CSF Breastmilk Bags - 50 Pack

These are the only bags I used (and I tried them all) that didn't split in the freezer. The Avent bags tell you to double bag and the Gerber bags are very hard to open when they are frozen which makes it hard to add milk later. The Gerber bags also don't instruct you to double bag so I lost some milk when the bag split. The twist ties on the CSF bags work, but I felt more comfortable using an Avent clip to keep them closed. You could also use a barrette or paper clip to do this.

As a happy owner of the Medela Pump In Style Advanced, naturally I automatically thought to buy the Medela breast milk bags as you would assume they would be the best available. After using these bags for the last three months, I am not so sure. Now, while the twist ties can be a bit cumbersome, it really doesn't take any more time than attaching bottles and then pouring your milk into another bag. However, my concern arises in the sterility of the milk and leakage issues. Somehow, simply using a twist tie does not seem to be the most sterile way to secure our "liquid gold"; furthermore, it is VERY important to be sure the bag is always standing straight up lest the milk begin pouring out - not always the easiest task. Also, when defrosting, I would rather have a bag that was fully sealed to prevent even the possibility of water entering the milk. Regarding the tear off space at the bottom; never once has my husband been able to accomplish this without using scissors or ultimately giving up and opening the twist tie. I love the idea, however the reality for us has not been practical or efficient. Certainly after 3 months we developed a working system with these bags but I was never fully convinced of the safety of this milk. I recently tried the Lansinoh bags and find them to be much more convenient. With a double zip closure, fully sterilized heavy duty plastic, the ability to stand unsupported or to lie flat, and finding it extraordinarily easy to be sure all the air is extracted, Lansinoh has won me over. Plus, they're a little cuter and say "My Mommy's Milk" in big letters. And they're cheaper than Medela! What more could you ask? I've had friends who have tried Gerber, and strangely they all said those bags made their milk smell soapy (possible with any plastic bag but for 7 of them Gerber was the culprit). Hope this helps and good luck!

i would give this a 0 star if there's a choice. i got a medela pis advanced at home and loved it, so i naturally assumed the storage bags would be superior to others. It's not that hard to use once you do it once, but complex enough to have an instruction sheet for new users. I came home from the hospital with a 2 day old baby, physically exhausted, dead tired, sleepy, and I have to hold up the 2 parts and read the instruction and figure out how to use it!! Before I get into the review, let me walk through the steps it takes to pump/store/use for this product: it's a bag that requires you to insert a wire into 2 holes on the bag, peel open the corner, fit it under the pump or pour milk into it directly, seal it by rolling the top a few times. Twist the metal wire to seal it. once frozen, you thaw it in the fridge over 6-12 hours, then twist open at the bottom. Here's what's wrong with this bag: - The steps seem simple enough, but it's for moms who have plenty of time, who are wide awake and alert at 2am and have 2 free and steady hands (who have the patience to insert a wire into 2 holes, peel the corner, and for storage must sloooowly squeeze out air and roll down the top of the bag and make sure there's no leakage), and able to do all this quickly under dim lighting at night. For me, i'm a busy mom (yes with only one baby, I hardly have time to eat or go to bathroom), I was severely sleep deprived in the first 4 months of my baby's life. Every minute becomes precious and since I pump 4-6x a day at the beginning, medela bags were a horrible addition to my busy life (btw pumping itself already took up an hour a day for me, not counting the time of washing bottles). - 2 parts are involved in Medela, the metal wire, and the bag itself. My favorite brand, Lansinoh, has a simple double locked zip bag, you pull to open, pump into it, and seal/ store. - Medela bags take up more space to store. it's practically a plastic bag with liquid in it, so it's almost spherical once frozen. The other brand I use (zip bags) can be laid flat and stacked on top of each other, saves freezer space - Takes longer to thaw. Because medela has this unique thick shape that can't be easily stacked, it also takes much longer to completely thaw. The other brand I use is flat and thin, the thickness is about a third of an inch when laid flat, which means it thaws a lot quicker in the fridge, or if you put it under cool runny water it'll thaw in just a moment. - The medela bag is 150 cc, my other storage bags can accomodate 180cc. Since it isn't cheap to store, I prefer to store 180cc at a time. My baby eats a lot more than that a day anyway. - There's a little dent at the bottom of the medela bag so that you can peel open at the bottom to pour milk into a bottle. Theoretically it sounds simple enough, but in reality it isn't as graceful as it sounds. My fingers would slip, hard to gauge how much force to use so I either couldn't open it or ripped it with too much force and had milk splashing all over. Sometims doesn't work one way or another with my fingers, I had to use scissors. Either scissors or fingers, the problem of germs/bacteria contamination is in my head. The zipbags, on the other hand, is simple as open the zip lock at the top and pour. - If you can't finish the whole medela bag, you can't restore the left over milk in that bag for rest of the day. Once the bottom is opened it's opened. the zip bags on the other hand can be re-sealed until you use it the next time (within 24 hrs) In summary, the design of this storage bag is flawed, archaic and lack convenience for modern working women. If I were a mom years ago I'd probably appreciate this product. Now that there are other products available in the market that are clearly convenient and easy to use, I'm not even sure i want this product even if it's offered to me for free. I'm using Lansinoh and it's cheaper ($5.99 for 25 bags), and it saves me half the time. I don't have to juggle 2 different parts, piece it together, carefully roll down the top of the bag to prevent spills, etc. I also can handle a lot more bags in the freezer b/c it can be stacked easily. I haven't tried other brands besides Medela and Lansinoh, but I can't imagine any brands can be worse than Medela.

While waiting for these to arrive (I ordered the replacements because a few free ones came with my Pump in Style Advanced pump), I ran out completely and went to my local drug store to buy some bags. I bought the Lansinoh ones and was much more impressed with them. What I don't like about the CSF bags is the twist tie closure. I worry that I did not close it properly or that it will leak if stored other than upright. When thawing, I have to be really careful so as not to allow warm water to get in the top. I may be a paranoid first time mom, but why take a chance? What is it about the Lansinoh bags that I particularly like? I love the double zipper closures. Makes it easy to make sure it is sealed properly. I stack these flat in the freezer which takes no space and there is no need for plastic storage systems. You can even stack them (once frozen) in a rectangular tupperware and flip through them like a card catalogue to find the earliest date or the volume you want to use (a snack or a meal). Also, when you want to defrost them, the flattened bag is thin, defrosts easily and quickly and you know it won't leak out because of the zipper closures. The 50-pack CSF bags are still on my shelf.