Possible excess lipase; milk tasting sour. :-(

[Lyndzies]

So, I think I am one of those mamas with excess lipase enzyme. I don't know why were only just discovering this (DD is 6 months on Friday), other than the fact that Cady was refusing one bottle in particular from my MIL last week, and I tasted it when I got home and UGGGHHH it was definitely sour (had only been in the fridge a day or so, and handled correctly).

I pumped her bottles for today on Thursday of last week, tasted them this morning, and they are starting to taste sour too. Hopefully she will eat them (I sent a couple bags of frozen just in case). I dunno if I just started producing excess lipase or what, but we have only had this problem once or twice in the past, which I noticed only because I was feeding her some rice cereal mixed with BM and tasted it first to check the temperature, and it tasted nasty... As a full-time working away from the home and pumping mama, I just can't realistically see adding scalding the milk to inactivate the lipase as a viable option for me.  The thought of adding that to my evening's to-dos makes me want to cry.

We will have made it to 6 months on Friday, and I guess then we'll see what's what. Only 3 bags left in the freezer, and I'm officially more discouraged than I've ever been. Thanks for letting me vent, mamas. I am not ready for our BF'ing relationship to be over, and even though it's not (yet) I already feel like I'm starting to mourn it. :-(  Any advice/encouragement appreciated.

[carepear]

Sorry hon, I feel for ya.  I have the same issue and my daughter won't even take scalded milk.  She's a picky lady.  I know my milk lasts 36 hrs at the most so I have to pump in the for her 2nd bottle of the day.  Then I drive over at lunch and nurse her and also drop off the milk I've pumped that morning.  Then at pick up I leave the last bottle I pumped from the afternoon for her first bottle. 

So first bottle is around 12+ hrs old from around 3:00 pm

2nd bottle is from 5:00 am

breastfeed at lunch

3rd bottle from from 10 am pump

nurse at pickup

It took a bit to get a system down.  And I had to move her daycare to one that was within 2 miles of my office.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you. 

[Lyndzies]

Thanks for sharing your system, and thank you for the support!  Moving DD isn't an option, since my MIL is her "daycare."  As wonderful as she is, I don't think she'd be willing to bring DD to me (and I can't swing going to MIL to nurse Cady during the day). 

MIL didn't breastfeed, so I'm not sure if she "gets" it enough to bring her to me to nurse.  Lol.  :-)

I'm considering a formula/BF'ing combo, with a gentle wean from the pump for me.  Formula (we say "the F-word" for it in our house!) during the day, and EBF when I'm with Cady at night.  I have heard success stories from women who had an established supply for this method of "partial" weaning.  Wondering if anyone here has experience?

[EnchantedMamma]

re: "Partial weaning" - My DS continued to nurse in the A.M., P.M., and all throughout the weekend while taking EBF/formula during the day (daycare). It wasn't a problem at all. At 9 mos I had to give him formula along with the EBF as I could not pump enough; however, we continued to partial-nurse until about 15 months (he self-weaned when I was on travel).

re: Lipase. I had this issue too. I started scalding the milk (google it- you only cook until bubbles start to appear) before freezing it. I could usually get a day or two out of a fresh bottle. I would send that one with instructions to use it first. You might just give it a shot.

[Thandiwe]

I second the idea of scalding the milk.  I called my friend once about this, who is a LLL leader, and she said to scald the milk once it's thawed, then serve it once it's warm, not hot.

This quote here:  'Per the Breastfeeding Answer Book, page 229, "If the mother finds after freezeing and thawing that her milk has a rancid smell, she can prevent this from occurring in the future by heating her expressed milk to a scald (bubbling around the edges but not boiling) right after collecting it, and then quickly cooling and freezing it. Scalding inactivates the lipase (Lawrence and Lawrence p. 696). Once the milk has acquired the rancid smell, however, treating the milk will not help. It is not known whether or not this milk is safe for the baby; however most babies refuse it.

Some mothers have reported a slightly soapy smell to their frozen milk after it was thawed. This change in smell has been attributed to changes in the milk fats related to storage in self-defrosting refrigerators-freezers; it has not been found to be harmful to the baby (Lawrence and Lawrence, p.696)" ' was taken from here, specifically post 3 from LLL leader Karen Smith. 

Good luck!!

[NoraFlood]

Originally Posted by Lyndzies 
I'm considering a formula/BF'ing combo, with a gentle wean from the pump for me.  Formula (we say "the F-word" for it in our house!) during the day, and EBF when I'm with Cady at night.  I have heard success stories from women who had an established supply for this method of "partial" weaning.  Wondering if anyone here has experience?

I am a full-time working mom too, and I TOTALLY understand that scalding the milk is really not an option. There is just too much to do in the limited time you've got at home. I have not done exactly what you are proposing myself. My son gets formula at daycare and breastmilk at home, but I still pump during the day to keep up supply and to have something to supplement with in the evenings. I have awful low supply though, so I don't think you would need to do that. I know a bunch of people who don't pump at work and continue to breastfeed in the evenings and on weekends. The only thing I would worry about is your supply possibly suffering during daytime hours on the weekends, since you wouldn't be removing any milk during the week in those hours (does that make sense? I can't figure out how to say it coherently!)

You know, if your daughter is already getting solids, I would just go ahead and try introducing some formula. Formula behaves in the body just like a solid, essentially; it's appropriate infant food and is not poison. If she is already getting solids, there is no "virgin gut" issue to worry about. She may not take it, though, if she's never had it before--it doesn't taste sweet and nice like breastmilk!

[shellnurse]

Yup, I so hear you. This is my schedule 3-4 12 hour shifts per week. Get up at 0530 and home at 830pm. That means I'm scalding the milk around 9pm, showering and then reminding myself to check the cooled milk and store it. Ugggh!  What makes it easier for me is having two sets of bottles and pumping supplies, so I just throw those used parts in the sink and at least I don't have to scrub those. Don't know of that helps, but I do keep reminding myself that as tough as pumping and scalding is, at least it makes the actual breastfeeding easier. I can't imagine mixing and heating up formula.