Question About Breast Milk....

[Blackcat31]

So I have a DCM who breast feeds her little one. She spent a good deal of time pumping while on maternity leave so she could build up her supply for when she returned to work and just in case she suddenly was no longer to breast feed which happened to her with her first child. Breast fed until the child was 4 months and then had to stop as she was not making enough to support her DD growth.

So she pumped like crazy with this one since she was producing so much milk. She simply froze the extra and now that her little guy is nearing one she has been nursing less and using up her supply as she plans to have him on a cup and off breast milk altogether by the beginning of August.

So anyways, she said that she has been having trouble when thawing out the frozen milk as she said it has been curdled or sour smelling. She said just this weekend alone she thawed out 4 bags that were "bad" and all from different dates.

Does anyone know what causes this? Besides the obvious of improper strage and improper thawing methods...none of which is the issue as she said there are random bags of milk that seem just fine.

None of this milk has been frozen longer than 4 months at the very most so any ideas as to why frozen breast milk could go bad like that?

If it makes a difference, she is a complete non-dairy person so there is no dairy in her diet at all.

[cheerfuldom]

here is THE sight for all thing breastfeeding.

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/

reasons why stored milk may have gone bad

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/lipase-expressedmilk/

[JustAMom]

She could have a problem with excess lipase in her milk. If that is the case, she should scald the milk before freezing it.

[Blackcat31]

Thanks ladies! I knew you would know!

[SunshineMama]

So I have a DCM who breast feeds her little one. She spent a good deal of time pumping while on maternity leave so she could build up her supply for when she returned to work and just in case she suddenly was no longer to breast feed which happened to her with her first child. Breast fed until the child was 4 months and then had to stop as she was not making enough to support her DD growth.

So she pumped like crazy with this one since she was producing so much milk. She simply froze the extra and now that her little guy is nearing one she has been nursing less and using up her supply as she plans to have him on a cup and off breast milk altogether by the beginning of August.

So anyways, she said that she has been having trouble when thawing out the frozen milk as she said it has been curdled or sour smelling. She said just this weekend alone she thawed out 4 bags that were "bad" and all from different dates.

Does anyone know what causes this? Besides the obvious of improper strage and improper thawing methods...none of which is the issue as she said there are random bags of milk that seem just fine.

None of this milk has been frozen longer than 4 months at the very most so any ideas as to why frozen breast milk could go bad like that?

If it makes a difference, she is a complete non-dairy person so there is no dairy in her diet at all.

It all depends on how you store it. If it is stored in her freezer/fridge combo, then every time you open up the door it can mess with the temperature slightly. Even so- 4 months to spoil seems a little early to me, unless she was storing it in the door if her freezer. I stored mine in a deep sub zero freezer and it still smells fine even 12 months later. Also- how is she defrosting it? It needs to be defrosted in warm water and used immediately-discarding the rest. If you leave it out, or even in the fridge to thaw out then it can smell funny, since some of the enzymes that keep it fresh are killed when it is frozen. Defrosted milk does always have a different smell than fresh milk, but there is an obvious spoiled milk smell if it is unusable.

[SunshineMama]

I just caught the "besides the obvious" part of your post. It could be diet related, but I don't think diet would cause it to smell spoiled. Does she eat a lot of veggies? I know asparagus and broccoli can have a slight effect.

[akpayne]

sounds like excess lipase- milk needs to be scalded before freezing.