Question About Breastmilk

[Unregistered]

I have an 11 month old who solely breastfeeds at home. In the last couple of weeks he has started refusing the bottle here. I have tried switching over to a cup to see if he wants to drink from a cup instead. It is not going too well, so he has been going all day here without drinking anything. Mom insists he is still very much interested in breastfeeding. Could the issue be that he now only wants to breastfeed?
Also, I know once you warm up breastmilk, it cannot be reused. If I don’t warm it up, can it be reused?

[Josiegirl]

My dcbaby is also 11 mo and seems to be self-weaning. I've switched over from trying a 4-5 oz. bottle to using a cup and he's lucky to take an ounce. He's still nursing but dcm says he's losing interest there too. I think it's common around this age. I pour an oz. at a time into the cup I use and keep the rest refrigerated. But I wouldn't let him drink directly from a bottle then reuse that later. Is that what you mean?

[Ariana]

Every single breastfed kid I have ever started at 12 months refused breastmilk at my house, whether it was in a bottle or a cup. My last DCM and I were wondering out loud if freezing the milk or reheating it or something cause the milk to taste weird. It makes no sense!

[Unregistered]

My dcbaby is also 11 mo and seems to be self-weaning. I've switched over from trying a 4-5 oz. bottle to using a cup and he's lucky to take an ounce. He's still nursing but dcm says he's losing interest there too. I think it's common around this age. I pour an oz. at a time into the cup I use and keep the rest refrigerated. But I wouldn't let him drink directly from a bottle then reuse that later. Is that what you mean?

I have switched to putting 2 oz of cold breastmilk in a cup. Wondering if I can keep whatever is not drank in the cup and refrigerated since I didn't warm it up, or do I need to throw whatever he doesn't drink?

[Unregistered]

Every single breastfed kid I have ever started at 12 months refused breastmilk at my house, whether it was in a bottle or a cup. My last DCM and I were wondering out loud if freezing the milk or reheating it or something cause the milk to taste weird. It makes no sense!

He has been in my care since 3 months old and was drinking fresh and frozen breastmilk just fine here until about 2 weeks ago when he started refusing it. He has started eating a lot more recently too, so thinking that could be why. Just didn't think he would completely quit drinking anything here.

[Ariana]

He has been in my care since 3 months old and was drinking fresh and frozen breastmilk just fine here until about 2 weeks ago when he started refusing it. He has started eating a lot more recently too, so thinking that could be why. Just didn't think he would completely quit drinking anything here.

Yes it very well could be! They are ready to have it only with mom for comfort I think.

[Mom2Two]

Does he use something like a 2 handled sippy cup by himself?

ITA with just giving it an ounce at a time so that the rest doesn't waste. Maybe the parents can use the rest at home, like if dad gives a bottle at home.

I guess it's just like anything else--all we can do is serve it, we can't force the dck to actually take it in.

If you are on a food program, you probably have to keep serving it, unless you want to serve formula instead. But soon, at 12 mths, you'll be able to serve whole milk if the dck would like that better.

[hwichlaz]

frozen and reheated milk tastes weird. If baby is eating plenty of solids he's probably not hungry enough to choke down the frozen and heated milk. Just offer but don't sweat it if he declines. Give him a sippy of water to play with while he eats his solids.

[Jupadia]

Frozen or reheated milk can change taste as a pp has said. It has something to do with the fact in the milk changing.
As for reusing it, what I found when researching it (first child I pumped for and did not eat from breast) you cant. The information I went from is it's good at room temp for up to four hours (depends slightly on room temp). But once used it should be only good for 1 hour. This is because baby has now mix salvia with it if only slightly and bacteria could start growing. But depending on your state there may be rules regarding usage.

I would just measure out small amounts of only a couple ounces at a time.

[Alwaysgreener]

Check out www.kellymom.com for answers to breast milk questions.

You can serve the milk cold but after one hour after the milk is served it needs to be dumped. To avoid to much waste serve a oz or two at a time.