Is my breast milk going to be ok? 🤦🏼‍♀️

[Cha9]

Some guidance would be amazing - I’m freaking out. I’ve got quite a large stash of breast milk in my freezer - my little boy spent a lot of his early weeks in hospital with a feeding tube so I managed to build up quite a supply.

We were attaching a unit to the wall today and drilled through a mains cable. The whole house lost power and no one can come out to repair until tomorrow. Is my milk ok if I don’t open the freezer? Or is it all going to have to go? 😢 obviously I don’t want to give my little boy spoilt milk - he has a sensitive digestive system as it is due to a large amount of antibiotics as a newborn - but it’s just heartbreaking knowing all that milk may have to go to waste.

Any advice would be great x

Don't open the door and Google how long things should stay frozen for without power.

Breast milk has a 6,6,6 rule. 6 hours on the counter at 22 degrees, 6 days in the fridge at 5 degrees, or 6 months in the freezer. And you can freeze at any point when you leave it out or in the fridge. So I wouldn’t worry. If your garage is cold then you could just move it all in there - that’s where I stored mine when our fridge failed for a bit, and it was fine to freeze it again.

Check the manual for the freezer, it usually states how long it can be without power before things start to defrost.
I wouldn't refreeze if it does defrost. If it's going to take a longer time than the manual states to fix maybe source a family member or friends freezer to store it in until you have things sorted.

www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/faq.html

It says here 48hrs if you keep the door shut. It also says if the milk still has ice crystals in it, it can be refrozen.

Friend / family?
Get yourself an electrical cooler that plugs in to car

Sounds like you'll be OK but if you're worried at all, could you move it into friends or family's freezers? I know how precious every drop is so would gladly eat all the ice cream clear some space for a pal in this situation! It definitely won't defrost on the way over there, but if you do open the freezer door work quickly so it doesn't warm up and spoil everything else.

kellymom.com/hot-topics/frozen-milk-power-outage/

Although unless you’re planning on going out loads and part from him and not able to feed him, just breastfeed so doesn’t mess up supply