Frozen Milk Thawed on Accident!

if it still has crystals in it you could probably refreeze it and be okay. if you wanting to use it you can set it in a bowl of warm water to hurry along the warm up.

I would smell it, if you think it smells bad then through it out. If you don't feel totally comfortable with it then don't feel bad about tossing it. We have the general rule "if in doubt, toss it." So we probably end up throwing the remnants of more condiments out than other people.

If you tried it once, and you baby won't drink it then maybe that's your answer. Don't do that again.

I would check with a lactation consultant to be sure. If it were me, if a substantial portion was still crystals, I'd refreeze it but mark on the bag that I did so, so that when I went to use it, I could pay attention for any reaction from baby. If it's pretty much thawed- use it in 24 hours. My understanding of why you have to use it in 24 hours is that breastmilk is a fairly delicate food; it has no preservatives and goes through no processing that makes it store longer and the changes in temperature break it down or "age" it for lack of a better way to describe it. So, because when you put it in the fridge it only goes through 1 temperature change; body to refridgerator-so it lasts longer (although I was told only 3-5 days) versus when you freeze it, it has to go from body temp, to fridge temp, to frozen, and back to fridge temp again. I've even read that you shouldn't shake it to mix in the fat when it separates and just gently swirl it. I think it's just a delicate food that nature didn't anticipate us trying to freeze and store- but thank heavens we can!

OK, I just weaned off my 6 month old boy a few weeks ago and this is still pretty fresh in my mind. I know that breaskmilk can not be re-frozen. Personally I would not use the milk that was in the freezer with the door cracked. You can never be too careful about breastmilk and spoilage. I think more than anything I would call a lactation specalist (usually one is employed at your OB-GYN) and ask her. This way you get the right answer you're looking for. Hope this helps.

I don't know what the true experts say about this but I have re-frozen my BM after I have thawed it out. My baby will not drink the milk if it not good so I know that for her it has been fine. I wouldn't worry about it, especially if it is still cold. Your baby will just not drink it if the milk is bad. Hope this helps.

That happend to me with my regular freezer. The milk never completely thawed out and it went bad, the baby wouldn't drink it. I know that it sounds like a waste of a lot of pumping time but I would throw it all out. I didn't use a deep freezer though so maybe it thawed more than I thought. The baby won't drink it though if it doesn't taste perfect so you can try it. If she refuses one then she probably won't take any of them. Breast fed babies are usually pretty pickey when it comes to their milk.