Scalding milk and thrush questions

jess!ca

Hi ladies,

I am battling thrush at the moment.  DD doesn't seem to have it and her pedi won't treat unless she has symptoms.  I'm currently using APNO and leaving it on before feeds so hopefully she gets some of that.  I was using Lotramin previously and it was helping.  Hopefully the APNO kicks it.

Anyway, I have some questions...

Firstly, I've read that you can't freeze and then serve the baby milk pumped during a thrush outbreak.  I am so bummed, because I produce enough to build a nice stash even with DD at daycare... I've been reading that you can scald milk and then freeze it and it is ok to save.  My question is, do you have to scald right after you pump it?  I was assuming yes, since it would be bad to take milk from the fridge or a freezer bag at work, heat it up, then cool it back down again.  What's your process for scalding?

Also, how long into the treatment do I need to keep tossing milk I can't serve right away or scald?  After a week if I have no symptoms left but am still treating to be sure the infection is gone, do I have to keep tossing?  How do I know when it's ok again?

Finally, I have milk from before I knew I had thrush.  How do I know when it started and which milk to "segregate" if I end up saving some, or tossing?  Just from the first day I had symptoms?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks a ton for the help ladies!

indomesticbliss

You need to chuck or scald everything you pump during treatment. I was told to do the same for everything pumped from first day of symptoms (I have ductal yeast right now).

I'm surprised your pedi won't treat....everything I have read and all LC's, 2 midwives and our pedi have said to treat even if LO doesn't have symptoms...

jess!ca

Thanks.

I was surprised too.  I also talked to two LCs and my OB and they all suggested having her treated, but the pedi said their policy is no treatment until she has symptoms, and she has none.  At least with the APNO she's getting some of it from the residual that is left on me.

I will chuck whatever is left over each week (sad, because I've been freezing between 30-60 oz a week...) 

Do you have to scald right after pumping?  Or can you scald milk that is chilled before freezing?

Also, I think I read you can scald thawed milk that was frozen before serving, and just let it cool to warm to serve.  Maybe I will save the pumped stuff and do that.

ProcrastinatingBride

jess!ca:

Hi ladies,

I am battling thrush at the moment.  DD doesn't seem to have it and her pedi won't treat unless she has symptoms.  I'm currently using APNO and leaving it on before feeds so hopefully she gets some of that.  I was using Lotramin previously and it was helping.  Hopefully the APNO kicks it.

Anyway, I have some questions...

Firstly, I've read that you can't freeze and then serve the baby milk pumped during a thrush outbreak.  I am so bummed, because I produce enough to build a nice stash even with DD at daycare... I've been reading that you can scald milk and then freeze it and it is ok to save.  My question is, do you have to scald right after you pump it?  I was assuming yes, since it would be bad to take milk from the fridge or a freezer bag at work, heat it up, then cool it back down again.  What's your process for scalding?

Also, how long into the treatment do I need to keep tossing milk I can't serve right away or scald?  After a week if I have no symptoms left but am still treating to be sure the infection is gone, do I have to keep tossing?  How do I know when it's ok again?

Finally, I have milk from before I knew I had thrush.  How do I know when it started and which milk to "segregate" if I end up saving some, or tossing?  Just from the first day I had symptoms?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks a ton for the help ladies!

We had thrush for about 10 weeks (weeks 3-13).  What I've read is that you can't give LO milk you pumped while you had thrush ONCE NEITHER OF YOU HAS IT ANYMORE.  But it's OK to give LO thrush-milk while you & LO are still being treated for it.

Having said that, I've also read that there aren't any studies that show that babies who were given thrush-milk contracted thrush again from it.  Because our thrush started at a time when I needed to start pumping to build a stash for returning to work, I pumped and froze it anyway. 

We still technically haven't gotten a clean bill of health on the thrush yet (it was "very mild" at her 2 month appt, but I suspect it was gone completely a week or so after that, and we don't have another appt until Monday), so I continue to pump and freeze the milk.  I do mark it all with a "T" so that I know it was pumped while we technically still had thrush, but whatever.  DD has been getting defrosted "thrush milk" for 3 weeks at this point with no indication that the thrush has returned, so my advice would be to pump and keep it, as long as you're marking it so you know its history.

Check out https://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/thrush-expressed-milk.html and https://www.kellymom.com/store/handouts/concerns/thrush-save-milk.pdf.

GL!