excess lipase / quick spoiling

[llwr]

I've just realized that my milk that has been immediately frozen thaws sour. It's not a huge deal for me since I'm a SAHM. But it did get me really curious. This is my 2nd, and I never noticed a problem with my first, and I also donated a lot of frozen milk with my first.

Most of the sites just say scald the milk to deactivate the lipase and don't really go into why it might have so much. I found a couple of references to soy, but I really don't eat much. I found a reference to digestive supplements; I'm not taking them and I ate plenty of yogurt and kefir with my first as well.

Then I found this: (sorry I can't link correctly)
http://baby.families.com/blog/soluti...ur-breast-milk

It says some mothers blame washing the pump parts/bottles in tap water. It's due to the metals in the water and that washing in distilled fixes the problem. Could there by anything to this? Our water has changed; we have well water with lots of rust. We have a softener and a filter, but if we run out of red-out salt, the bathtub is yellow within a couple of days. I guess I'll just have to try it and see.

[NSmomtobe]

I've just discovered that I have this problem as well. Have you tried the distilled water solution?

[smpayne]

Regular city tap water shouldn't be a problem, but since you are on well water, there may be issues. You may want to get your water tested, could it be contaminated? Does sterilizing the pump parts and bottles make a difference? Is your freezer keeping a constant temp or could food be thawing and re-freezing?

If it's the water, try the Boy Scout dishwashing procedure. Wash, Rinse, as normal, then rinse in a tub of water with 1 Tbsp bleach to sterilize.

Your water definitely sounds like it has lots of metal in it. Have you tried the distiled water yet? I would be interested to know if it works.

[luckymamaoftwo]

I discovered the same with my first baby when she was around 5 months old. ALL the frozen milk I had so diligently pumped and saved was nasty and ruined. I was told that some women just have this problem and the only way to "save" the milk is by scalding it. I'd love to hear more, though......

[lkmiscnet]

Excess lipase does not mean that the milk is ruined. It may smell/taste "soapy" (as some have described it), but many babies will happily drink it. I am feeding my LO frozen milk I had in a separate freezer from 11 mo ago, and he drinks it even with my excess lipase.

If it were bad/spoiled, it would smell really funky. No question about it.

[ewe+lamb]

The breastmilk is fine - it just doesn't smell that good, this is because there is a hormone in the milk that helps digest the milk before it's got to baby - happens for some mothers and not others, before freezing the milk scald it and then freeze - this kills off the hormone and the milk stops being digested, perfectly suitable for freezing after and baby will enjoy his breastmilk.