Some lactating mothers have all the luck! They’re able to provide a consistent flow, or even overflow, of breast milk for their child and then some! Others, like me, struggle to maintain their supply and watch it slowly diminish. But for the mothers who have freezers packed full of frozen breast milk bags, what can they do with all that is leftover? Especially once their baby is weaned?
Here are a few suggestions, one of which could be life saving for another baby:
Make it into popsicles: Perfect for a teething baby and hot summer days!
Make smoothies: It’s fairly easy to mask/hide breast milk within a nutritional smoothie for your kids (I even hid some in a smoothie for my husband once and he never noticed)! Instead of using regular milk or sugary juice, use your frozen breast milk. It’s a great idea for the summer especially, to help your little one cool down. Check out this quick and easy suggestion from Grasping For Objectivity.
Make lotion: Using an original recipe from an inventive woman named Molly Thomas, you can make your very own hydrating lotion using your leftover breast milk! Though you’ll need to keep it in the fridge. But that’s not a bad idea, since a cold lotion rubbed on dry, aching legs or hands sounds amazing! Check out the reposted recipe here, on Woman Uncensored!
Put it into jewelry: What a unique keepsake to help you remember this time of yours and your baby’s lives! Beyond the Willow Tree is just one company among many who makes this special kind of jewelry and you can check out their styles HERE.
DONATE IT! I never made a ton of extra breast milk but I did manage to pump and save some just in case after having my son. When I didn’t end up using all of the small stash I had, I looked into donating my milk to a mother in need. I was able to find a local Facebook group for this specific purpose and met up with a woman who wasn’t able to give her baby breast milk due to previous breast cancer and a double mastectomy. I felt a little embarrassed for only donating about 54 ounces when other moms were offering hundreds but I knew that milk was liquid gold that someone could still use! It was a great feeling when, months later, that mother texted me a picture of her now 1 year old daughter, thanking me for being one of the women to “step up and help nourish” her baby. Please consider donating your milk!
What other ways have you used your leftover freezer supply of breast milk?