Quick question for Mamas who freze BM

[jaceraden]

I thawed some frozen breast milk tonight to work on getting my EBF dd to take a bottle.

I put the baggie of milk-cube in a cup of warm water until it had thawed then I put it in a bottle. I shook it gently and proceeded to work on bottle training.

The bad news is that dd still wouldn't take it (big surprise) but the other bad news is that the milk got all funky and separated. It kinda looked like I had tried to add pablum to it.

I realize that what is likely happening is that the fat separated. What I want to know is how do I make it NOT do that???? It got super gummy and jammed up the nipple which is probably not a good thing if my dd were to actually accept the bottle.

BTW - dh suggests I "shake the crap out of it". I actually did this but it didn't work.

** dd is 9 weeks old but I need to have her using a bottle part time VERY soon for when I go back to work **

[carleyann'smommy]

How old is your DD. Mine is 5 mths and we acutally have started giving her a cup she only had a bottle for the first two weeks and maybe 4 since then I would just rather skip the bottle all together. Doc Brown has a transistion(sp?) cup and she has done really good with it and can feed herself with just a little bit of help. She might like trying that better. From what I've read you are not suppose to shake BM because it breaks it down only swirl it to mix it but I'm not sure about the serparting part of it haven't had experince with that.

[lilmama2dsndd]

how old was the frozen BM? where in the freezer was it stored? how long did you thaw? how long was it thawed before it got funky?

sorry for all the questions, but the details may help figure it out, usually BM seperates but you can shake it back together unless it has gone bad, then it doesn't remix well

[jaceraden]

Originally Posted by lilmama2dsndd how old was the frozen BM?

1 day old

Originally Posted by lilmama2dsndd where in the freezer was it stored?

The far back of the freezer

Originally Posted by lilmama2dsndd how long did you thaw?

Ummmm.... I think it took less than 5 minutes and then it warmed more in the bottle in my diaper bag while I drove to my sister's house

Originally Posted by lilmama2dsndd how long was it thawed before it got funky?

Less than 2 hours

[jaceraden]

I hope this is just some freak thing or something I can easily correct because I have TONS of BM stored in the exact same way that is supposed to be ready to go when dh is alone and has to feed dd.

[lilmama2dsndd]

If you are going to be using milk from the previous day you may just want to skip freezing it at all, freezing/thawing does cause the milk to loose some of its nutritional/antibody properties

the safest way to thaw is under running water that starts cool and warms, if heated too quickly it can spoil

What are you storing your EBM in?

ETA_ I have had a few freak bags go funky from time to time

[jaceraden]

I actually didn't mean to grab a bag from the day before - I was in a hurry and somehow missed all the stuff from March! ha ha

I guess I must have warmed it too quick and spoiled it. At least I hope that's what I did wrong....

How quick/slow should it be thawed in an ideal situation?

I am waivering between Medela, Lansinoh and First Years ziploc BM freezer bags. This particular one was a Lansinoh.

[carleyann'smommy]

I guess using a cup wouldn't work for your 9 weeker My DD didn't like the bottle and kinda gagged at it when my mom had her one saturday while I was out of town she just kept working with her till she took it. You may have to try another bottle or have someone else feed her she associates you with the breast. As far as thawing I always just place the baggie in warm water and let it thaw it doesn't take very long at all, are you laying your bags flat to freeze. That's how I freeze mine so it is a flat sheet and it thaws in no time.

[lilmama2dsndd]

It may have just been a fluke bag, after about 18 months of handling frozen BM I know I have had my share.

Ideally it should be warmed slowly, I don't know an exact time though, I use to put it in a cup, turn on the water and let it run into the cup until it was finished, huge waste of water, but after lots of scorched bags of BM I learned to slow down.

[busymom0823]

I always froze mine in ice cupe trays then put them in vacumed sealed bags. Worked great. I'd cut off the top of the bag could wash and revacume and each cupe was about an ounce.