Frozen Milk Nightmare

Enjeneer · November 2013

So lately LO has been extra fussy with the bottles DH gives her once a day (to get her ready for daycare) and I think I know the problem. We recently started giving her frozen milk in the bottle (as opposed to what I pump that night) and even though the first one we gave her tasted fine, I tasted the milk we reheated last night before giving it to her and it was nasty. Not sure if it went bad or I have a lot of that enzyme that makes it soapy when frozen, but it was gross. So we basically tried to give her nasty tasting milk (worst parents ever) aaaaand now I'm worried that the 100 ounces I have stored in the freezer is all a waste!!! Oh and daycare starts next week, as if I wasn't stressed enough about it!!! FML.

Sorry, I guess this was kind of an AW post, but also a warning to those storing milk, taste it sporadically!!! Jeeze.

LokiLahve · November 2013

Great...today is the second day if daycare and 2 of the bottles I sent were thawed milk from the freezer. And if course I didn't think to smell/taste it. Now I'm going to stress about it all day.

Enjeneer · November 2013

Crap sorry LokiLahve! I know you just started LO in daycare too! I'm sure yours is fine though, I totally didn't mean to stress you out about it

LokiLahve · November 2013

No need to be sorry. If anything it's a good thing for me to realize...I'll be testing the next thawed bottles now!
I don't start work till thurs so if I have to go get her if she refuses a bottle today I can

...is it bad a part of me is now hoping she does refuse it so I have a good reason to go pick her up early?

Enjeneer · November 2013

Haha nice! I think that's a GREAT excuse to get her early!!

MitsB707 · November 2013

I didn't know frozen breastmilk could be "soapy" or go bad like that. That sucks. Do you defrost it in the fridge first and then warm it up? I only have about 20 oz frozen that we rotate through on Mondays. Are you going to be sending fresh milk each day? I usually pump enough milk each day for daycare the next day, freeze what I pump on Friday, Saturday night, and Sunday night. On Sunday morning I take the oldest milk from the freezer and defrost it in the fridge for daycare on Monday. We haven't had any issues with daycare thus far.

silvercamaro77 · November 2013

Most likely it is a lipase issue and some babies don't mind it. There is a way to treat the BM before storing that helps prevent it from tasting bad. You can search kellymom for lipase and find the recommendations.

Sorry you're having to deal with it!

LokiLahve · November 2013

@maritza707 are you freezing Friday's then thawing that same milk for Monday? It should be fine refrigerated over the weekend. Then you would only need to freeze sat & sun for your stash.
Unless you're thawing something older than Friday...then I guess that makes sense.
I hadn't even thought about milk for Monday after the weekend of nursing. I guess I'll add another thing to my list of shit to think about. :-?

Enjeneer · November 2013

We we're just defrosting it in a bowl of hot water from the tap to warm it up. Yes Kellymom says we could treat it by almost boiling it each time I pump and THEN freezing it but damn, that's a lot of work for a FT working mom!

I'm going to defrost more bags and try them today, if they are all gross I will have to give LO milk from what I pumped at work the day before because I won't have a stash anymore. Aaaaand now I'm going to cry.

I was going to pump at work anyways, but I wanted that frozen stash so I could stay a week or so ahead.

BelhurstBride · November 2013

Ugh, that is a nightmare! I hope it turns out to be a fluke!

MitsB707 · November 2013

@lokilahve I defrost the oldest frozen milk for Monday. That way it's cycling through the old and nothing really ever gets too old. Friday's milk will end up cycling through to a Monday in a couple weeks.

@jengivens Why don't you try defrosting in the fridge and in the bowl and see if there is a difference in taste? At this point, is there anything to lose?

Enjeneer · November 2013

Good point @Maritza707 I'll try it today

V&G101808 · November 2013

@jengivens what I've read online about other mothers who have lipase issue, is to pump milk on a day you're home and keep it in the fridge. Do a periodic taste test, maybe every hour to see when it goes "bad" then you have that long to scald it. I've read of some moms having 12 hours so that would give you time to work, pump, go home, and then scald it without losing what you pumped that day...

Sorry you're going through this!

carrotcake06 · November 2013

That sucks, I'm sorry.

FWIW, my thawed milk smells and tastes way different than fresh. It's not a lipase issue bc it's not soapy or metallic, just more...intense, if you will. It's not sour smelling, so it's not bad, but it's definitely different than fresh.

I like pp suggestion of testing it every hour or so to see when the tipping point is. I know that I can't leave my milk in the fridge fresh for more than two days or it goes bad, when guidelines say it should still be good.

LokiLahve · November 2013

@carrotcake06 wow only 2 days refrigerated? That's nuts...sorry. Do you have it stored in the back away from the doors?
I had one in there for 12 days and it still smelled and tasted fine. (I tested it out of curiosity, but still dumped it because it was so old.)

carrotcake06 · November 2013

LokiLahve said:
@carrotcake06 wow only 2 days refrigerated? That's nuts...sorry. Do you have it stored in the back away from the doors?
I had one in there for 12 days and it still smelled and tasted fine. (I tested it out of curiosity, but still dumped it because it was so old.)

I know it's a major pita bc I have to freeze frequently. I store it all the way in the back of the fridge and our fridge is at a good temp.

We actually bought a deep freeze this time bc I'm paranoid my frozen milk will deteriorate more quickly too.

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