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Original poster

Etiquette using breast milk in baby food as a guest?

159 replies

Humdrumdum · 06/04/2023 18:18

We're going to stay with family and I use breast milk in breakfast for our baby, usually scrambled eggs or porridge in a pan to make sure the extra nutrients being missed are chucked in.

They're fine with us cooking for ourselves but would it be weird if I did it there with their pan and bowls or am I overthinking it?

OP posts:
weinerdog · 07/04/2023 20:35

TwigTheWonderKid · 07/04/2023 20:15

Yes, cows milk does need to be heat treated because it can contain really nady stuff like Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella, and Salmonella. Human breast milk can sometimes contain some not great bacteria, like Staphylococcus, which is why donor milk for very sick or premature babies is pasteurised, but it is unlikely to harm an adult who happed to cook in a saucepan which once contained a tiny amount of breast milk and has subsequently been cleaned. And breast milk also contains a compound which is cleverly designed to kill a variety of bacteria which could harm health such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium perfringen, as well as containing pro biotic bacteria so chances are, it would do you more good than harm!

Yeah, I know it is unlikely to do actual harm but it's that natural aversion knowing it came out of someone else I guess. I wouldn't be drinking straight from a cows udder either tbf

Is it the end of the world? No, but I'd just put the breast milk cooking aside for a short time

weinerdog · 07/04/2023 20:36

Again, the baby is allergic to cows’ milk.

Ok, thanks I missed that. Still, just don't add any milk into something like egg or use an alternative for a short period.

blebbleb · 07/04/2023 20:44

If possible I'd just avoid adding milk to foods you're cooking for those couple of days. Scrambled eggs don't need milk added to them.

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Simonjt · 07/04/2023 21:01

SleepingStandingUp · 07/04/2023 20:33

Breast milk isn't dairy. That's why lots of babies who have a dairy allergy are breast fed for longer, because they can have human milk.
Would you honestly tell someone they couldn't bring breast milk into your house because you don't eat dairy? And are you suggesting Jewish mothers can't bf because they're not a kosher animal?

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My colleague does not mix breast milk with meat after her children are 18 months old. I’m not sure why you’re suggesting Jewish women can’t breastfeed or that they’re not kosher animals.

All animal milk is dairy, that includes humans, dairy allergy is incorrect really, most people with a dairy allergy are allergic to specific proteins, rather than all dairy. My son has a life threatening cows milk allergy, but only a very mild reaction to goats milk (essentially oral allergy syndrome), that doesn’t stop human milk being dairy. There are very very few people who are allergic to all dairy. We’re a strictly dairy free home, it only enters here if it’s already in someones stomach.

DonnaRix · 07/04/2023 21:03

Mummynew08 · 07/04/2023 14:09

This is a really extreme reaction...!

@skyfalldown I for one am glad more people are using reusable.

Period blood is clearly nothing like breastmilk but while we're on the subject, I find it desperately sad how much taboo still remains about menstruation even in (I'm assuming) uk culture. There are countries where, in rural areas say, women and girls have to isolate when on their period. The comment above reminds me of that. It's just so wrong.

It's no coincidence that these are uniquely female processes that are taboo - breastfeeding and menstruation. Even when the pots are thoroughly cleaned afterwards, some people seem to think we've tainted them forever with our essence somehow.

Women are not dirty beings. We don't taint things.

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I dunno I mean I’d be equally unhappy if my husband was routinely jizzing into the pots.

itsabigtree · 07/04/2023 21:23

Why is everything getting called 'performative' on Mumsnet lately??

Yesterday it was performative to say good night to your child for long than a second and now it's performative to use breast milk in their food. Wtf is this parenting site??!

OP. This is a perfectly normal thing to do. I wouldn't have thought many people would have an issue with it. I wouldn't even mind it if you squirted it in the pan straight from the source .... but that's just me Grin

Original poster
Humdrumdum · 08/04/2023 11:51

Soontobe60 · 07/04/2023 17:23

How old is your baby?

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7 months.

OP posts:
HelpsHeal · 08/04/2023 12:22

Iyjd · 07/04/2023 19:15

I hope I don’t know you in real life because I would be really upset to find I had used something that shared a dishwasher with your menstrual cup. I don’t imagine the dishwasher tablet is good for your insides either.
We have lots of bodily fluids and every single one is natural, it doesn’t mean it is ok to put them in places we eat (not talking about the breast milk). I give my toilet a really good clean, would you eat out of it? After all, it’s only bodily fluids that go down it.

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I think the pan goes in the dishwasher not the cup 😆 What would be the point of boiling it first?

NewNovember · 08/04/2023 12:39

*Meat not milk

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