Medela® CSF Bags
by medela
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Our Price: $18.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.98 (click here) Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Medela® CSF Bags
Customer Review: Was disappointed with Medela - try Lansinoh
Summary: 3 Stars
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!Customer Review: Detest these bags!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought these thinking it would make my life easier to pump directly into the bag. These bags are nothing but a headache for me. Here's why:
1. Setting the bag down when attached to the pump is fine if single pumping but nigh impossible to do with only one hand, as is the case in double pumping. I prefer to use bottles for pumping (because I double pump) and then transfer the milk to a bag.
2. The twist tie closure is ridiculous. It simply does not make a leak-proof seal and is quite cumbersome to do. I've had many bags seep milk out. This is probably because I've been lying them down because they are easier to store and thaw when flat. And who uses twist ties anymore anyway? Zip locks are the way to go.
3. Getting the milk out of the bag is not as easy as with other bags, either. I've been unable to tear the intended spot to use the pour spout and even if you use scizzors, you have to tip the bag upside down (expecting the twist tie to hold), so you can tear without spilling and aim for the bottle, another challenge in the presence of gravity. My husband just unties the top and pours it out the top but reports that this is difficult to achieve, too. Especially since the bag is flimsy.
4. Opening the sealed bag to add the milk is a challenge and I had a bag tear wide open across the face of it during this process.
Obviously, I dislike this product. I've gone through a package of them trying to give them a chance but I only come to dislike them more and more. What do I like? Lansinoh bags. They are ziplock and thick, easy to use, easy to freeze and store flat, easy to thaw. And they are a trusted name in breastfeeding. Medela now has a ziplock top that allows pumping into the bag if you want that feature but I have not tried them myself yet.
Customer Review: yuck- terrible
Summary: 1 Stars
I tried every type of bag/storage system and this was by far the most complicated. Don't get me wrong... The medella pump is awesome. They failed when designing these bags. The idea is that you can just pump into the bags and throw them in the freezer. The problem is that first of all, the twist tie design doesn't create all that great of a seal on the pump. Then since the bags don't have any kind of footing (for lack of a better word) you need to keep them upright like in a cup to try and maipulate them closed. They only hold up to 5-6ozs, which is ok for a few months but soon wasn't enough. Don't even try and lay them flat in the freezer until they are completly frozen solid which by the way is the best way to freeze the milk bags for better organized storing.
I fortunately was blessed with an overabundance of milk. I tried every brand of storage bags, breast pads and basically everything related to this topic in order to find the most dependable, easy to use and cost effective products.
I strongly urge you to try LANSINOH. These bags stand up on their own, are made from thick plastic, have double ziploc tops and can hold (they are marked for 6oz) around 8-9ozs. These bags NEVER leaked unlike all the other brands. They were sold convienently at my local supermarket (Babiesrus does not carry them).
I currently have a huge deep freezer in my garage filled to the top with frozen breastmilk. This amount should carry us well over my daughters first birthday, and I can stop pumping now (7months). I am excited to get my body back to myself and very happy that my daughter can still received nutritious breast milk.
Customer Review: Nightmare to Seal
Summary: 2 Stars
We got these bags with our Medela Pump in Style breastpump, and they're a nightmare to seal. They come with big twist ties, and you are supposed to roll the bag down several times like the bags you put freshly ground coffee in at the grocery store. All the rolling reduces the amount of milk you can put in each one. Then, when you're done rolling, you have to fold the twist ties to seal. Then they still leak, or air gets inside them. We had a bunch in the freezer before we realized that they all had big puffs of air in them. The Gerber bags are much better-- they have a ziplock seal and a handing self-standing base.These bags are nice & thick, I'll give them that, and we didn't worry about double-bagging, BUT we did find out that my milk is not freezer compatible. I'd never heard of this, but check it out yourself before you invest in a lot of milk-freezing supplies. Apparently some women's milk has a weird reaction when it's frozen, and when you thaw it, the milk has a soapy smell & taste. It's not spoiled, just altered somehow. We read about it in some books and on some Web sites, and they were just like, "This may happen, but it doesn't effect the milk nutritionally so don't worry about it." But my son HATES the taste and cried when we tried to feed it to him. I don't blame him. My husband and I both tried it and it's terrible. We had to throw all the frozen milk out, and now we have to freeze milk only in glass or hard plastic containers. No bags at all.
Customer Review: These work best when you are using a compatible pump
Summary: 4 Stars
When I was using the hospital grade Medela double electric pump these were the easiest bags to use. They attach directly to the pump, then you just seal it and freeze it. Very easy. The bags are nice and heavy so I never worry about double bagging. The only thing I don't like is that due to the twist tie system they don't freeze completely flat so defrosting takes a bit longer . The other problem with the bags not freezing flat is that its harder to store in the freezer. Most of my freezer is filled with plastic tubs which are stuffed with these bags. I've never had a problem with the milk tasting funny after thawing.I switched to using the Avent Isis pump ( it actually works better!) so now these bags are less convenient. The Avent bags are easier to use with the Avent pumping system but they are much thinner than the Medela bags and I don't trust them not to leak. I've also tried the Gerber ziplock bags and I like that they can freeze flat ( I put them inside ziplock sandwich bags just in case). I've never had trouble with them leaking but I've heard from a number of other people who have had the Gerber bags leak.
The Medela bags don't work with the Avent Isis ( the milk gets stuck at the top) so I just pump into a bottle and then pour it into the bag. At least these bags are heavy so I trust that they won't leak. I hate the pour system though. I think the little part that you are supposed to tear off is difficult to use. I can never get it to tear.