# Why does frozen breastmilk only last 24 hours??



## ladyslipper (Apr 21, 2006)

It does not make sense to me that my frozen breastmilk is only good for 24 hours once thawed. Can someone help me understand this? thanks


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## Benji'sMom (Sep 14, 2004)

Freezing kills the antibacterial things in the milk, so once it's thawed it's just like formula - in the sense that it has nothing to prevent bacteria from growing in it. So just like formula would have to be thrown out, so would the thawed breastmilk.


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## ndakkitten (Jul 1, 2006)

The reason that you can't keep milk that has been thawed after being frozen is that it loses the immune properties that inhibit bacterial growth. This may lead to bacterial contamination.

To avoid any probs with mine, I only thawed out what I needed at the time. Also, when I pumped, I filled storage bags up to the level that my ds would usually eat at a feeding. This way one bag = one feeding.


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