Yet another pumping question?

Question

I know the rules about how long to keep breat milk in the fridge or freezer...but I lost track and will dump it if I have to but hate to waste if its still good. Can you smell bad breast milk? Can you tell if its bad or not?

Answer 1

Taste it. It should still be sweet. If it starts to smell or taste sour toss it. It'll stay good longer than you think. The guidelines they give you are on the conservative side. The milk loses nutrients over a period of time, but if it's in the freezer it won't go bad. After 3 months it's not full of goodies anymore, though. So give it a taste, you'll know immediately if it's bad. Also, babies are very smart. If you give it to your baby and they reject it immediately it's because it's not good. Don't ignore that.

Answer 2

If you're unsure how long it has been in the fridge, I would get rid of it, just to be on the safe side. The frozen milk should be okay.
Good for you, for taking the time to pump and save it!

Answer 3

You should immediately label it so you don't lose track of it. And no you can't tell if breastmilk is bad by the smell. Sometimes it smells or tastes funny and is still good, while sometimes it smells and tastes fine but it is not good (over 8 days old etc). Don't go by smell to determine if expressed breastmilk is safe for your baby.

Answer 4

put labels on the containers with the date and time so you would know and breat milk can go sour in 2 days

Answer 5

you should label the bottles of milk with the date of which you put in the fridge or freezer so then you know how old it is and when to throw out the old stuff

Answer 6

Couple of days for refrigerated milk and 6 months for frozen. Don't forget to rotate the bags so that the "oldest" is in front!!!!

Answer 7

write the time and date on it when u put it in the fridge or freezer i think u can smell it when it goes bad but not100% on it