Freezing breast milk.?

I have been expressing breast milk once or twice a day since my son came home from the hospital. I have noticed that the milk tends to "seperate" after a couple of days, thick fatty stuff on top and cloudy watery mlk on the bottom of the bag. I freeze it immediatly after pumping and stick in the back of the freezer, not the door. My son refuses to drink the milk once its seperated. (He nurses almost all the time, gets abottle when we are out somewhere and i cant find a private place to nurse or someone else wants to feed him)
My pump is sterlized before and after every use and i use presterilized breast milk bags.
Am I doing somthing wrong?
Also any tips on safely defrosting the milk once its frozen. I have been putting it in a bowl of warm water.
Thanks!

It seperates after being frozen. I know it sounds weird but after a few days you can see the diferent layers and it will not mix back up.
Im doing research about this now.

I will be in your boat soon as I am expecting a baby on July 22nd and intending on breastfeeding.

I took a breast feeding class at The Pump Station in Los Angeles, CA and the separation you are talking about is normal. The lactation consultants suggest that you shake the milk up in the bottle once you transfer it from the storage bag or container you are using and he should take it.

It sounds like you're doing things properly, especially when it somes to sterilizing and defrosting. Maybe your son doesn't like the nipple on the bottle and you should try one with a different flow or different material (as there are so many on the market).

I don't know if you have access to a lactation consultant in your area, but they could offer you much more advice and support, especially if you are frustrated.

Good luck!

I was doing the same thing. I just defrosted the breast milk in the sink under running water, then heated it with hot tap water. I shook it up really good to mix it back up because it did separate. I would let it sit for a few minutes until the air bubbles went down. I don't know what else to suggest.

Sounds like you are doing everything right. If it's separating before it gets to the freezer, give it a little shake and store it upright until it freezes completely. Make sure there's no "good stuff" on the sides of the bag before you dispense it into a bottle too.

Btw, have you ever tried feeding in your car? I do it all the time. All you need is a blanket and the air conditioning . :o)

you are doing everything right. the only thing that i can think of why he might not be taking after it's frozen is because the temperature is off. i have a new baby that i breastfeed also and she is really temp sensitive.

sounds like you are doing everything right perhaps try shaking the milk some after you defrost it give it a chance to mix itself back up perhaps your son just is picky and doesnt like it once it gets that way, they say breastfed babies are the most picky. good luck!!

Your doing everything correctly. You should not feed him the milk once its separated. You can keep in the frezer for 3-6 months but in the fridge for only 24 hrs.

First of all, you are on track for defrosting. Warm water. Do not put into microwave. Some people do but they really don't know what that does to the milk.

The milk seperation is just the fat floating up. When you milk a cow or goat the cream or heavy fat content always seperates. Back in the 'olden' days when you bought milk you always shook it up before pouring into the glass becasue the cream would be seperated from the whey.

Have your tried simply shaking the milk up once it is seperated?

As everyone has already said. You are doing everything right. Milk will separate, just give it a shake to mix it all together.

Have you thought that maybe it is the teat you are using. I know that some babies can be very fussy with a teat - or want tqke the bottle at all. I would try a few different ones!

Goodluck

Your milk separates during storage and the cream rises to the top, because breast milk is not homogenized. Gently swirl, or rotate, the collection bottle of milk to mix it together. Avoid vigorous shaking. I will attach the link where I found this info.

do not defrost on icrowave use hot water instead. and when you defrost milk can not leave it out for too long. i does separate just shake it to miix it again.

when freezing milk you should let it cool in the fridge for a few hours first and then put in the freezer. One tip- lay bags flat like a shingle rather than upright so when you go to thaw it has more surface area and the milk will thaw quicker. The milk seperates becuase it is not homogenized just shake it after thawing and the fat and all will distribute. as far as thawing goes you can let it thaw in the fridge overnight or thaw in sink or bowl of warm to hot water-making sure that milk does not get too warm for baby. also another tip--when breastfeeding the first milk that comes out is watery-like skim milk-and it graduallly getts thicker-like whole milk.

Sounds to me like you are doing everything right too. I never froze my milk, but even in the fridge for a few days and it seperated. Once warmed and shaken, it seemed to be consistent throughout and my girl never had any issues, so I'm not sure what you would need to do. When you rewarm it, are you getting it to a high enough temperature (body temp)? Perhaps that is what is throwing your son off. Or perhaps its the bottle itself? If you only give the very occasional bottle he might simply be refusing the bottle.

I know there are some anti-breastfeeding people out there, and our own modesty can really limit us, but even when I was out shopping I didnt take a bottle with me. I remember sitting in the back corner of a store nursing my 5mth old after she woke up from her nap and no one gave me a second look. I was worried someone might get 'offended' but I dont know if anyone even noticed. She was in a front baby carrier and no one could see anything anyways even if they caught on I was nursing her. I nursed her several times on the bus, same sort of thing, no one really paid us any attention. A man sitting next to me even leaned over and said what a magical thing I was doing or something like that.

Keep up the good work!