Freezing/thawing Cow's Milk

My mom would freeze milk before a trip and we'd use it as the ice in the cooler for the first day and then shake it up and drink it while it still had some ice crystals in it -yum! If we were traveling without a cooler any fresh milk in the fridge went into the freezer so we'd have milk at home when we got back.

As to Victoria's note about when to switch to skim - I have to disagree. As an older mom I did quick search of reliable websites to see if things had changed in the last couple of years. Developmental specialist and Drs. still suggest that the only reason to switch to a lower fat milk before age 2 is when a baby is obese. Babies really need the fat for proper brain development, calorie intake and proper absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. "Whole" fat milk still only has 4% fat.

We used to buy around 25 gallons at a time, freeze them and use as needed. We used about 25-30 a month. Our freezer held 25 gallons. MIlk was $1.65 at the commissary and $3.99 at Walmart at the time.

The fat will separate and you will get floaties.
Shake it up real well and strain it.
It will not taste different.
It might turn yellowish, it is still OK.
It takes about a day and a half in our fridge to thaw, I have even set it on the counter in the AM and used it at dinner. It was always OK.
I always smell milk before I use it. I have had milk go way past expiration dates and been fine, and whole gallons not even at the exp date and I had to throw them away.

yes you can freeze it.
it will turn a yellowish tinge color.
I put mine in the fridge at least 2-3 days before I need it, so it will thaw.
SHAKE it before you pour your daughter a glass, as sometimes the fat separates from it.
Also, write on the bottle for how many days it will be good (ie, I would buy a gallon, put half of it in the freezer the day I got home from the grocery store with it (put the other half in a glass jar or juice pitcher). I'd look at the 'use by date' and see how many days it was good till, let's say 12 days. I'd write on my bottle "12 DAYS" so that when I pull it out of the freezer I know it's good for about 12 days after it thaws)

I grew up on milk that was frozen...we bought the cardboard 2 qt containers and froze 3 gallons of them at a time...one would sit out in the fridge to thaw while we were using the other one...

We went through milk fast - so I don't know how long it can set out!! Sorry!!!

My grandmother used to do it all the time. I would think the length of time you have to use it after thawing would relate to how fresh the milk was at the time it was frozen.

it will be fine - i would suggest putting everyone on the same kind. whole milk isn't really that "Necessary"....

My M. froze milk all the time and wed get out a carton every morning to thaw. We had to shake it up before pouring any. I have never frozen milk since I day I moved away from home, but still to this day, shake that carton,,lol

Does your daughter need to be on whole milk? My pediatrician said that unless there is a weight issue, there is no need for whole milk. I would call you pediatrician and see if there is a problem switching her to milk the rest of the family drinks. My daughter is 2 and on skim milk and although I waited until 2, the doctor said because she was fine weight wise, there was no problem making the switch to skim and I could of done it earlier than 2. I also know it's more expensive, but I buy the Horizons milk that doesn't need to be refriderated for when we travel.

It's okay to freeze it (that's all we had in Japan... frozen milk), but freezing it COMPLETELY changes the taste and texture. Bleh. Yuck.

((And it's not your Q... but since it's been brought up... the more neurologists study the brain and the mylenization of the nerves, the older and older they recommend keeping kids on whole milk. At this point they're still finding axons coating in 5 & 6yos. There's no rush to switch off of whole milk any time soon. As you may well know, already, early childhood nutirtion and adult nutrition are two *wildly* different things. One never wants to put a young child on a low fat *anything* unless medically instructed to. Children need *very* high fat diets for brain maturation and immune system maturation))

I've frozen and thawed milk too many times to count over the years. Sometimes the cream separates. If so, shake the milk up and it will mix back in for that pour.

Good luck to you and yours.