Help - do I have 30 bags of ruin milk in the freezer?

[@llli*smileadele]

Hi, I have a 12 week old who I have been breastfeeding. I have also been expressing any excess milk and now have about 30 bags in the freezer. We have fed the baby some of the frozen milk and he took it fine. However, we gave him some the other day and as there was a little left, thought it was the perfect time for me and my husband to try it. It was awful! Smelt bad and tasted horrible - leaving a really bad taste in the mouth. The only way I can describe the taste and smell is like regurgitated milk/vomit. I was horrified thinking that all of my milk has gone off, especially when I was so careful in expressing into sterilised equipment and storing it in special breast milk freezer bags - always within 24 hours, if not immediately after expressing.

I did some research online and found the following on this forum:

"Sometimes thawed milk may smell or taste soapy. This is due to the breakdown of milk fats. The milk is safe and most babies wil still drink it. If there is a rancid smell from high lipase (enzyme that breaks down milk fats) activity when the milk has been chilled or frozen, the milk can be heated to scalding (bubbles around the edges, not boiling) after expression, then quickly cooled and frozen. This deactivates the lipase enzyme. Scalded milk is still a healthier choice than commercial infant formula."

I also found this forum posting:

http://forums.llli.org/showthread.ph...cessive-Lipase

However, how do I know if I have an excessive amount of lipase? and is this stored milk still any good?

I have now started to scald the milk in case this helps, however, I don't like the idea of my baby having to drink the unscaled milk, especially if it tastes that bad but, if it is still good, I am also reluctant to throw it out. I've contacted one of my local hospitals to ask for their advice as well as a local breastfeeding supporter however, no-one has really been able to give me a definitive answer on any of this. Is this still ok for my baby to drink and is there anything I can do to get rid of the smell/taste of the already frozen milk - and/or anything further I can do to prevent it from happening? Also, how do you know if you have excess Lipase?

Sorry for all the questions however, I am reluctant to throw out all of that milk, if it is still good.

Thanks

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

If baby will drink it, milk with excess lipase is OK and perfectly safe.

If baby will not drink it, save it anyway. You can do the following:
Use it for baking, such as teething biscuits.
Use in cereal or purees, if you are not planning to do BLS
Donate it to a milk bank if you are eligible
Save it and dilute fresh pumped with it to extend fresh milk (I do this all the time)
Save it for when your LO is older, and if you choose to use cow's milk or other type of milk, add it.
Add chocolate to it for a toddler
Make soap ()

ETA: you cannot fix the milk you already have, but the scalding makes any milk you pump OK for long term storage. However, unscalded, fresh milk is best for baby. So...do the following:

Pump some and let it stand, tasting every hour or so, to find out how long it takes before your milk startes being affected. Some moms have hours, others a few days, others don't have a problem until the milk has been frozen for a while. If you can, don't freeze or scald milk for the next day, and just feed it fresh. Many moms find they never need to scald and freeze this way, or they only scald Friday's milk or any overage milk for freezing.

Don't forget about proper milk handling and storage. If you have a deep freeze, that is preferable as the other freezers go through mini defrost cycles and may contribute. I also found switching to hand washing with Dawn detergent best for me.

[@llli*elizabethlarae]

You said you "gave him some the other day as there was a little left". If it had been frozen and thawed, it is only good for 24 hours after being thawed. I was not sure if it was some you had pumped fresh or what had been thawed.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

In theory, pumped, frozen and thawed milk is good for 24 hours, but....IME, if it doesnt taste rotten -- vomit taste aside -- it is still OK. I have used thawed milk out to 36 hours.