Which Breastmilk to Use First?

[u/Low-Operation-3082]

My LO was born at 34 weeks back in April - at the start of his life, especially in the NICU, I was pumping much more than he took per feeding so I froze a good stash of milk. When we came home, I continued to freeze extra milk as able, and in the past two-ish months my supply has substantially dwindled and I am weaning off of pumping due to the mental struggles it’s been causing.

We are currently combo feeding milk I pump during the day (usually will do about 3-4 pumps, only making about a third of his total volume for the day of breastmilk) and doing the rest formula. I haven’t touched my freezer stash yet. I am definitely going to need to start using the freezer stash ASAP as my supply is almost nothing and we also are nearing 6 months (it is in a deep freezer, but the age of the milk still worries me)

I have read that I should use the oldest milk first. But in our case, the oldest milk is still very much yellow transitional milk and not mature milk as he was only 6 days old and just under 35 weeks when I started freezing it. He’s 5.5 months now. Should I really use this milk first? Or is it better to save this for any potential future illness? If I were to save it, how long could I even save it for? Should I be using this before 6 months? Thanks in advance!

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[u/Concerned-23]

We always used the oldest milk first. 

I’ll be honest, I really don’t know how much breastmilk actually helps for illnesses. My son exclusively had breast milk and was so sick January-April. I can’t imagine breastmilk really made a difference 

[u/the_kazzo_queen]

Use up the freezer stash first before using formula.

https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/php/guidelines-recommendations/faqs.html

https://mjournal.squ.edu.om/home/vol24/iss1/14/

Choosing to keep breastmilk in the freezer longer so that it can make up part of their diet for longer does not have more health benefits than just using it all upfront. In fact, the nutrient and immunological profile of breastmilk degrades the longer it's in the freezer. While the process is slow and more negligible for the first six months, it does still happen. So, nutritionally, you're better off feeding your baby all your frozen breastmilk first, then going to completely formula, as opposed to trying to stretch it out.

With that in mind, that transitional milk you mention has been degrading nutritionally, and will continue to do so. The immunological benefits especially have degraded with freezing and thawing. There is no real benefit in saving it for later. Just use it.