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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

defrosting breast milk

17 replies

bea · 16/07/2004 21:51

help! going back to work tommorrow!! (shouldn't complain really as i'm only back for three days and then i'm on my summer hols!!! )

i want to leave some milk for my mum who's baby sitting ds, if i get the frozen milk out of the freezer now (sun night) and put in the fridge to defrost overnight, how long should it be okay in a bottle for???

or is there another way you would do it.... i know i could leave my mum to get it out when she wants etc... but i want to leave everything in the fridge just to grab and feed iykwim!!!

thanks !

OP posts:

scrumpy · 14/07/2004 20:43

Just seen this thread and need to ask as desperate to defrost some ebm for 2nite as from 12.00 today have stopped b/f ds to try to get him to take bottle as back to work and trouble with him at childminders not taking fluids. I have 2 6oz bags to defrost if I put them in warm water does that mean they have to be used straight away?

he has taken about 4 oz tonite although none since 11.45am and he has not taken any solids except a yoghurt i feel awful spent an hour feeding him from bottle with him crying hes asleep exhausted.

scrumpy · 14/07/2004 20:54

bump

hercules · 14/07/2004 21:02

Have you tried Playtex? I went back to work when dd was 7 months and their the only ones she would use.
When you want to use the bags just run them under the hot tap and defrost and warm at the same time.

mummyintexas · 16/07/2004 22:16

Is it frozen in bags or bottles?
If it's bags I just pop the bag into a bowl of quite warm water and leave it for 15 mins - hey presto - defrosted milk.
I think it should be OK if you defrost it overnight but you would need to throw any away 24 hours later if it's not been used. I personally can't throw breastmilk away - each drop is treated like liquid gold!
If you leave all the sterlising equipment ready to go it shouldn't be too much trouble for your mum..only thing is if you're demand feeding it might a bit tricky to instantly defrost some.....could she just get it out so there is always one defrosted for the next feeding and then replenish it when the feed is over? Am I making sense?
Oh to have family on the same continent! !!

JulieF · 16/07/2004 23:34

As breastmilk contains its own antibacterial properties it is fine to defrost it at room temp and keep it for a day. Fresh breast milk can be kept for between 5-8 days in the fridge but I wouldn't keep defrosted milk that long.

Original poster

bea · 17/07/2004 00:53

thnak you, it's in bags mummyintexas... i think basically 24 hours in the fridge is enough!

thank you!

OP posts:

spots · 17/07/2004 01:44

Can I just do some naughty hijacking and ask, as someone new to the whole expressing thing, if milk left in the body of the fridge in the bottle it was expressed into will always separate? or does it mean my fridge is not cold enough and the milk is bad? 5-8 days in the fridge, really really??

JulieF · 17/07/2004 02:46

Yes, it will separate, it is the fattier hindmilk rising to the top of the lighter foremilk just as the cream rises to the top of a bottle of cows milk.

Studies have been done on breastmilk and samples taken and in some cases there is less bacteria in a bottle of breastmilk left out after one day wheras the bacteria levels in formula doubled after just 20 minutes.

However once milk has been warmed up it should be kept only for an hour, the same as formula. Also you should decide what you are doing with the milk after 24 hours. If you are going to freeze it do it within 24 hours, if you are going to feed it fresh, then you have around a week in the main part of the fridge, not the door.

SofiaAmes · 17/07/2004 03:04

I did mine in the microwave. I think you aren't supposed to, but I never heard a logical reason why not, so did. Then again, it was only for occasional times when I was out and needed dh or childminder to fill in.

hazlinh · 17/07/2004 09:26

SofiaAmes, apparently u shdnt microwave milk, cos it doesnt warm evenly in the microwave and there could be 'hotspots' which could burn your baby's tongue. never tested this out tho...and i suppose if u shake the bottle really well, u'd get rid of the hotspots?

twiglett · 17/07/2004 11:23

message withdrawn

hazlinh · 17/07/2004 12:03

aaah..didn'tknow that twiglett.thanks! learn something new on mumsnet everyday!!

motherinferior · 17/07/2004 12:10

All the same, dd2 has survived in remarkable health on microwaved breastmilk. (And I've just found some in the freezer that is so out of date I'm not even going to admit to it in case you lot call health and safety...)

SofiaAmes · 17/07/2004 18:48

motherinferior, just pretend you are american. For some reason (we have better fridge/freezers perhaps?) the American recommendations on how long you can leave breast milk in the fridge and how long you can leave it in the freezer are twice the amount of time that is recommended in the uk. Never got a satisfactory answer on that one either.

spots · 18/07/2004 00:50

so in the states you can leave your breastmilk in the fridge for two weeks???

SofiaAmes · 18/07/2004 16:30

And in the freezer for a year.

grapesmom · 29/10/2010 09:01

I've begun defrosting bags of breast milk that I froze in August (almost 3 months) but they all seem to have gone off. The hind & fore have split, which looks a bit gross but is apparently ok. But the milk smells too sweet &tastes grim, unlike fresh milk which is not unpleasant to taste. I've thrown several bags down the sink now and am gutted, hate wasting it. Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong? I'm defrosting overnight in the fridge. I'm trying a bag from Sept (6 weeks in freezer) to see if it's a case of being in the freezer too long...

Thanks

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