Like regular milk, breast milk may last as long as eight days when stored in the refrigerator. It lasts six months when stored in a freezer. If storing breast milk in the freezer, store it inside the cavity of the freezer to ensure the milk freezes completely. Frozen breast milk may taste, look or smell differently when it has thawed. If you plan to deep freeze your breast milk, heat your breast milk just before boiling then cool it immediately before placing in the deep freezer. This may help prevent taste or smell issues from developing.
Step 1
Smell it. Like regular milk, breast milk will smell sour when it's no longer fresh. If your breast milk smells bad, throw it away.
Step 2
Look at it. If the milk is separated into two distinctive layers, the milk has not gone bad. Shake it a few times before feeding your baby. If you see clumps on top of the breast milk, the milk may be bad and should be thrown out.
Step 3
Taste it. Breast milk that tastes foul or makes you feel sick to your stomach may have gone bad. Frozen breast milk that has been thawed may taste soapy, but it is okay to feed to your baby. The change occurs when the fats found in milk break down during freezing.
Tips and Warnings
- To prevent waste, store breast milk in 2 oz. to 4 oz. servings. Write the date the milk was pumped onto the bottle or on a plastic storage bag.
- Do not refreeze frozen breast milk that has been thawed. Any milk that is left in the bottle after a feeding should be thrown out.
Things You'll Need
- Marker
- Plastic zip-top bag
