I have many bottles of frozen breastmilk stored in my freezer. They are now saying due to the hurricane that we may loose power and if this happens it could be out for a week. Has anyone had to deal with this? was there any way to keep the milk frozen for a long time without having a backup generator? It's not just a few bottles, it's about 10! Any hekp would be appreciated.
we are getting dry ice from a beer distributor. thanks mamas! wish us luck!
I have heard of using dry ice to save the contents of refrigerators and freezers during power outages. I bet there's tons of info if you do a search.
Hi phillymama-
You might call a local hospital if they have a nicu...I pumped and brought in breast milk years ago for my preemie twins...and they had a HUGE freezer...and supplied sterile water bottles that I 'dumped' and placed my milk in them...I was given labels with MY name as well as the kiddos names.
You also might try your local fire/rescue folks...when kiddos came home on various 'medical' equipment...monitors...that is where I was directed to go if an outage was going to last longer than the battery back ups as they had generators there (my insurance company declined to pay for a generator even though one twin came home on a vent!! Damn insurance).
Best Luck!
Thoughts will be with all on east coast thru this storm!
Michele/cat
If I were you, I would do exactly what Cheryl wrote (we think a lot a like, Cheryl!). I have a deep-freeze, so I'd put the milk in the middle of the freezer with frozen meat and veggies all on top. I hear that you can lose power for 4-5 days and still have frozen food inside as long as you don't open the lid. My friend's house burned down and his freezer broke. But the meat inside was still frozen 3 days later!
But if I were real worried or if you don't have a deepfreeze, I'd go to the store and buy some dry ice. Store that in your freezer with the milk. My husband says that the coolness of dry ice falls DOWN, so put the dry ice on top of the milk.
do not open the freezer unless necessary - it will actually keep the food cold or frozen for a while.
If you can't afford a generator - try dry ice...it keeps things frozen for days - that's why places like Omaha Steaks and other meat shipping companies use it...
GOOD LUCK!!!
That's frustrating as I know how much hard work goes into saving up a supply!!!!!! I hope PB&J's suggestion works as I am not sure what else to offer. I was going to say use what's in the freezer while you can but then to keep up supply you'd likely have to pump to save up more - so the problem remains!!!!!!! Best of luck - with this and the hurricane. I hope you and your loved ones stay safe.
I would suggest filling your freezer. If you have nothing else to put in there add bottles of water. The tighter the pack is in the freezer the longer the items will stay frozen. You'll want to get bags of ice along the way to pack in there as well. Keep the most important things packed in the middle of everything to stay frozen longer. Do not pull out things and put in a cooler! That will melt things faster, no matter how tightly packed it is, because the outside of the cooler is warm, not cold. Coolers are meant for short trips, not long duration like an actual freezer. Open the doors as little as possible. If you have extra frozen water bottles move them down into the fridge to help sustain a cool temp longer. You can put small bags of ice in the fridge too on a pan to help sustain a cooler temp during longer periods. I you have a separate freezer, pack that with bags of ice or milk jugs partially full (don't want them to bust) and freeze them before the power goes out, IF it goes out. Seems like the news is giving the worst case scenarios and scaring people. I'll be surprised if it turns out to be Armageddon as they're going on about. Just prepare in case.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
