For freezer storage of pumped milk, Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags are sturdy, and they don’t leak when you lay them flat in the freezer, due to their reinforced seams and double zipper seals. And they’re easy to stand on one end while being filled. The bags come in 4- or 6-ounce sizes, with space on the label to write the date they were frozen.
Staff pick
These reliable freezer–storage bags stand up to filling and are reinforced with double zipper seals.
If you have concerns about storing breast milk in plastic, the Mayo Clinic says to just be sure the plastic is BPA-free, which these are. Or, you could choose a food-grade glass container. To freeze her pumped milk, one Wirecutter editor relied on regular Mason jars she already had. You can buy cute glass jars designed specifically for this purpose, as well (we have not tested them).
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These easy-to-use and inexpensive storage containers are great for freezing milk, and with additional parts, they can quickly switch to become feeding bottles.
If you prefer to store your milk in bottles, Dr. Brown’s Breast Milk Storage and Collection Bottles are a personal favorite of our writers. These 4-ounce bottles come in a pack of four, can be stored in the freezer or the fridge, and are easy to fill and store without leaking. You can simply add Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow Anti-Colic Options + Narrow Baby Bottle parts and teat—which we recommend in our guide to the best baby bottles—to feed your baby directly from your storage bottle.
Lansinoh, the company that makes our top-pick baby bottle, also makes a breast-milk-storage bottle that’s compatible with the collar and nipple of the Lansinoh feeding bottle we recommend that new parents try first. The 5-ounce storage bottles come in a pack of four, and they are also intended for fridge or freezer.
Staff pick
This cute cooler comes in five vibrant nylon prints, and it has a food-safe PEVA lining. It can hold two to three 4-ounce bottles upright or two 8-ounce bottles sideways.
When the time comes to venture outside the house, the insulated Storq Super Chill Cooler Bag is an excellent way to bring milk along without having to worry about it going sour. (According to the Mayo Clinic, “freshly expressed breastmilk can be stored in an insulated cooler with ice packs for up to one day.”) This cooler, a favorite of Wirecutter editor Rachel Hurn, collapses down and stores easily. So you can grab it along with a slim ice pack and carry up to three 4-ounce bottles or two 8-ounce bottles inside. It’s compact, and it has a convenient side handle as well as a clear slip pocket for easy daycare labeling.
A final recommendation: You may want to use stick-on name labels to label your daycare bottles and even on-the-go pump parts. We’ve found a variety pack will often last from babyhood into the school-age years—when the labor of love that is pumping breast milk is a distant memory.
Katie Peek contributed reporting.
This article was edited by Alison Rochford, Rachel Hurn, and Kalee Thompson.
