Breastmilk Storage Bags: Which One Works Best for Me?!

Namastè!

I hope you are all thriving and experiencing copious amounts thereof this evening.

Let's talk breastmilk storage. Bottles are great, but sometimes I need something more portable. I'm a milk donor so I use baggies sealed in a larger bag for donations. The price of bottles would add up quickly when I give up donations in 150-ounce increments.

All this led me to an experiment, when I realized I'd only tried one brand of bags. (I'm a Medela momma to my core. My pumps, accessories, cleaning, and storage supplies are all Medela and I've never had an issue.)

I decided to get testy.

I grabbed the keys and told Hubby, let's do a thing. We got, on a blind store run, the following bag brands:

Nuk
Lansinoh
Parents' Choice
HEFTY  (as my wild card)

NOW...my Medela bags are my go-to brand. I generally use 4 to 5 per session, and I can pump directly into them. No bottles or transfers, which is a lifesaver when I'm traveling. I only wish they held more, because it can be tricky to change bags while pumping. They hold 5 ounces, 7 if you push. They are strong and I've never had a leak. They freeze well, although if you prefer to freeze them flat, don't put more than 5 ounces in them. I rate these bags a 5, and I only wish they made an 8 ounce size so I wouldn't have to change my bag mid pump.

The Nuk Seal'n Go bags were a little oops purchase by Hubby Namastè (also known as Dad Namastè). I was out of bags and we were traveling, so he went out and got these. They are solid! Great seal, good storage amount (6 ounces, 10 if you push it), and they come in a bag. I was able to toss the bag and just put the sealed bag of baggies in my pump case. Unfortunately there is no adaptor for these bags, so I had to transfer. No biggie, just inconvenient. I won't use these for donor milk because I prefer not to transfer that milk much, if at all. Less handling means less chance for contamination. I will, however, use them for Baby Namastè's stash. He drinks 8 ounce servings and these would be perfect. I rate them 4 stars overall.

The Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags are quite formidable! They're marketed as the strongest bags available and boast a double zip seal and reinforced sides. They hold 6 ounces, 9 or 10 if you push. I was immediately impressed with their tamper-evident feature--the bags must be opened by tearing away little tabs. This ensures each bag is sterile, which makes them a good candidate for donor milk storage even though I feverishly avoid too many transfers. These bags just seem SOLID. They can be frozen flat, even if you put more than 6 ounces. I give these bags a solid 4 and a half stars. (I wish they had an adaptor for direct pump!!!)

The Parents' Choice Breastmilk Storage Bags were another Hubby Namastè purchase. (Can I seriously tell you how much I love this guy?! He has zero issue going out for breastmilk bags or flanges or even Chick-fil-A--and he's a vegetarian so that is a big thing! I love, love, love him. I digress but that's important.) He went to Walmart and our usual, the Medela bags, was sold out. These bags are good. They're not extra reinforced or double sealed, but they hold a good quantity of liquid gold (6 ounces, 8 or 9 if you push) AND they cost less than  other brands. I also really dug their purple design. I actually used all of these bags, continuing even after my experiment! I give them 5 stars. I just like them, and if they had an adaptor they would be perfect.

The Hefty One-zip Storage Bags were my wild card. I generally do not use these for milk storage... but I was asked to give it a spin for the sake of exploring all the options, for moms everywhere. I pumped about 16 ounces of milk. I used sandwich-size bags for the milk, sealed inside quart size bags with the sliding closure. I was surprised that, provided the smaller bags only hold about 4 ounces of milk each, this was indeed a viable option. I froze the sandwich bags on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (as I do all my milk) then immediately put them into the larger quart size bag. I don't personally endorse this method of milk storage. However if a mom's budget is extremely tight, these bags run maybe $2 for the sandwich bags (50) and $3 for the quarter size sliding zipper bags (25). Store brand is almost certainly a bit less. I already had these on hand.

All in all, I will likely stick with my usual bags, Medela and Lansinoh. I freeze the portions of milk in them and then seal them in the larger Hefty bags labeled with week and total amount.

I hope I've taken some of the guesswork out of choosing your personal favorite bag!

Namastè!

- Tayè K.