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How long do you keep breast milk in fridge?



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 24th 04, 05:33 PM
Zucca4
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Default How long do you keep breast milk in fridge?

I read so many conflicting things everyting from 48 hours to 5 days. I become
paranoid and taste my milk before giving it to our little mush and of course
I'm always convinced it tastes different, probably because we have a very
varied diet with tons of different cuisines..sometimes it tastes sweet and
bland and other times a bit soapy of all things...never sour though. Would the
milk reek or become very curdled if it were spoiled? I'm getting nuts and
sometimes I'm convinced that two day old milk is bad....It drives me crazy to
dump milk that took me forever to pump. I don't freeze because I am a SAHM and
I teach at home in the evenings for only three house so we only need one bottle
a day.

Thoughts please

Lisa
(who is really becoming a great breastfeeder and is SO happy about it)
  #2  
Old February 24th 04, 06:00 PM
Melissa
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Default How long do you keep breast milk in fridge?

"Zucca4" wrote
I read so many conflicting things everyting from 48 hours to 5 days. I

become
paranoid and taste my milk before giving it to our little mush and of

course
I'm always convinced it tastes different, probably because we have a very
varied diet with tons of different cuisines..sometimes it tastes sweet and
bland and other times a bit soapy of all things...never sour though. Would

the
milk reek or become very curdled if it were spoiled? I'm getting nuts and
sometimes I'm convinced that two day old milk is bad....It drives me crazy

to
dump milk that took me forever to pump. I don't freeze because I am a SAHM

and
I teach at home in the evenings for only three house so we only need one

bottle
a day.


You'd know if it was off because it would taste horrible. If it's soapy,
it's because of lipase and you shouldn't worry about it (unless your child
won't eat soapy milk, but many will). When it's bad, it's really bad and
you'll know.
--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03



  #3  
Old February 24th 04, 08:56 PM
PattyMomVA
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Default How long do you keep breast milk in fridge?

Zucca4" wrote in message
... and I snipped:
I read so many conflicting things everyting from 48 hours to 5 days.


Here's what LLL says about storing milk:

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/milkstorage.html

I will caveat that my milk was only good in the refrigerator for about 5
days (not 8). I've heard other mothers on mkb say they also found a lesser
max life for their EBM. So, it can be individual. Also, I've always found
that sniffing the milk was sufficient. I couldn't handle tasting it.

AND, I don't agree with shaking EBM as the web page says. Please swirl it
to reconstitute the fat.

HTH,
-Patty, mom to Corinne (almost 6y) and Nathan (3.5y)
and stepmom to Victoria (13.5y)


  #4  
Old February 24th 04, 09:24 PM
HollyLewis
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Posts: n/a
Default How long do you keep breast milk in fridge?

I read so many conflicting things everyting from 48 hours to 5 days. I
become
paranoid and taste my milk before giving it to our little mush and of course
I'm always convinced it tastes different, probably because we have a very
varied diet with tons of different cuisines..sometimes it tastes sweet and
bland and other times a bit soapy of all things...never sour though. Would
the
milk reek or become very curdled if it were spoiled? I'm getting nuts and
sometimes I'm convinced that two day old milk is bad....It drives me crazy to
dump milk that took me forever to pump. I don't freeze because I am a SAHM
and
I teach at home in the evenings for only three house so we only need one
bottle
a day.

Thoughts please

Lisa
(who is really becoming a great breastfeeder and is SO happy about it)



Oh, don't dump your milk just because it tastes a little soapy! :-) (Which is
a relatively normal phenomenon and doesn't necessarily indicate that it's
spoiled.) Offer it to the baby first and see if the BABY likes the taste.

For most people, the milk is fine for 3-5 days. Some mothers find that theirs
"goes off" earlier. But the best indication of whether it's been in the fridge
too long is whether the baby will take it.

And there's no reason not to go ahead and freeze your milk any time you've got
more than one bottle in the fridge already! Since you're pumping regularly
anyway, why not build up a little stash, so that you don't have to plan ahead
for every single time you might want to be away for a few hours?

Holly
Mom to Camden, 3yo
EDD #2 6/8/04
  #5  
Old February 24th 04, 09:29 PM
Phoebe & Allyson
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Default How long do you keep breast milk in fridge?

Zucca4 wrote:
I become
paranoid and taste my milk before giving it


Here's an anecdote for you. I came home one night to find a full 2 ounces in a
leftover bottle in the fridge. It had probably been in the fridge for 2-3 days,
then been heated and drunk from around 5pm, then put back in the fridge within
half an hour. (We don't normally keep around half-drunk bottles, but she wasn't
hungry at her normal time.) I smelled the milk, and it smelled completely sour
- exactly like the kind of curdled spit-up smell that makes you hold your breath
when you kiss on the baby.

I mixed it with cereal, and Caterpillar scarfed it down without batting an
eyelash. No later ill effects, either.

We've left milk in the fridge as long as 8 days, and I don't think I've ever
tossed uncontaminated milk for being bad.

Phoebe

 




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