Introduction and a Question

[brazilianpeach]

Hi there! I am a FTM of a wonderful little boy born in November at 32 weeks. He is doing great, growing stronger and stronger. I pump every 3 hours and we've been offering the breast directly twice a day. He sometimes latches, others he just screams at it and prefers the bottle. But it's getting better.

My question is a good problem to have. I produce way more milk than he can drink. I bought a deep freezer but one box has milk that came from the hospital, then it was stored in the regular kitchen freezer before I bought the deep freezer. I am not comfortable using it past the 3 month mark. Unless something changes, and I hope it doesn't, that box will expire in February-March.

Is it possible to donate milk that was already expressed? I found milk banks but they only accept milk expressed after rounds of tests. Mine is already sitting in a freezer. I'd hate to see all that milk go to waste.

[BabyStandish]

Have you tried Human Milk for Human Babies? They have a website and local FB groups.

[brazilianpeach]

Jan 8, 2017 18:52:31 GMT -5 BabyStandish said:

Have you tried Human Milk for Human Babies? They have a website and local FB groups.

I will check them out. Thank you!

[yummeecookee]

Just want to say that I've had success with the HM4HB fb page. There's always mamas willing to accept milk!

[byjove]

I live in a metro area and have had good luck just posting to neighborhood listservs asking if people need milk. Also, I am not sure if you used a doula, but if you did she might know someone that needs the milk.

[ginabini]

Donating is totally awesome and super generous!! But if you were looking to use that milk from the hospital that will expire soon yourself, you could always rotate it out with fresh milk.. So feed him the frozen milk and freeze the fresh stuff. Obviously, if you still have way extra donating is awesome (I'm very jealous!), but that might be a way to help it not go to waste if donating doesn't work out!

[brazilianpeach]

Jan 11, 2017 15:54:25 GMT -5 ginabini said:

Donating is totally awesome and super generous!! But if you were looking to use that milk from the hospital that will expire soon yourself, you could always rotate it out with fresh milk.. So feed him the frozen milk and freeze the fresh stuff. Obviously, if you still have way extra donating is awesome (I'm very jealous!), but that might be a way to help it not go to waste if donating doesn't work out!

Thanks, but I want to try and keep giving him fresh milk as much as possible per NICU recommendation. Especially since he was a preemie they said fresh should always be preferred over frozen. Currently I'm on my third box of frozen milk so he has a healthy stash for emergencies and when I go to work. He drinks 2-3oz a feeding and I pump 5-7 per pumping session so there's always surplus (until he catches up with me!). There is a HM4HB in AZ! I'll spend this weekend looking at expiration dates and come up with a donation schedule.

THANK YOU, everybody. It would have been a crime seeing that milk go to waste!

[hurricanerek]

Hm4hb is great! I actually donate milk just through my local FB breastfeeding page. There's a local mama who comes by to pick up about once a month. She's super generous and usually gives me more storage bags for the next month. It's a beautiful partnership and I hope you're able to find one like it in your area.

[brazilianpeach]

Jan 15, 2017 21:08:21 GMT -5 @clgsquared said:

Fyi I had a 32 weeker also and I bought a huge freezer for all of my extra milk. She is 16 months old now and I only have 1 pumped bag of frozen left.
It's great that you are thinking of donating it, but you just may need it.

Absolutely. I'm not donating right now. I'm just looking for donation alternatives so as the expiration approaches, I know what to do and don't let it go to waste.