# Soapy milk



## MaggiesMom (May 14, 2003)

I've read that milk that smells/tastes soapy has something to do with more lipase than "normal." I am off to do research about it, but can anyone tell me what you know about this?

I took two bags of frozen EBM on vacation (in a cooler with ice packs) in case DD woke up hungry when we were not near an exit on the highway. I didn't end up needing to use it, but when we got to our destination, the milk (still quite cold) smelled soapy, so I tasted it, and it was indeed soapy. I dumped it.

I've wondered for some time if we might have this problem as DD's spit-up smells soapy, not at all sour like other kids spit-up I have smelled. My milk isn't soapy from the fridge, only after it has been frozen.

I have to go back to work in a week and am so sad that the EBM in the freezer is likely all bad- I have a hard time getting more than two ounces per pumping session no matter what I do. (Haven't tried herbs yet.) Tomorrow I am going to try to see the LC at the hospital where I work.

I've read that scalding it somehow helps. I have found conflicting info about this- one source said it stops the breakdown, another syas it doesn't but makes the milk "okay" to drink. But I have also read the milk is perfectly safe for DD to drink if she doesn't refuse it. What's the deal? None of my books refer to this.

I'm off to Kellymom.com and breastfeeding.com to see what I can find.

(Edited to add more info.)

Well, I just looked at the LLL site and it also said it could be improper storage. I guess I will have to do some tests on the milk and see what happens. Maybe it is too close to the freezer door? I will have to try putting it in the deep freeze downstairs.


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

I will keep my fingers crossed that your freezer supply isn't bad! I had some soapy "batches" so to speak but it wasn't consisently soapy, so it may be that you had a bad batch. Then again, unfortunately there's really no way to tell in advance.

When I was dealing with this it seemed that none of my books except one had any information on it, and that book (The Nursing Mother's Problem Solver) said to scald the milk to destroy the excess lipase. The fact that none of my other books mentioned it (and both LCs I called didn't know about it) makes me think that not that much is known about the issue.

When you're running tests, try scalding some milk and not scalding some milk, freezing both, then running a taste test. All else being equal, that should give you some answers as to what is going on and what helps the problem.

Since you have a deep freeze, I would definitely use it to store your pumped milk from now on. Also, what kind of bags are you using? I really liked the Medela bags.


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## Little Bear's Mama (Mar 20, 2003)

Was the milk rancid,or just soapy smelling?

If the milk was just soapy smelling,it is caused by changes in the fats in your stored milk. The milk is not "bad" and can still be used. Some babies mind the smell,others don't.

If,however,your milk smelled rancid,then you may have alot of lipase(the enzyme that helps digest fat)in your milk. In this case,your milk would start going "bad" after a period of storage time. You can scald(heat just until bubbling around the edges)your milk while fresh,then quickly cool and freeze it. This should inactivate the lipase and stop the problem.

It is a good idea to be careful about *where* your milk is stored in the freezer. If you're using the seperate door freezer of your refrigerator,be careful not to store the milk in the door or along the sides of the freezer(because of the defroster). Either will cause your milk to experience temp. changes.

It is a GREAT idea for anyone who stores milk for extended periods of time to do a "test batch" just to make sure there are no problems.

Link to LLL's guidelines on milk storage
www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/milkstorage.html

*Edited to fix broken link


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## MaggiesMom (May 14, 2003)

Well, I saw the LC today.

She is NOT an IBCLC, but she was the only one available today. (She was terrible when DD was born.) The one who is an IBCLC (and was much nicer) only works on weekends and I cannot wait until Saturday to figure this out as I am going back to work on Monday and have a tough time getting more than 2 ounces per pumping no matter what I do.

Anyway, she knew NOTHING about the lipase issue and asked where I heard about it. I told her the La Leche League website, among other places.

She said she thought it was the bags I was using (Gerber, the only thing available in the middle of nowhere where I live) because she has had five other people call recently with the same problem with Gerber bags. (She plans on calling Gerber.) So, I went in today and picked up Medela bags from her along with some other things I needed. Luckily, I work there and got them at cost, because they are very pricey.

Who knows what it really is? I figure I will test with a little milk from the next pumping using both brands of bags and treat them the same way and see what happens. On with the testing!

BTW, the milk was just soapy, not rancid, so hopefully it IS just a storage issue. But I can't bring myself to try to feed Maggie soapy milk.


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## veganmamma (Sep 10, 2002)

Excess lipase tends to smell metallic, not soapy. It is my understanding that soapy = storage issue. Avent makes sealing disks for their bottles so that you can use them for storage containers. That's what I use. I DO have lipase issues I've found out and so since I don't need to actually use expressed BM I just stopped pumping b/c scalding is a lot of trouble unless someone else needs the BM. Anway, I wouldn't worry toom much about the lipase thing. If you're worried, taste your milk and see if it tastes kind of like you've left some metal sitting in it, you know, like that smell you baby has around their mouth when you let them chew on your keys? If so, then I would reconsider the lipase, but otherwise I would look at your storage situation. Avent is one of the most popular bottle/sippy cup/pump lines, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding parts. Even used, most of mine are used. Just don't use antibacterial soap on them b/c the plastic will crack.
Good luck!
Lauren


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## MaggiesMom (May 14, 2003)

Lauren, thanks for the info. I hope it IS just a storage issue. I actually can't get any Avent products in my town, and was so angry last night when I tried to buy those little disks last night and couldn't find any. I have to buy a bunch of cheap bottles that came with them. I'll have to look at the Target near work.

I asked another LC about this, and she did say to try storing directly in bottles, so I bought some more to use for storage. She also said, though, that I should try to offer the milk to Maggie because it is still okay. (I don't think I could bring myself to do that.) She also said if I need to freeze to scald, but that milk is good in fridge for 8 days, so maybe I won't need to freeze much.

The milk doesn't really taste metallic to me. I definitely tastes very soapy and nasty, nasty, nasty. Today is another tasting day for my test, so I will have to see what it is like today (day 5.)


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## veganmamma (Sep 10, 2002)

You wanna come up with a trade? I have a TON of avent bottles and every one has a disc.







email me if you're interested. I'm not really ISO anything in particular right now. Anyway, you can also order their stuff online.








Lauren
eta: [email protected]


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