Has anyone actually tried scalding their ebm to stop it tasting wierd?

[MrsMar]

My frozen ebm was tasting a bit odd and after some fabulous advice from the lovely ladies on here I found out I needed to scald my milk before freezing (ie heating it until it's almost boiling then cooling before freezing) I've done loads now, but I haven't had to use any yet so I have no idea if it actually works... does it really get rid of that funny taste? Anyone tried it?

It does work, promise - it's an enzyme thing. Scalding stops it tasting like soap.

oh cool, so does that mean that when I defrost scalded milk it'll taste pretty much the same as the freshly expressed stuff?

i have not - mine always drink the 'sour' stuff tho

um...how do you know what it tastes like????

cos I've tasted it beenleigh. the fresh stuff tastes pretty ok, a bit sweet, but the frozen stuff is grim, like plastic. Ds didn't seem to mind that much, but I thought I'd try scalding it anyway.

When your baby screams like you're trying to poison him every time you give him a bottle of the stuff you eventually dip your finger in and give it a lick...

oh yuck, I've eated a huge lump of snot of dd2s cheek in an emergency situation, but I could never face tasting ebm, dunno why really, did you sip it, gulp it or just lick your finger?

Snot????

I know, we were in a swimming lesson nd the teacher is absolutely neurotic about snot, dribble, sick etc etc and used to make a huge fuss, it ws my only option!

beenleigh, how can eating snot be better than tasting bm?? youre mad, woman.

snot is a waste product, and full of germs! bm is food and tastes nice!

I didn't actually want to eat the snot, it was an emergency! Oh yuck re bm tasting nice!

ds2 projectile vomited into my face with open mouth once. beat that! (no-one can, im pretty sure. unless one of your dc has actually shat in your mouth)

it does taste nice! its sweet. and kind of milky. its nice!

milk vs snot

i know which i would prefer!

MrsMar - i had this problem too(a thread from Jan/Feb time details it). I have to say i was TOO LAZY and never scalded my milk i just started to freeze it in tiny portions (half a cube) so that it defrosted super quick time ready to add to DD's food (i only freeze for food purposes, not for big milk feeds). Sorry i can't help more. But sympathy though cos EBM going sour after freezing is a cruel trick for nature to play on us!!

FWIW i have tasted my EBM EVERY single time i have ever given it to my DD to ensure it was ok! It is not a perversion to taste your own milk! And yes, i agree with the other posters that normally it tastes nice and sweet. But when it is sour after freezing - BLAH - it is like a goats milk, smelly feet combo. DISGUSTING!

do you know, i never tasted it after having frozen it. i guess b/cause i was never the one giving it... i always had by norks!

no wonder none of my babes would take ebm from dp or my mum (the only people i left them with really). we thought it was the bottles...

doh.

Some babies really won't take bottles though BoysOnToast! It can be hard when they are complaining to figure out the precise nature of the complaint when the complainant has no vocabulary. At least if they could talk they could say "That milk tastes rather rancid, Mother dear" or "Do you honestly think I am fooled by that artificial silicone substitute" but no, they just cry and rant and leave you guessing!
MrsMar, due to the crapness of United States Maternity Leave, there is a lot more info on expressing and scalding on La Leche League Forums and Kellymom forums but a lot of the ladies there have had great success with scalding. If you have to do it at work they recommend using a bottle warmer to heat to 160 degrees and apparently it does the job as well as scalding in a pan. Never actually had to do it myself but good to have the info.
Oh, and one lady found that if she cut flaxseeds out of her diet that her lipase problem disappeared! Just in case you're a flaxseed junkie!

btw, if you have trouble tasting your own EBM, do you honestly feel better about drinking a whole glass of a cow's breastmilk?

I had to taste my ebm when I've been on flights a couple of times and it doesn't taste that bad at all. I did accidentally give ds some ebm that had gone off (he was guzzling it down but it looked wierd) and that was so rank so now I always sqiurt a few drops on to my hand and taste it that way.

Thanks for info chipmonkey, I've had a look at the kellymom website before, that's where I got the info about scalding from, they're very useful sites, just passed them on to a friend of mine who's just had a baby.

Boys on toast, if you've got the same problem as me, ie the lipase in your milk making it taste metallic after freezing, its really noticeable, the smell is unmistakable, so unless you've noticed it, I presume your dcs don't like ebm from a bottle for another reason.