What do I do with frozen BM? New Question #10

[blumooned]

I have a freezer full of frozen breast milk. I pumped and stored it thinking we'd need it when I started to work again. Well, I haven't started working yet. DS is 10.5mos & eats solids well, so even if I started going to work soon (which I don't see happening), I think he'd be OK for a few hours without eating BM.

Also, I've thawed & tried some of the frozen BM - it tastes terrible! (I tasted my fresh BM and it tasted just fine.) It tasted like plastic, but is not older than 6mos. It is stored in Medela plastic storage bottles & bags. Both had the funny taste.

So, is it worth saving it anymore? It is taking up freezer space that we could use for other food. But, I feel so wasteful throwing it all out. And I would be so sad to see it all go to waste! How do I know if it is OK to serve to DS?

This may be way out there - but with the requests coming from Haiti, it made me think - can I donate it? Wouldn't I have to have been screened prior to making the milk? Just wondering.

TIA!!

[ein328]

You basically have two options:
1. Donate through HMBANA (milk banks). Please remember that although it's all well and good to want to help babies in Haiti, there are plenty of hungry babies in the US. Many milk banks are at historic lows in their supplies. Go to hmbana.org
2. Donate to a private donor. Google "milk share" (sorry- can't bring it up on my computer at work).

And yes, HMBANA will take milk pumped before you sign up and are tested.

Also, how old is your milk? That will be a factor for HBANA.

The "funny taste" is from the lactase in your milk. Some babies will drink it despite the off-taste, and some won't. In this case, you may want to ask HBANA about it, because if I was looking for breastmilk personally, I wouldn't want to pay to have milk shipped that my baby potentially wouldn't drink. But that's just me.

I donated about 200 oz. of breast milk and it really made me feel good to help someone out...I went through milkshare, because HBANA wouldn't let me donate (I took fenugreek to help maintain my supply, and they won't let you donate if you have taken herbal supplements). You're doing a great thing!

Good luck!

[cristeen]

definitely check out milkshare.com and see if you can find a mama local to you who is in need. I've received about half a dozen donations via milkshare, the most recent of which I'll be picking up in about an hour. We've managed to get my little guy to 5 mos with only about 3 weeks of formula at the very beginning before I found my first donor.

If the milk tastes funny, be sure to post that your milk may have lipase. Some babies won't drink it, but some will. My little guy will, in fact we have a recurring donor with lipase. He doesn't care what it tastes like, if it fills the hole in his belly. I'm not crazy about the smell so I mix it with another donor's milk, but he doesn't care either way.

I don't recommend milk banks just because of the ridiculous price they charge ($3.50/oz here). That makes it completely impossible for the average person (that's over $3000/mo).

[Baby_Cakes]

I would like some ideas too. I have frozen bm from Sept-Dec 2009, so it is more like 6 months old - out of the range of "good" for giving to my LO. I can't bring myself to throw it out!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

I would like some ideas too. I have frozen bm from Sept-Dec 2009, so it is more like 6 months old - out of the range of "good" for giving to my LO. I can't bring myself to throw it out!

I just picked up a stash from a woman the other day that is over a year old, stored in a deep freeze that entire time. No way was I going to let her throw that away when my little one can still drink it. It may not have all the same properties as fresh, but it is still nutritious and it still has some health properties. I mix it with fresher milk.

If you really aren't going to use it, post on milkshare that you have 6 mo milk that's been stored in X (type of freezer) to get rid of. I bet you you'll have someone take it off your hands.

[blumooned]

Thanks for all the info!
So, if I go ahead & donate it . . . how do I know it's OK for use? Is the funny taste definitely lipase? I wouldn't want to make a little baby sick.
It has been stored well in my freezer - each bag is sealed & went directly to the freezer. Each one is dated, so I could tell the person receiving it when it was pumped.
I do see the value in donating it - even if it tastes funny. I just don't want to give someone milk that is bad.
I wasn't planning to donate it to Haiti - I agree local is important too - the requests I've seem from there is just what made me realize I could possibly donate it in the first place.

