DS started refusing previously frozen ebm - happened to anyone else?

[Sterny]

I am exclusively breastfeeding my 6 and half month old ds and have just started back at work. The problem is that my ds won't drink my previously frozen ebm. It hasn't gone off and has been stored/defrosted correctly. He has happily drunk previously frozen ebm occassionally for months so I don't know why he won't drink it now. He refused to drink any the other day and dh had to give him a bottle of formula, which he glugged down happily. He will drink it if it's not been frozen. V. annoyed. Got about a litre in the freezer!

have you tasted it? not saying it has gone off but if ebm is cooled quickly, it can taste like soap. don't know if that would make a baby refuse to drink it. dd was always willing to drink ebm.

Kiskidee - should you leave it to cool gradually before freezing then?

try cooling it down to room temp before putting it in the fridge or freezer. apparently, heating it back up a bit takes out the taste of soap. dd got ebm at nursery so i don't know if it did or didn't.

How old is the milk being offered.
I only ask because your milk changes all the time and if it is a bit older he may just prefer what is on tap at the moment.

It is a variety of ages, but no more than 2 weeks old. It makes no difference if I give it at room temp or warmed, he will just not drink it. Very odd, especially as he happily took it only a week or so ago. Wonder if I can donate the frozen stuff to a milk bank? Hate to think of all my hard work going to waste!

How is it being defrosted? I always defrosted mine quickly in hot water. We also were taught to do that in special care, I think that avoids the soapy taste which sometimes happens. Could just have been a blip though if he has taken it before.

Still no joy. Doesn't seem to matter how it is defrosted. Someone suggested scalding it to remove the soapy taste, will find out more about this. Ds had to have formula when I was out at work today, despite having about a litre of ebm in the freezer. Grrr!

Even contacted my local milk bank to see if I could donate it for prem babies but apparently they only take milk from lactating mothers whose babies are under six months old. Plus they said that they can't come and collect it and it is an 120 mile round trip. Feeling rather frustrated!

my ds did this - I ended up giving him the stuff expressed the day before and chucking out all the frozen stuff - topped up with formula if need be. After six months i felt more relaxed about the formula, as they are eating so much other stuff.

my ds never took defrosted ebm so you're not alone

Do you know that EBM can stay in the fridge for 5 days? Try not freezing it.

I was devastated when dd (now 11) wouldn't take defrosted ebm. I've thought to this day that I must have done something wrong, so although it was extremely frustrating & upsetting at the time and for a long time after, it's comforting to hear that it's not an isolated problem - not that I would wish the problem on anyone else, of course.

even 8 days!