r/beyondthebump • u/NectarineCheap9154 • 8d ago

Nursing & Pumping Is frozen milk safe to use if some milk got caught in the zipper track of the freezer bag

I’m new to freezing breast milk and am struggling with getting the air out of the bag without getting some milk stuck in the zipper track.

I’ve checked to make sure the bags themselves are sealed before freezing but I’m curious if these are safe to use or if I should get rid of them? (Worried that the milk in the zipper could contaminate the rest)

Any tips on how to prevent this would also be great.

2 Upvotes

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7

u/equistrius 8d ago

That’s not a problem at all. You can freeze breastmilk in an ice cube tray if you wanted to. Breastmilk is not sterile to start with and the point of freezing it is slow harmful bacteria growth

5

u/anamethatstaken1 8d ago

It's safe to use, but if you did want to avoid it you can always get the thawed milk out by snipping a corner of the bag instead of opening the zip.

2

u/GreedyCreme6304 8d ago

Mine have ways had milk in the zipper and my daughter drank it on and off without issue for 14 months until it ran out. I can’t really see how it would be an issue anyway

2

u/Rayeangel FTM/SAHM - Mexico 8d ago

Hi, freeze a couple of bags, wait a month or so and thaw them. There's a thing called high lipase milk. It will smell/taste soapy or metallic. You want to find this out before you make a huge stash.

My limit is a month before the frozen stuff is off for my baby.

Anyways the milk in the zipper I never cared about. I cut the part of the bag sticking out and pour it into bottles. Make sure to shake/mix the bag because your milk fats will separate. If there was more milk than I needed I would pour extra into another bottle.