[justKate]

OP, you could mix it with something your LO eats that you would otherwise use milk or water for--oatmeal or cereal? I definitely third or fourth milkshare, too.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by blumooned

So, if I go ahead & donate it . . . how do I know it's OK for use? Is the funny taste definitely lipase? I wouldn't want to make a little baby sick.

The easiest way to be sure is to pump some, pop it in the fridge for 24 hours and then taste it. I'd be willing to bet it's gonna taste "off".

In the freezer it can't really "go bad" unless it's been contaminated. It will just degrade in quality over time.

[blumooned]

Originally Posted by cristeen

The easiest way to be sure is to pump some, pop it in the fridge for 24 hours and then taste it. I'd be willing to bet it's gonna taste "off".

Nope - any milk I've ever just refrigerated has always tasted fine. It's just the thawed frozen stuff that's off. Does that mean the frozen is bad?

[blumooned]

So I thawed out a couple things of milk - 1 bottle & 1 bag - to test them. The milk from the bottle smelled/tasted plastic-y and the bagged milk tasted fish-y! Now I am starting to think it's all just gone bad. I'd like to donate if I can, but I don't want to get someone's hopes up and give them bad milk.
Any other thoughts? Should I just dump it?

Thanks so much for any advice.

[groovyem]

Yea, most frozen milk thawed out tastes and smells icky, my little one won't drink it. I'm an EPer, btw. Right now I'm trying to use up older frozen milk so I mix my frozen with fresh, about 1/3 to 2/3 fresh. That she will drink. I make up my bottles every morning now for the whole day and find it makes my day easier, being an EPer and all. There is a way to slightly cook the milk so the bad taste will not occur, medela can tell you how.

[justmandy]

I think you can make yogurt for your lo out of it. Maybe that would help the taste (or waste your time making bad tasting yogurt)

[cristeen]

Sounds like lipase to me. You can scald the milk before freezing it - that will deactivate the lipase (just heat it until it starts steaming, you don't want to boil it). For the stuff you've already frozen, just post that it's lipase milk. Like I said before, some babies won't drink it (and the moms know not to take it), and some will. I have 2 donors whose milk smells funky, but he doesn't mind the taste at all. I just mix it with non-lipase milk so I don't have to smell it (in spit-up).

[lkmiscnet]

I have the same situation with a many. many months supply of frozen BM which smells/tastes "off". I contacted La Leche and they said it probably wasn't bad since I froze it quickly, but the decision as to whether it would be used or not would be up to my LO. I have used it to thin pureed foods I've been making him and he ate that with no problem.

Unfortunately, I've had no luck with getting him to drink out of a bottle or sippy cup (spout or straw) and am waiting for that day so I can get him to drink the frozen BM. I actually bought a separate freezer and filled it up with 250 bags of BM. I overfilled the bags with too much milk though, and now, it's too much for me to thaw and use within the recommended 24 hours, as I figured he would be drinking larger quantities from a cup at this stage, but that hasn't happened.

So, my recommendation is that you thaw it and see if your LO will take it. From what you described, it's not gone bad. BM just doesn't smell/taste the same once it's been frozen. I was fearful of making my LO sick, but his ped was not concerned that it had gone bad and told me to go ahead and try it.

[transylvania_mom]

chocolate milk!

[blumooned]

Thanks for all the help!
I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it, but now at least I know (I think) that it's not gone bad.
I may offer it to DS (kind of like the choc milk suggestion ) and see what he thinks. I may still try to donate it.
Thanks again!!

[boobs4milk]

just fyi: we were warming up the thawed milk for the cup (she refuses bottles now) and found today that she prefers it cold in the sippy.

we are using it for mixing up homemade oatmeal, but i'm gonna check out the homemade yogurt, too.