Here’s what one mom who is on a working trip shared about her experience in a hotel’s in Bangkok, where she expressed and stored her milk in the hotel kitchen’s freezer (*if one is using the room minibar, be careful to check that the freezer temperature is cold enough to freeze the milk):

BTW, so funny this morning. I went to the hotel’s freezer to add more ebm (I am currently travelling – thanks to Siaw Fui’s tips). Though I don’t understand Thai, but I heard the chefs/staff whispering (wondering what is on the tray): “xxxx ice-cream xxxx toufu xxx ice-cream…”. Thanks to the ice-cream bag, comes the association with ice-cream!!!
They laughed even more when I told them those are frozen ebm.

Fei Ru

I store about 6 EBM cubes in a zipper bag nicely in a line. Zipped it and folded it nicely. And then abt 12 bars of the EBM bags into a big zipper bag, easier to keep in the freezer.

Of course, you have to sterilise the ice trays. I have been doing for the past 8 months plus and so far so good. Baby is ok and bag no leaking.

(Siaw Fui)

The aiskrim malaysia bags cost (RM1.70 for 100pcs). ..

The bags can only take max approx. 3ozs (just enough of the plastic left for you to seal). No rubber bands or sealing clips needed – just twist the remaining plastic into a knot to tie it but you should only fill the bag up to 3/4 full. This method of sealing works for me but sometimes I detect a small leak. If you’re worried, you may want to store those bags upright in a container. Since it only stores 3ozs of EBM max, I don’t think you need to reseal the bag, right. I’d normally cut off the top portion of the bag before pouring the contents into a bottle to be warmed.

(Suzany)

This photo of frozen ebm is taken from the fridge in the Paed ICU of a Government Hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

All expressed breastmilk should be stored in sterilised containers either made from glass or food grade plastics. Each container should be labelled with the date, time the milk is expressed and if possible, the quantity in each container. If one is storing ebm with other mothers’ ebm (e.g. in hospitals, babysitters), remember to also label with either you or your baby’s name.

1) You have stained your book, your desk, your radio, your keyboard, your company’s annual report before. Lilian stained her Bible too!

2) And if you did any of the above, you have clumsily run out of the pumping sanctuary before — frantically looking for a wet towel to clean up the mess only to discover that you have created quite an impression art with the sprayed milk already dried up on the surface.

3) If you pump in the office, you have battled the initial shyness of taking the X no. of bottles of EBM in your hands, striding past at least a dozen of male colleagues while on your way to the pantry.

4) Your EBM is labelled with your big name and provide a great source of amusement amongst the colleague especially on a gloomy Monday.

5) Your EBM have helped to strike a convenient conversation with the tea lady, the CEO and even the not-so-intelligent colleagues around you.

6) Because you could see your milk qty, with each subsequent pump you mentally compare your milk qty and take great concern over the level of milk output for the day/week. In fact you are only “kiasu” when it comes to this matter.

7) You save every drop of milk you could possibly get your hands on, carefully knocking down every drop of milk from the pump or breast (if you hand express) into the bottle ensuring not a single drop of antibody/nutrient in the EBM is left uncollected.

You are already a multi-tasker when you are both a woman and a mum. But you are even more of a multi-tasker as you pump, boil the water, catch the ASTRO’s world’s birthday, pick up your bawling baby, talking to a friend from Holland, reading and doing manicure altogether, all while the other free hand’s busy collecting those sprayed milk from the other boob.

9) You have the latest gadget for pumping, from breastshell, canggih-manggih pump, leopard print nursing mom (LOL), steriliser, cooler box and still know exactly what you ought to buy to make pumping even easier if you have the money.
10) On weekends, you can be seen rushing to the supermarket aisle to pick up some rarely used nursing tea, herbs and whatever secret remedy you could lay your hands on to increase milk qty.

Another friend is doing embroidery. She can do fantastic embroidery on even the most ordinary jeans. She has one of those machine embroidery designs DIY thing at home and she uses it for stitching on clothes, canvas and even very soft materials like silk.

Meanwhile, another friend is baking cupcakes and her decorations are out of this world. Her cakes must be pre-ordered and she is doing a very good business out of baking.

