I was just wondering if any other moms have experienced their babies not drinking their breastmilk after if has been frozen. It doesn't seem to matter if it was frozen 6 months ago or yesterday , once it gets heated it smells different (not sour, but that freezer burn smell) and we have a hard time getting her to drink it. Anyone else have this problem?
Probably lipase in the milk, especially since you mention the smell. You can resolve this by scalding the milk after expressing, before storing it. http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/lipase-exp...
All four of my kids would not drink any reheated breast milk, didn't matter if it was refrigerated or frozen. I never really figured out why but I assumed I just couldn't nail my body temperature perfectly. The odd thing was I could give them formula and darn near any temperature and they were fine.
Could be how you are reheating it. I always freeze mine flat in bags and then put them in a cup of warm water to defrost. I never heat them so that they are warm just defrost so they are room temp. Occassionaly there will be a bag that they have not liked but it's usually due to what I ate. If they are old enough I'll use that bag to mix with food. Make sure you are mxing/shaking it all together when defrosting so that the fat mixes back together.
How do you re-heat your breast milk?
I clearly remember my mother putting the milk in a glass bottle and warming in a pan of hot water.
I never pumped, so I'm not experienced, but I know I would not microwave breast milk.
Mine just wouldn't take any breast milk from a bottle at all!
I do know that some breast milk goes bad even when frozen. Doesn't matter if it is a day or a month, it spoils . Something about the amount of lipase. This may be your issue and your little one obviously knows. Bummer. : (
My baby wont take a bottle no matter whats in it.
My first would take it most of the time, but my 2nd would not take thawed/warmed frozen milk at all. He was pickier in general with the bottle situation, but i had to throw away a ton of frozen milk because he refused it. He would take pumped milk (that had been in the refrigerator) that was warmed in a bowl of hot water. It was so frustrating!!
Frozen breastmilk changes molecularly so it is not exactly the same as fresh, though still very beneficial. You are not supposed to microwave breastmilk AT ALL (because it changes the properties and destroys so much of the good stuff in it). But I do remember that even overheating frozen milk in a bowl of hot water could make the milk turn. So it's pretty delicate. And, in my experience, all frozen milk smells funny, even before you reheat it. Your baby might just be sensitive and prefer it fresh. :-) You also might want to make sure that you freeze it right away. If you let it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days and then freeze it might have already started to turn before freezing.
Sorry that you're having trouble!
