Thawing breast milk from freezer to fridge

andreaAL11

I looked up this question in search and found the same question but no answers and discussion was closed.
So I'm confused on how it works, but I've been thawing some frozen milk in the fridge all day, but guidelines say it can only store for 24 hours. It's a lot of milk so do I have to use it all by tonight? Or how long does it last? It hasn't been sitting out at all, I'm wondering if that's the 24 hour rule.

Thanks for the help!

klirwin82

I thaw milk at night for the next day.

Around 8pm when I'm making the next days bottles I'll put the frozen bag in hot water so it defrosts just enough that I can pour it into a bottle, I don't let it get warm or even room temp. Then the next day that bottle will be consumed some time between 8am and 6pm.

Originally i tried defrosting in the fridge but it took so long and I got confused about the 24 hour rule too and I don't want to have to toss any. I did it a few times, we went over the 24 hours by a few hours, I smelled it before giving it to him. It was fine but doing hot water defrost & bottle prep is so much easier.

tarheelgirl8

I'm not 100% sure but I thought the clock started ticking after it was defrosted. I even read that if the power goes out its still considered "frozen" if there are any ice crystals remaining.

I pull it out of the freezer in the AM then send it to daycare the next AM to be used that day. So I guess the last bottle has been out of the freezer for about 30 hours by the time she drinks it. DD has never refused it or gotten sick. Again I'm not sure if that's the best way, just what I do. I'll be interested to hear what others say!

ETA: I defrost in the fridge. It never sits out on the counter or put in warm or hot water

dtaded13

I watch my sisters kids and when her youngest was bf she brought me frozen bags I put In the fridge and when he needed a bottle I ran a bag under hot water til it was warm then fed him.
We used them all the same day so I'm not sure of the 24 hr rule lol

Leahauc

I think the 24 hours starts after the milk is thawed. We are currently mixing thawed milk with fresh milk due to excessive lipase in the frozen milk I just recently found out about, so I use about half a bag of thawed milk per bottle. I've yet to have an issue with the milk going bad. We thaw the milk in the fridge, obviously can't run it under warm water bc it's multi use. But when in doubt, smell it.

sdheft619

I put mine in the fridge the night before to thaw. Most of the time they are still partially frozen. It's amazing how fast the unfreeze running under hot water.