Please help with EBM questions?

[CBB]

I'm planning on freezing some EBM. I have the Gerber freezer bags. I was wondering if I could still freeze the EBM that's been in the fridge for less than a day. Since I could only express about 2oz at a time, could I save it in the fridge until I get enough (6oz) by the end of day, then freeze it? Would that shorten the storage time? I've read about people's frozen EBM gone bad -- how do you know if it's okay to use?

TIA,

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Yes, you can do that. I pump new milk into already refrigerated milk every day and then put it in the freezer when I get home from work at the end of the day.

You can smell it and/or taste it to see if it has gone bad. Just like any other milk, it has a definite "spoiled" smell if it is no good.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[HelenD]

Hey, just wanted to add a couple of things that helped me -

Definitely do store some smaller portions in your stash. There have been times where I had to defrost a 6oz when a 2oz would have done the trick. I definitely recommend putting some 2, 4, as well as 6 ozs bags away.

Also, after you put them in the Gerber bags (which I've used very successfully), put the Gerber bags in a freezer storage bag. In other words, double bag your stash. : > My lactation specialist recommended this, and it's very helpful for my peace of mind as well as organizing what I stashed by week.

My lactation specialist also told me to use the rule of 3 when thinking about EBM storage.

3 hours outside refridgeration
3 days in the refridgerator
3 months in the freezer

before it's bad. She also said it's fine to add cold to cold EBM but not cold to frozen. So you can mix refridgerated EBM, no problem. You'll find lots and lots of resources that tell you longer terms, but I like this one because it's easy to remember, it's reasonable but errors on the safe side of the guidelines.

Here's some info from KellyMom which has great information on breastfeeding:

General Pumping Links page:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html

PDF Quick Reference Card on storing EBM:
http://www.kellymom.com/handouts/milkstorage.pdf

You'll see on the QRC a line that says specifically ...
"Mild from different pumping sessions/days may be combined in one contatiner - use the date of the first milk expressed"

Good Luck.

Helen

[spu]

Hi Li,

Helen brought up some great points about freezing in small batches. Once frozen ebm is thawed, you only have 24 hours to use it. So it's better to thaw one smaller bag at a time, and then another if it's needed. And double bagging in a second large zipoc is a great safety for the freezer.

In terms of knowing if the milk has gone bad, keep in mind, that breastmilk is a living fluid, and over time, the protein starts to break down, giving it a cheesy like smell - which is ok -- this cheesy smell is normal and does not mean it's gone bad. I found that by scalding the milk just slightly, right after pumping, helps eliminate the breakdown of the lipase, thus the cheesy smell doesn't happen.

When you're pumping small amounts at a time, make sure to cool it in the fridge before mixing it with perviously pumped milk that's also in the fridge. That way you're mixing same temperatures together.

And once cooled in the fridge, the sooner you freeze it the better.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte + else

http://sunger2.home.comcast.net/bash/nonflash/year.html

[sntm]

yup, mine gets the cheesy smell when frozen (DH can't stand it!) but it doesn't taste spoiled (though not like fresh either.)
and jack still drinks it fine. so see if your baby minds it before going to the trouble of scalding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Same here. The baby will know if it is bad and won't drink it. We had some that either was mis-dated or sat out too long and she just would not drink it. We smelled it and sure enough it was no good.

If you ever smell spoiled breastmilk, you will know the difference between that and the cheesy smell. Defrosted breastmilk doesn't look or taste like fresh, but that doesn't mean it is bad.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[CBB]

Thanks so much everybody!! I'm starting my freezer stash today!!