babies do at the breast) and start going longer between pumpings. Ideally your baby should drink EVERYTHING you pump Monday on Tuesday and so on, that way your body is making the milk to be exactly what baby needs.

HTH
T.

A., With my first daughter, I also pumped exclusively - because she wouldn't nurse (or only did on a rare occasion). I looked through the other answers and it doesn't look like anyone suggested that you start using the frozen milk instead of fresh milk. It is easier to use fresh, however, I personally would have hated to throw out that precious milk you work so hard to produce! So rather than taking a chance on the older stuff going bad, use it and keep freezing what you produce each day. I agree with the others that your overabundance of milk will probably not always be there, especially when you start using it for cereal and such. Hope this helps and good luck!

I know this suggestion may be "out there" for our modern, American culture, but have you ever considered providing your excess milk to other mothers who cannot produce enough?

My brother-in-law's dad often speaks of his "milk brother," (meaning, a child of another woman who was nursed by his (in-law's dad's) mother). Not suggestion you actually suckle some other woman's child, but I think there are internet groups where you can donate your excess.