I have a mother who contacted me complaining of pumped milk with a very
distasteful, sour smell.  The milk is fine immediately after pumping and for
about a day in the refridgerator and/or freezer.  After that it's smells bad
and baby refuses it.  She assured me that is wasn't a food smell such as
garlic, but a bad, sour smell.  Her baby is a thriving 12 weeks old and she's
been pumping since he was 8 weeks.

As a LLLL and rental station, the mother initially contacted me wanting new
tubing for a N 3 pump that she was borrowing from another mother.  The tubing
was spotted and looking messy as if milk had backed up into the pump.  The
pump was functioning  at less than 100% so I gave her my demo to use until we
returned the origional for reconditioning.  She thought perhaps the tubing
was the problem, but now that she has new tubing and new pump, she reports no
difference.  We discussed several things that it could possibly be, such as
residue in pump bottles, smells from other foods in the fridge/freezer,
container not closed tightly and etc., but we see no glaring red flags.

She is an OB resident at a local hospital and very supportive of LLL and LC's
(she says she has ALL "the books") so I really want to help her solve her
problem.  She is very frustrated by only being able to stay one day ahead of
her baby and endure the very hectic schedule she maintains.  I told her that
I can post this situation on Lactnet and LLLOL and have the potential of 1000
opinions and a wealth of experience from the best!
Please reply via the list or feel free to e-mail me privately.
Thanks!  Barb Gabbert-Bacon LLLL, Wichita, KS