How to tell if breastmilk is bad
As a breastfeeding mom, we have to agree there is nothing worse than milk that had gone bad way before than you had anticipated. Breastmilk is referred to as liquid gold, so why would you want to see a whole 4 ounces of milk poured down your sink just because it has gone bad. Luckily we can overcome such situations by learning how to tell if breastmilk is bad ahead of time, saving you the agony of pouring out bottles down the drain.
Remember this is liquid gold you are pumping, thus needs a little more care. It is not like cow’s milk were your able to leave it out for a few hours, or keeping it in the fridge a few days longer than it should. According to many lactation consultants, they advise fresh breast milk should not be left out at room temperature longer than 4 – 6 hours. And for the refrigerated milk it should not stay longer than the stipulated 8 days as this is the absolute maximum. After the maximum you could freeze it or just use it immediately, I mean she is going to get hungry eventually so why not warm it up and feed her.
Find out how to tell if breastmilk is bad.
Breastmilk is considered liquid gold due to the nutrients and goodness it o packed with, and feeding your child this liquid gold is the best thing you can do for the first few months of her life. As a result, it is important to know if what you are feeding is fresh, and good for consumption.
What is essential is learning how to tell if the breastmilk your about to feed your baby is bad, no need to play this guessing game with the precious commodity.
- The smell will not be that pleasant
For spoiled breast milk it has a similar smell to spoiled cow’s milk, so if there is a definitely foul odor from the milk, then yes mama it is spoiled. Since it is a sniffing game you might find the milk smelling metallic or a little soapy, as wired as it may be, this milk is not spoilt. It is just an indicator that the milk has high levels of enzyme lipase, it is produced by some mothers and it is not harmful to your baby.
- When you swirl it, it doesn’t mix
You will notice, once your pumped milk has rested undisturbed it separates the fatty and non-fatty milk. If the milk is fresh, when swirled slightly the milk should mix, but if it doesn’t mix, or you notice a few chunks swimming around and not mixing then this milk has gone bad.
- It has been in the refrigerator for more than 3 days
Breast milk is able to stay fresh in your refrigerator 3 – 5 days, but this depends of a few factors. That is the temperature and the location you have stored the milk in your fridge. To extend the freshness of your breast milk ensure you store it at the heart of your fridge, avoid storing it at the door as the temperature fluctuates.
- Sealing could be a problem
Just like and produce we would want to extend its freshness, if it is not properly sealed it increases the chances of spoiling your milk earlier than anticipated. Try using a hard plastic container or in the bag that have been designed to store breast milk for extended periods. This will reduce the chances of having your breastmilk contaminated.
- Has a sour taste
This has to be the easiest way to tell if milk has gone bad. Spoiled breast milk will taste sour just like spoiled cow’s milk. So if you are tasting something off in the breast milk then it is time to pour the liquid gold down that drain.
- The color of the milk
Another quick indicator on the freshness of breast milk is the color. For spoilt milk it gets a shade darker as compared to how it was when you pumped it. if the color is also looking a little different to you then this is also a sign it is bad, a taste test would help in confirming this.
How about the frozen breast milk?
If you are the freezer kind of girl, then your milk is able to store for a long period. When frozen the milk stays fresh for up to 6 months. And if the conditions allow it can stay up to 9 months. Just ensure you properly date the milk to help keep track on how long it has been freezing.
But there are a few ways you can check if your frozen milk is still fresh.
– The first thing to do is defrost the milk, put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours, if this is to long put it in a bowl of warm water to get it back to its liquid form.
– Once defrosted you can go through the checks discussed above, this is the color, taste, consistency, smell.
– Refrigerated milk and its frozen counterpart will react different when spoilt especially the color. For frozen milk, it gets much lighter as opposed to getting darker. Thus is might look whiter than it should be. But by performing the other tests you should be able to quick determiner if the milk is spoilt.
Final thoughts
How to tell if breastmilk is bad is much easier than you think. The main things you will need to look out for is the smell of the milk, does it taste sour, color of the milk and the consistency. Just like any milk we purchase from the store breastmilk is also prone to contamination leading it to go bad. As we done want to feed our precious angels nothing but the best liquid gold can offer we need to be attentive on the milk we feed them.
However, a general rule that you should follow, if your sixth sense is saying there is something wrong with the breastmilk, then consider not giving the breastmilk. Your mummy instincts are Queen at keeping your little one healthy.
[lm1]Spoiled breastmilk