Ok I need help please. I didnt want to create a freezer stash but when LO started refusing her bottle I decided to pump and bottle feed her during the day to get her ready for day care and because I was mixing in formula I ended up freezing the extra breast milk.
... Anyway I decided to try feeding LO some of the milk from tyhe freezer just to make sure she doesnt have issues with the taste of defrosted milk. I took the milk out of the freezer and put it in the fridge and 24 hours later it still wasnt totally defrosted! How long is it supposed to take to defrost. For those of you who send pumped milk to daycare what is your defrosting timeline look like?
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do you prep all the bottles and they warm them? i just put the totally not defrosted milk in the bottles anyway. they heat up fine.
defrosted milk should be used within 24 hours, so you should be putting in at night to be used the next day. mine is never fully defrosted by then either.
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I usually defrost milk the night before in a bowl of lukewarm water. I usually do that before I give LO her bedtime nursing session and the milk is usually thawed when I'm done. I prep the bottles and stick them in the fridge for the next day!
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you could also run the bag under cold water in the mornings to defrost.
i'd have to read up some more on it, but i think there are rules about defrosting with warm water then refrigerating?
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@Mrs. Bee: when you say 24 hours do you mean, 24 hours from when you took it out of the freezer? or 24 hours from when it defrosted? Also if i put the partially defrosted milk in the bottles is it ok to mix in formula?
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@Mrsbells: 24 hours from when you took it out of the freezer.
well the rule with breastmilk is that you have to add milk that is the same temp. so you shouldn't mix freshly pumped milk with milk that's already in the fridge because of potential bacterial growth.
so if you are mixing in formula, i would assume that you should mix in refrigerated formula rather than room temp?
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@Mrs. Bee: ooh, let me know what you find out! my definition of lukewarm is turning on the tap in the middle setting...not too warm!
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Oh ok thanks... yeah I think I also heard something about cold water is better to defrost than warm
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I've noticed that when I take out milk to defrost it still isn't totally defrosted the next night (24 hours later) and it's only 6 oz bags. I'll put the somewhat icy mixture into bottles and so far I've had no complaints and empty bottles at pickup.
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@Mrsbells: @autumnlove: ok kellymom says the milk is good for 24 hours after it finishes defrosting. i've always just gone with the 24 hours once it's out of the freezer rule.
i couldn't find anything specific about defrosting under warm water and then refrigerating, other than a couple places that say to use milk right away if you defrost it in warm water.
changing the temperature quickly of milk -- from frozen to thawed with warm water then refrigerated again could encourage bacteria. i don't have anything to back that up -- i'm just deducing it based on food temp rules.
so if it were me, i wouldn't thaw with warm water and refrigerate as it changes the temp of the milk too fast too often. if you are feeding right away warm water is fine, but if not, i would use cold water to thaw.
i also read on the medela website that you can add refrigerated milk to frozen milk, provided that the refrigerated quantity does not exceed the frozen quantity (if you are adding formula to the bottles).
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@Mrs. Bee: Thanks! Will turn that faucet dial to the right. Better safe than sorry!
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