frozen breastmilk--6 months old--use or throw it out?

[gbird1]

Hi After refusing to drink out of a bottle her whole life--my 8 month old DD just drank 1 oz of bm from one. I have some frozen that I hate to waste, but its 6 months old, I fear I waited too long. ITs in a seperate freezer compartment from my fridge, but not in a deep freeze. It still looks really good, no freezer burn or anything, but I think Ive read that its only good for 3-4 months. What do you all think? Why does it even go bad? What would be the harm in using it--anyone know? Im usually a stickler for all these rules but Im wanting to use it b/c Im curious to see if she;ll drink more than I can give her at this time of day (its bedtime in Alaska), and if it will help her sleep longer thru the night. Shes been nightwaking for 2 months (LOTS). I want to weed out if its hunger or teething or sep. anxiety or HABIT. But I gave my pump to a friend and my supply feels, just, lower now. Sorry so long--please any advice soon would be appreciated...

[saongiri]

thaw it and as long as it smells fine you can use it- I was told it will smell sour if its bad-I've used milk that I had in the freezer for 6m but not more than that (same set up with separate freezer section)

[flobee76]

Hey mama... I believe that you'll have to throw it out. Here's what I found from Kellymom.com-> Milk Storage & Handling, oh... and this too-> Reusing Breast Milk

[gbird1]

thanks mamas!

[Kris5135]

The website that was quoted said "Breastmilk is not spoiled unless it smells really bad or tastes sour" underneath the guidelines, so I would assume it's safe unless it smells bad.

[LilHippyMamma]

from what I read, I was told to throw it out? But maybe somenoe has some one on one experience with it that has used it after? I always just threw mine out to be safe

[tlaquepaque]

I exclusively pumped for my DS and I had 3600 oz of milk frozen when I weaned. Some of it was close to a year old. My personal rule was that I did a sniff test and a taste test and it if wasn't bad then I gave it to him. The only stuff that went bad was in bags with a leak or crack in them. The rest was fine and my DS was fine and I was proud to give him EBM until he was 20 months old.

I think the rules are just guidelines. Some mommy's milk keeps longer than others. You will have to test yours and see. But I would definitely NOT throw it out just because it is 6 months old

[mcpforever]

Use it use it use it! Unless it smells/tastes bad, it's fine and awesome for you to give to your baby.
I was brought up to use those expiration dates on packaged food as a guideline, but to use my own nose to make the final decision. My gallon of cow's milk always lasts several days past the "expiration date," and I'm sure many women's BM does last past the storage recommendation limits.
Why throw something so wonderful out just because of the conservative guidelines? I think it also has to do with how cold you keep the freezer, how long the milk was refrigerated before being frozen, how much lipase your body puts into the BM, etc, etc, etc.