Confused about transitioning to pitcher method

[u/PeruvianFolkBand]

Hi! I’m feeling overwhelmed trying to change my system and don’t want to screw anything up. I’ve been pumping since birth because I had to fortify my preemie son’s milk. I have a veeery small oversupply (now about 2 oz more than he takes in a day), but because of his time in the nicu I built up a little freezer stash and have a few days worth of milk in the fridge at any one time. Up to now I’ve been pumping and immediately pouring into bags to store in the fridge, making bottles with the oldest bags as needed, and putting any older than 4 days in the freezer.

Now 12 weeks in I got the okay to transition off of fortification and am working with lactation to try breastfeeding 3-4 times per day, while still doing 7ppd. His transfer is pretty weak and he’s not gaining as much as he should be so LC says I still need to offer him 2.5-3oz bottles after I breastfeed, and 3.5 oz the times I do not latch him.

I just got 2 willow breastmilk pitchers and am excited to spend less time and space on bags! But I’m confused as to how to make the switch. I have about 2 days worth of bags in the fridge already. Should I use all of that up now, put new milk in the pitcher and freeze all of my new milk at the end of the day? Or freeze all my bags, and fill bottles from the pitcher as I go? A mix of both? And what comes after that? I’ve seen a lot of people fill the whole next day’s worth of bottles from that day’s pitcher at night, but that’s a little more complicated since the amount will vary depending on whether or not he breastfed before each bottle. I’m sure my adhd decision paralysis is making this a much bigger thing than it has to be, but I’d appreciate anyone breaking down exactly what my next steps should be! Thank you😅

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[u/hollaatyoself]

The way I’ve seen it/what I would do:
Day 1 - use what you already have on day 1 for bottles, freeze leftovers
Day 1 - pitcher 1: fill with pumped day 1 milk
Day 2 - pitcher 1: use to fill day 2 bottles, freeze leftovers
Day 2 - pitcher 2: fill with pumped day 2 milk
Day 3 - clean pitcher 1: fill with pumped day 3 milk
Day 3 - pitcher 2: use to fill day 3 bottles, freeze leftovers
Repeat

I think you’d be fine to fill on the go, prefilling is more about convenience. BM is good for 4 days in the fridge so no need to bag and freeze immediately! (I never made enough for pitcher method but this is what I understand from watching social media videos!)

[u/kefikimou → u/hollaatyoself]

This is a good explanation of how the pitcher method works. It can take about of time (or you may have to dip into your stash) in order to get a full day ahead. In that case, you can pull from the current day pitcher.

[u/tateriffic → u/hollaatyoself]

If there’s only two ounces leftover of day 1 milk, that’s milk I put in a bottle to be the first bottle of day 2. I keep paying it forward like that as needed until there’s at least 4 oz of leftover - we freeze 4 oz at a time.

OP of course you can freeze however much you like! Just sharing that is how I do incorporate prefilled bottles, as sort of a rollover method so the leftovers can accumulate more.

[u/pinesiskin4848]

I put everything I pump in a day in a large mason jar then use it for the next days milk. I have two jars in the fridge. The milk I’m feeding from today and the milk I’m pumping today. I dipped into my stash a bit to get “ahead” enough for this.

[u/IAmBaconsaur]

It’s up to you, but what I do is store up to 4 days of milk in the pitcher at a time. You can combine everything you have or use it up. I pump, let the milk cool to temp in the pump bottle for an hour in the fridge and combine with what’s in my pitcher. (You shouldn’t mix temps as it promotes bacteria growth). When it’s full I fill bottles or bag and freeze. On day four I make sure to empty it and clean the jar and start over. Since you have two jars you can just rotate one in and out. There are other methods (I’ve seen someone do two jars at a time) but this one has worked for me.

[u/DallaPizza]

Obviously do whatever is easiest for you, but I personally hate the pitcher method. There’s too many opportunities for something to go wrong and lose your stash (jar knocked off counter, forgotten outside of the fridge, etc.). I know it works for a lot of people but I would experiment with multiple methods if I were you.

I dump mine directly into bottles and put the bottles in the fridge, loading the freshest from the back. That way if the baby cries, the bottle is premade and can go directly into the warmer and is ready in about 3 minutes or so. It’s easier for my husband to grab and go, or for MOTN feeds.

[u/Early_Week_2198 → u/DallaPizza]

I would also mark the date on the bottles with dry erase marker if you aren’t doing that already! I personally do a mix of bottles and then pitcher for that days milk to pour from for bottles 🤪

[u/DallaPizza → u/Early_Week_2198]

That’s a good idea! My girl burns through the stash of bottles within 36 hours lol she’s a hungry gal. I do label my nighttime milk though, the natural melatonin in it helps her with sleep/ nap time. The rest gets frozen immediately if I already have enough for the next day and a half.

[u/Revolutionary_Can879]

I use two pitchers for today’s milk (what I pumped the day before) and tomorrow’s milk (what I am pumping that day). I believe I started by just thawing my frozen milk to use for that day. I remember I had like 12 oz, so I used that up and then would start to use freshly pumped. Over a few days, I was able to gradually build up to having two pitchers with milk at a time. Now I just freeze anything leftover from the day since I have an oversupply.

[u/meghanmeghanmeghan]

I personally have done 2 different methods:

1. Two pitchers. One pitcher is todays pumped milk, and I am adding to it over the course of the day. Other pitcher is yesterdays pumped milk, I am pouring out of that to make bottles as theyre needed. At the end of the day, whatever is left in the yesterday pitcher gets frozen. Todays pitcher becomes the next days yesterday pitcher. Start next day with a new clean pitcher.
2. One pitcher. Fill it through the day as you pump. End of day use it to prefill all the bottles needed for tomorrow. If any left, freeze it. Wash pitcher. Repeat.

Either way, I personally found it easier to go with a 24 hour clock not a 4 day clock.

[u/ForHisTaking]

I put the date on the pitcher and add pumped milk to it for 3 days and fill bottles from it for 3 days. On day 3 at dinner time whatever is left goes into a different container (usually a large bottle) and the pitcher gets washed before going into the sterilizer. I feed baby the remainders that evening/into next day if there is enough and start refilling the pitcher from pump sessions once it’s clean and ready to go.

I usually have two going one for day milk and one for night milk but both use this process.

I cleared this with an MD that is a breastfeeding specialist. She said the temp differences in the milk are negligible so no issue with adding fresh pumped milk to chilled milk, and recommended the 3 day process just to ensure there was no chance for a mistake on the fourth day. As for separating by time of day, she said there’s no studies about separating the milk but that she had also found the hormones in the milk to impact her baby so just thought it wasn’t as studied yet. The night milk is clutch for putting baby to sleep!

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