Ungrateful picky children reject hard won expressed breastmilk aarrgggh

[whomovedmychocolate]

Had to go into hospital for surgery, DS (six weeks then) and DD (22 months) both breastfed.

Hand expressed 24 oz of milk not knowing how long I'd be unable to feed for. It took over a week to do so.

All frozen and dutifully loaded into coolbags ready with sterilised bottles.

DS entirely refuses to feed from bottle, understandable I guess and luckily I was only away two hours so he only wailed for ten minutes.

So I thought I'd put the milk in DDs cup as a treat because she loves nursing.

"Urgh" she exclaims, throws cup on floor.

A one off I think, but no, each and every time it's served up (we ran out of blue milk) she says it's horrid and chucks it!

Ungrateful gits!

Why is it only acceptable direct from the source? - I can understand DS not wanting to accept a cold teat but FFS DD drinks upwards of a pint of cows milk a day and still has three bloody breastfeeds, yet when I present her with lovingly expressed milk, it's yuck

Can I just say what an amazing job you're doing BF 2 children!
Sounds to me like your DD wants the comfort of nursing and not actually the milk.

sometimes it can change flavour when thawed, IIRC.

how are you keeping?

surgery go okay?

I think I'd be too!

It's a lot of work expressing all that, especially with two children. You deserve a medal.

Sounds like for DD it's more about the comfort than anything else. And maybe it does taste a bit different once it's been frozen?

Well done you though.

. How frustrating. How are you doing now, post-surgery?

wmmc, glad to hear that you have been seen to a bit sooner than 5months. How are you?

Ungrateful kids indeed. My ds also refused ebm from bottle (although had it every night for a few weeks in scbu ) and for your dd it is surely the combination of snuggling up with you rather than just the milk?

I had exactly the same experience. I would sit in a tiny room at work and express every lunchtime only for DD (9mnths) to refuse it the next day at nursery.

The only possible reason I could find is that some women's breastmilk changes flavour once expressed.

wmmc, might you have a lipase problem? Basically, it means that your milk gets a "soapy" taste after a couple of hours and the longer it is left the soapier it gets and this is whether it is refrigerated or frozen. I can be remedied by "scalding" the milk i.e heating to the point where bubbles begin to form at the edge but NOT to boiling point. If in work, this can be done with a bottle warmer but only one which can get the milk to the correct temperature. It might be worth trying once just to see if dd accepts it and if she does, you have your answer.

Loads about this on La Leche League forums, btw!

I have no idea why and now I won't have to go back into surgery hurrah so I won't need it, so the rest is all going to the SCBU - perhaps they will have less picky babies!

Glad to hear others have had the same problem. Just really irritating. Mind you not as irritating as having to defrost my freezer because one of the 6oz cups got spilled over everything when someone went foraging for ice cream!

Op went well thanks, except I've picked up a nasty infection which made me vomit a lot - not great when you have a stomach held together with bits of steristrip .

I've been using the BM I express at work for DS's cereal which goes to nursery with him, as he won't drink it from a cup!

Oh, I know that feeling wmmc, well, not the vomiting but after my CS's I always got a horrible dry cough and was sure my stitches would open!
If you donate milk, it gets mixed up with milk from lots of other women so even if it does taste dodgy, it's not a problem. And premmies tend not to be fussy anyhow! Lovely of you to donate.