Milk Vault: Managing Your Breast Milk Supply

The Pool Model

Milk Vault uses a pool-based inventory model. Every time you pump, the volume is added to your active fridge pool — a running total of fresh milk available for immediate use. When you're ready to freeze, you pull from the fridge pool into dated freezer bags. This mirrors how most parents actually manage their stash and removes the need to track individual bottles.

Adding Pumping Sessions

Tap + Add Session on the Milk Vault screen to log a new pump. You can record:

• Volume (oz or ml): Total yield for the session
• Duration: How long you pumped — optional, but useful for trend analysis
• Which breast(s): Left, right, or both
• Pump type: Single, double-electric, manual, or hands-free
• Notes: Anything you want to remember about the session

Volume is automatically added to your fridge pool. Your running total updates instantly.

Fridge Pool Operations

The fridge pool represents all fresh milk available for immediate use. From here you can:

Freezer Bag Management

The Freezer section lists all your frozen bags sorted by date (oldest first, to encourage FIFO). Each bag shows:

• Volume and pump date
• Expiry guidance shown by the active surface for each storage location
• Status: available, thawed, or used

Thawing a Bag

Tap a frozen bag and select Mark as Thawing. The bag moves to a “Thawed” state and Chirpy tracks elapsed time; follow current clinical and local food-safety guidance for use, freezing, and refreezing.

Bulk Add

If you've already pumped and stored milk outside of Chirpy, use Bulk Add to quickly enter your existing inventory. You can add multiple bags at once with different dates and volumes — no need to enter them one by one.

Storage Locations

Chirpy tracks milk across three storage types:

• Fridge: Fresh pumped milk with freshness guidance shown in the active surface
• Freezer: Frozen bags with location-specific freshness guidance
• Cooler: Milk in a travel cooler bag with active-surface freshness guidance

You can customise these with custom location names. For example, add a second fridge at a caregiver's home or a separate mini-fridge in baby's room.

Daily Milk Verdict & Charts

The Trends section gives you a rolling 7-day view of your milk supply and consumption. The Daily Milk Verdict summarises each day as:

• Surplus: You pumped more than baby consumed — green indicator
• Balanced: Supply and demand are roughly matched
• Deficit: Baby consumed more than you pumped - prompt to review schedule or supplement

The chart also shows your average yield per session and a 7-day trend arrow so you can see if supply is increasing, stable, or declining.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Pro to use Milk Vault?

Yes — Milk Vault is a Pro feature. Basic pumping session logging is available on the free plan, but the fridge pool model, freezer bag tracking, bulk add, and the Daily Milk Verdict require Chirpy Pro.

Can I switch between oz and ml?

Yes. Go to Settings -> Units to switch between imperial (oz) and metric (ml). All existing records are converted automatically.

What guidelines does Chirpy follow for storage times?

Chirpy surfaces storage guidance and freshness alerts to support your workflow. Storage times vary by local health guidance, so confirm final decisions with your clinician or health authority.