All the above three friends have passions for things they do and they made them so nice because of their love for their respective hobbies.

So, it is not true that stay at home moms can’t make a living if they do not go to work in regular jobs.

All it takes are some creative ideas, endless pursuits of business leads and a passion and love to do what they want.

They advertise their products on Facebook and it is easy to manage as well. Facebook has made it so easy for moms at home to do business.

A few other friends have set up online shops and they too are making a good living from home. Although some of them need to physically produce something, they are able to juggle as they are based at home.

I personally think it is good to work from home. However, we sometimes miss the adult companies and routine we have as working moms. I have started working two years ago and today, I did not regret staying at home for 12 years to attend to the kids. Important thing to remember is to love what we are doing and whatever option we choose is find.

My friend who read that post wanted to give her son who is about the same age as mine Dutch Lady Friso too. However, she phoned me and asked me if a sudden change can cause constipation. Well, it seems that everyone knows that I have a solution for almost everything related to childcare.

I told her that my son does not have any problems at all because he has a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables in his meals. Moreover the milk contains all the probiotics and prebiotics so it shouldn’t be a problem for any child.

Anyway, I told her to follow the recommended schedule from Dutch Lady Friso in case she still worries. I know that some children and especially babies do have problems if there is a change of milk. So, in my opinion, the best is to gradually introduce the changes to the child. Below is the recommendation from Friso.

Day 1-3
-          Continue regular feeding with current milk formula for 1st, 2nd and 4th feed.
-          Use Friso Gold with Frisoshield for the 3rd feed

Day 4-6
-          Continue regular feeding with current milk formula for 1st and 4th feed.
-          Use Friso Gold with Frisoshield for the 2nd & 3rd feed

Day 7-10
-          Continue regular feeding with current milk formula for 1st feed only
-          Use Friso Gold with Frisoshield for the 2nd , 3rd & 4th feed

Day 11-14
Congratulation! Friso Gold with Frisoshield is now your child’s favourite milk

My son has already finished two tins of the Dutch Lady Friso without any problems. He is now into the third tin. Come to think of it, I think he is one of the easiest kid to take care. He never have problem with constipation, no loose stools and continues to have great appetite since he was born. He is not a fussy eater and will ask for foods when he is hungry.

I think once we parents are less nervous and tense, our kids too will pick up this habit from us. This makes childcare much more fun and relax. The other thing is we shouldn’t be too meticulous about things. Instead, we should allow our child to roam about. I have seen parents who refused to let their child roam in the park or even play in the playground because they are terribly afraid of germs. Frankly, the best is to allow our child to be exposed to nature and also other children so that they built some immunity. Moreover, with the more modern formula milk like Friso Gold with Frisoshield, children are more or less protected and will tend to be much healthier.

(Little boys by nature are very inquisitive creatures and they touch everything, including stray cats when we aren’t looking!)

So, if you are overly worried about your child’s health and in the process, denied him of the fun and joy of running about with his friends or playing in the fields, you may want to offer your child more fresh fruits, lots of healthy foods and milk.

When I take time off from work to pump, I feel tremendously at peace and in tune with myself. May be becoz I hafta concentrate on this act or may be becoz it’s a small break of 20 mins, I often feel relaxed aft coming out of the storeroom with some milk for my baby, whatever the amount is. I have learned to take things slowly through pumping for my baby. (Sze Sze)

A useful tip I got from my friend who used to express milk while at work. Stimulate let down by teasing your nipples with a face towel. That way, you will be able to express comfortably for a shorter time. Another tip is to express while nursing as our body is able to adjust to the demand. Let’s say, you express while you’re nursing at 11.00pm every night, your body will think that is how much your baby needs at night, therefore increases its production of milk to meet the demand (Min)

The method which was shared with me is to form a C with your thumb and forefinger.

Place your hand just above the ariola and gently glide your hand down. Something like the right hand in the middle picture at the bottom (the grey one). Yup, just one hand. It’ll help to stimulate your breast (remember the hanky? )) before you start expressing whether with hand or pump. (Min)