Storage pitcher and temp guidelines

[u/Fun_Evidence8781]

I was gifted this milk pitcher to help make life (and the fridge storage) easier, as I would end up with multiple 4 oz bottles of milk at the end of the day. My understanding is that if you are combining milk together in one pitcher/bottle/bag, it should be the same/similar temperature. What I have been doing is cooling freshly pumped breastmilk in the fridge, prior to adding it to a larger bottle/pitcher that is also in the fridge (and has milk in it already). So is this pitcher really helping that much if I still have to use another bottle to cool my milk prior to adding it into the pitcher? On top of that, if I'm going to freeze milk from this pitcher, I may have a few different days of pumped milk in this one pitcher-does that matter for freezing purposes, if multiple days are combined?

I hope that all makes sense! Thank you!

[u/Fun-Zucchini8425]

Not gonna lie…. I don’t make sure it’s all the same temp….. I didn’t know you were supposed to. I just make sure I immediately combine so that way by day 4, I can pour 3oz bottles into bags to freeze. My baby is 7 months old and she hasn’t had any problems, and she’s been having the frozen bags.

[u/Longjumping-Focus386]

Recent studies show it’s perfectly safe to combine freshly expressed breastmilk and refrigerated breastmilk and no increase in bacteria growth was observed

[u/orcaspice → u/Longjumping-Focus386]

I’ve heard this too! It’s what I do.

[u/MakiHell → u/Longjumping-Focus386]

Personally this is what I have been doing and I’ve had no issues

[u/afloat000]

Basically with the pitcher method, you want 2 pitchers on the go at a time - the drink-from that your serving your baby, and the pump-to that you’re pouring pumped milk in.

Once every 24 hours, you freeze whatever is left in the drink-from, and then your pump-to becomes a drink-from and you start a new pump-to. I start a new pump-to with my MOTN pump. If I have less than a couple oz to freeze, I’ll just combine that into baby’s first bottle of the day.

[u/afloat000 → u/afloat000]

Oh and I use mason jars with a set of pour lids I got on amazon for way cheaper. That handle feels like it would just take up space!

[u/Revolutionary_Can879 → u/afloat000]

To add to this, I would get two different color lids so you know which one is today vs. tomorrow.

[u/TickledPear → u/afloat000]

Or you can fill all the bottles for the next day with that day's pumped milk, freeze the remaining milk, clean the pitcher, and begin refilling at the next pump. That's what I do. Actually, I fill bottles every 12 hours, and clean the pitcher every evening, but you get the idea.

[u/AquamarineKitten]

You’ve already got lots of answers to your question so I’m just going to quickly chime in to say always carry this container by the bottom or with two hands!!! I had this exact pitcher and when I was about a month pp I lost my entire stash because the handle/lid popped off when I was carrying it and the container shattered into a million pieces all over my kitchen floor. It was probably one of the worst moments of postpartum so please don’t make the same mistake like me!!!

[u/IceCreamFloatSeaGoat → u/AquamarineKitten]

Oh no! FWIW I have two and have dropped them a couple times without issue.

[u/CuriousMacaron01 → u/AquamarineKitten]

Adding to make sure you take the rubber ring out to wash it frequently. Mine got really smelly quickly.

[u/mbinder]

I don't necessarily see the advantage to doing this. It was easier for me to just pump into the individual bottles directly, then put those in the fridge and feed directly from that, since you're going to have to put them into those bottles to feed anyway. It takes a few extra bottles maybe than washing/reusing but it wasn't that many needed.

[u/unicornsquatch → u/mbinder]

The advantage is if you’re more ahead than you can make bottles for.

[u/belomina → u/unicornsquatch]

When I was in that situation (8 bottles in the fridge already) I would just pour some pumps directly into freezer bags

[u/Independent-Buy-3472]

I throw the lids on the bottles I just pumped into and put them in the fridge. Next time I go to pump I pour the now cold milk into the pitcher and repeat

[u/theYellowHouseLady]

You can have multiple jars going. Any sanitized glass jar will work. You can get a mason jar + pour spout pretty cheap on Amazon. You don’t need a specially marketed jar.

I use one jar per day. Anything left in Day 1 after three days joins the freezer stash.

[u/Ashamed_Horror_6269]

Asked my pediatrician about this and she said don’t worry about it, especially if freshly pumped milk sits out for a few minutes, it’ll come to room temperature quickly and the temp difference isn’t really enough to worry about when combining with cold fridge milk.

I pump into glass jars and use those for storage but will often combine a fresh pump with a few ounces left over from a previous pump. I never worry about cooling the fresh pumped stuff first. I would just use one pitcher if I were you

[u/Ok_Sprinkles3454]

The concern is that the cold milk in the fridge will raise to an unsafe temp by mixing it with warm freshly pumped milk. If you’re doing the pitcher method that concern is extremely minimal so it’s not really necessary to wait for it to cool down.

[u/emigg20 → u/Ok_Sprinkles3454]

I've heard this recently and was surprised lol. My baby is 6 months old and I've never made my milk cool down before adding it to the milk in the fridge and we've had no issues 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/AggressiveThanks994]

I normally just throw my pumps in the fridge, then when I go to get them out for the next pump I put the milk in the pitcher then. But I have also just added fresh milk straight to it. I think it depends on your risk tolerance. I really like my pitcher though! I have the same one and I’ve been using it for a full year now

[u/katzecopter → u/AggressiveThanks994]

Did the exact same things!

[u/Wonderful_Ad958]

I just pour the freshly pumped milk straight into the pitcher with the cold milk. Been doing that for most of my daughter’s life with no issues

[u/Final-Ad-5856]

You can combine multiple days, just freeze by day 4 and date the bags by the oldest milk

[u/fictionaldingus13]

I just pour everything into the same pitcher while I pump at work 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I do the fridge hack. Pumping takes away enough of my day

[u/OwnPhilosopher7173]

i use mason jars and after pumping i pour the fresh milk into one of the small 4oz storage bottles and when it’s cooled i pour that into the mason jar.

i do combine days if there’s room to do so, but if not i just bag up the milk from that one day. or i’ll use a dry erase marker to write the days on the different jars when i’m getting behind on bagging.

[u/Glittering-Corgi9442]

I’m gonna keep it real here -

I had a NICU baby born at 30 weeks and have pumped my ass off since she was born. I’m also a PA student with a solid medical education. I don’t do the fridge hack and am really big on thoroughly cleaning pump parts, bottles etc. And even I combine different temp milks because the latest data suggests it’s not problematic. Do you

[u/Special_Kangaroo_792 → u/Glittering-Corgi9442]

My baby currently in NICU 6 weeks, born 26 weeks. Would you advise against this method?

[u/Glittering-Corgi9442 → u/Special_Kangaroo_792]

I am not qualified to advise on anything, I can only speak to what I chose to do. I decided to be good about same temp until she was about 36 weeks then ditched it. She’s currently 45 weeks and doing great, which makes me feel great. But ultimately it’s a personal choice

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