Hi all,
In the past week, the LO (9 months) has been refusing some bottles of frozen milk.  We have determined that they do smell a little off... not bad, just off.  The older ones (up to 2 months old) seem worse.
My interweb research tells me that this is likely a lipase problem and that it's not dangerous for the baby to drink it, but the existing milk will have that off taste.  They advise scalding the newly pumped milk before freezing it so it won't keep happening.
Has anyone scalded their milk?  I would love to hear from anyone who has tried this or had this problem.

To be honest, I'm sure I could find some ancient threads on other sites about this, but I also just needed a place to say how very, very sad I am.  I have about 50 bags frozen and I was so happy that it was going well and this is a huge disappointment.  I feel like I might have to start over completely and I don't know if my body give me enough extra for that.  The whole last month has been really cruddy.  :(

I don't have anything to add about scalding milk but just wanted to say that I think that its amazing that at nine months you have 50 frozen bags.  DD is also 9 months and we have three!  I hope you are able to find solution that doesn't involve throwing out all of that milk.  I'm also sorry that this past month has been cruddy...that seems to be the norm across the boards.  Hopefully, things will improve with spring. 

Medford - I never, ever had 50 bags. I would be devastated. At the moment I have nothing but what is in the fridge.

I wonder if adding a little formula powder and water would offset the taste for your LO (like sugar and cream in coffee)? I know getting around the whole formula thing is a huge deal, but I would think it would be better than tossing all that beautiful, hard earned milk.

I know once in a while over the last few weeks we've had to supplement with formula, and we've mixed it with breast milk with no ill effects.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/lipase-expressedmilk.html

Interesting, lemon.  It said the reason scalding works is that it destroys the enzyme that makes it taste bad, but it also cited some reasons the enzyme there.  I wonder if scalding would solve one problem only to introduce another - poor digestibility.

The same thing happened with my son around the same time. He nursed fine, but wouldn't drink the previously frozen milk. I kept giving it to him, and if he didn't drink much I supplemented with water to keep him hydrated. After about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks he went back to drinking the frozen milk just fine. I looked into scalding too when it happened. Maybe give it a little more time and it might work itself out. Good luck - and great job with 50 bags!

Thanks for the link.  Hmm... seems to suggest that lipase does not vary over time and so if I didn't have a problem before, I shouldn't now.  Maybe it's something else.  I think I need to sacrifice a selection of bags to compare the different ages and perhaps it's just age.  Or storage.  Or something.

Nene and ML - your posts made me feel a lot better.  For some reason I was convinced she would starve if there wasn't a backlog, but with your messages plus the clarity of a new day it makes much more sense that she really only needs enough for the next day.
That makes me feel a lot better.  This is not a crisis.  Plus she can eat solid foods, plus I can just buy a can of formula to have on hand in case of an actual crisis.
And even if I have to toss a lot, I can console myself with the thought that I got to eat a lot of extra calories to make that...

My thawed milk always has that kind of off smell to it and DS doesn't love it. He used to reject it but will now accept it (begrudgingly) after a few tries. You could try mixing some thawed BM w/ fresh to mask the flavor. There would be a risk of wasting the fresh milk, of course, but if you are overproducing right now, maybe that is not a concern.

If LO will take the cocktail, it would allow you to stretch your fresh supply if it ever runs a little low.

I have over 300 bags of breastmilk frozen and just started using my stash. My LO had a problem in the beginning so I would mix 1/2 frozen and 1/2 fresh. I did not scald my breastmilk before freezing (didn't know that it was going to be an issue), and I'm already starting to wean so there's no way I can build up my stash again. I already donated over 15 gallons of milk. I did try scalding a few bags AFTER thawing and LO drank them fine. Now if he is getting a full bottle of frozen he is ok. Guess he got used to the taste.

I'd wait to toss it.  My daughter rejected frozen for a few weeks, and then one day on a whim I tried it again and she was fine with it. 

Medford - my DD is 9 months too and we have no more breastmilk....she is on all formula.  Just wanted to make you feel even better than nene and ML already did.  I am impressed with the 50 bags!

Another thought (you may have already thought of this or tried it, so I apologize if that is the case).....when your LO refuses the bottle, do you then try another bottle of fresh milk?  Do you know for sure that your LO is definitely hungry?  I am just wondering if maybe it isn't the fact that the milk has been previously frozen, just that the baby doesn't want the bottle at all?  At this age with my DD, there are times that she should be hungry for a bottle based on the amount of time since her last bottle, but I try to give it to her and she is not interested.  So, just a thought to consider.

Thanks for the good suggestions!
I think I am going to toss a bit of the very oldest stuff (it really doesn't smell delicious) but I will take rama's advice and keep trying.

Memes, we've been trying to do a fairly rigorous testing process to make sure she's really hungry.  But it's tough because the oversupply days seem to be over, so I am guarding the new milk carefully!

bumping up for Fram....