Frozen Breastmilk "Help" Question

The same thing happened to me but I had a chest freezer full. You and I both over produce a hormone that helps to break the milk down. To freeze you milk and keep it in the fridge, once you pump it poor it directly into a pan and bring it almost to a boil. The small bubbles around the edge. Then you cool it and freeze it or put it in the fridge and it won't "sour". This is from the health department because I had the same problem and asked their breast feeding people.

I used to only keep my milk for three months in the freezer. If you have a separate freezer from your fridge, I think it keeps for about 6 months. I had to throw out a bunch of milk - like 13 frozen pounds - with my first baby and it was heartbreaking, because, well... pumping is... you know. But I think you better keep three months as your oldest milk. A google search will verify my guess as to how long it stores.

I have to agree with the Lipase problem/suggestions. The Kelly Mom link that someone already provided is great. My milk would sour VERY quickly and I ended up not pumping because of it, I didn't know there was something I could do, and I was tied to Abi for 19 months! Whenever we have our next baby I will definitely be scalding my expressed milk.

The general rule of thumb is that frozen milk lasts about 3 months in the freezer, depending on how cold it is. Always store your milk in the back of the freezer (vs. on the door). I try and turn over my stash when it starts to get old for this very reason. Some moms do have a lipase thing going on (see http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/lipase-expressedmilk.html for info about this). If this is the case you can scald/pasturize the milk before freezing.

It's possible that your milk smells strongly to you (breastmilk has a very specific odor but should not smell sour) but is actually fine to drink. Other moms may think I'm awful, but I generally figure the milk is fine if my baby will drink it (she's a pretty good judge of these things).

Hi R.,

Everyone's milk lasts for a different amount of time in the freezer. If you have a deep freeze (separate from the refrigerator) then you can usually keep it for 6-12 months - but if you are using the same freezer that is attached to your refrigerator - then probably only 2-3 months. Your baby will refuse to drink it if is bad.

When I was pumping and working, I always tried to make sure I was turning over my frozen stock. So on Mondays, my son would get my oldest frozen milk. On Tues-Friday he would get whatever I pumped the day before and then on Friday, I would freeze whatever I had pumped to replenish my freezer stash - then on Monday take out the oldest freezer stash and repeat.

here is a great article on pumping and working for you: http://www.pumpingtips.com - even if you aren't working - it has great pumping tips.

Congrats on your new baby!!

J.
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I'd talk to a lactation consultant. You might have a lipase problem. It makes frozen milk sour. See Kelly's resonse too.