Does Stored Breastmilk Lose Its' Quality?

One of my favorite topics. (I seriously considered becoming a lactation specialist) It does lose some quality by storage (freezing), but not much. Deep frozen milk is the best because the cells are harder and less likely to thaw/re-freeze/thaw/re-freeze everytime the freezer door opens up. but, like anything you freeze, meat, chicken, last nights lasagna, it all loses some quality once it's been frozen.

The reason the baby whisperer says what she says is not neccessarily related to the milk losing quality, which we all agree that it does a little, but her point is having more to do with the type of milk your body is making for your baby. Your body (or boobs rather) knows how old your baby is and will make the milk with as much nutritian as your baby needs NOW, plus all the fats, calories, sugars, etc for your baby's needs. Your milk changes depending on your baby's age and it's nutritianal needs. A newborn needs different milk than that of a 4 month old. So, her theory is that if you're freezing your milk for a 4 month old, and giving it to your baby when your baby turns 8 months old, it's not getting the accurate nutritian that your body was meant to create for the baby at 8 months. It's like we're cheating a bit by robbing peter to pay paul in a way, because at 8 months, you'll probably not be nursing or producing as much either because your baby will be eating more table foods and other fluids like water too by then. Here's the up side of what you're doing. Your milk storage now is going to give your baby more time to be on breastmilk prior to going to whole milk and the baby will be less likely to need to go to formula as a suppliment because you're boobs may not be supplying enough then. It also, even frozen 1 year old milk is still better than formula or cows milk. The properties of breastmilk are truely amazing and NOTHING will ever replace it. Did you know that breastmilk can cure pinkeye with just a few squirts? It's true...and it's amazing how healty breastmilk is, even frozen year old milk. So, relax, you're doing wonderfully by freezing it ahead of time. I think the baby whisperers arguement is...if you're not giving your baby the right quality milk at the right stage, why bother? But you could also make the arguement on the other side because it's either freeze it or toss it, and I know I wasn't about to toss that liquid gold!! :)

I pumped exclusively with #1, and here's what I did to help:
1) Every once in a while (maybe every other day), I pumped and froze a fresh bottle (that I would have otherwise fed him), and instead used a frozen one. That way I was constantly using the older stuff and replenishing it with newer stuff. This helped me avoid a freezer full of milk from the 2 month stage.

2) My pediatrician told me that when the baby is older, it was OK to supplement with those older bottles, but not rely on them for all the nutrition, as the older milk would not be nutritionally formulated for the older baby. However, if your baby is eating table foods, you might be able to get some help there. When I found myself with lots of bags of the older stuff, I used it to make rice cereal and oatmeal, which was like an added boost.

I fed my son frozen breastmilk when he was weaning and everything was fine. I think I had stored my milk for about 6 months. I also used the stored milk whenever I wasn't feeling well and did't think it was a good idea to nurse my son at that time. I read that you can store it for up to a year with no problems (deep freeze) and store in a regular freezer for approx. 6 months.

Tanya,

Breast milk can loose its quality, but its not that fast. You could call your local hospital and talk to a lactation consultant. They will know for sure how long you can store it safely. I heard not to use milk if its been frozen in a deep freezer more than 6 months.

Good luck! I know that breast milk is the new liquid gold. I too am a breast feeding mother. But am unable to pump!

It will be fine. It will not lose it's quality stored in the freezer properly for many, many months. I think it is great you are bfing your baby and making sure you have some in the freezer! What a great thing for her and for you.
S., mom of 3 (bfed all of them) and license family child care provider

Everything loses some quality when frozen, but the benefits of frozen breastmilk far outweight formula.

I think the real issue that book has is that milk is specially made for your baby at that stage.... so your milk right now is made for your babys age.. the fat/nutrients, etc all match up to her age... if you freeze the milk and use it when she is 10 months old, it won't match her age. BUT its still perfectly good to use, and again the benefits of using the frozen milk by far outweigh using formula.

I am a SAHM, but I pumped every morning for both my boys, and used the milk as needed. I know I used milk when they were 8-9 months that I pumped when the ywere 1-2months. No problems, still works the same. :)