Metallic soapy frozen milk - excess lipase

[Calif]

Anyone with this issue? LO is 6 weeks old and we've given him pumped milk before either fresh or refrigerated, never frozen. Yesterday we gave some frozen milk and he cried uncontrollably and rejected it. I tasted it and it was metallic and horrible. I googled it and it seems I have excess lipase and need to scald the milk before storage. I'm so upset but at least I only have about 20oz frozen milk to throw out.

When I work, I intend to pump for the following day so it can be just refrigerated. But I still need a freezer stash for the first day of work and going out and emergencies.

Anyone have experience with this?

Do you use a pot? Bottle warmer? Digital thermometer? Scald after every pumping?

 

[MommyJogger]

I've had some experience with this. Mine would be a little gross tasting by the next day out of the fridge. I got a bottle warmer-- I think it was like, the second cheapest munchkin one-- and a meat thermometer. I would pump into glass bottles and if I knew I was going to store the milk for more than 12 hours before it being offered, I would place the open glass bottle in the bottle warmer and start the machine. The first couple times, the automatic turn-off would catch before it got to 180F, so I kept hitting the start button and eventually it overrode the automatic turn off and kept heating. I would check every few minutes with the digital meat thermometer (if you just leave it in, the steam will damage the thermometer, don't know if it would hurt the non-digital ones). Then I would remove the glass bottle with heat-proof gloves and pour it directly into breast milk storage bags and dunk those in water to cool them. Then into the fridge/freezer as needed.
I've used the pot boiling method, too. I used the same glass bottles and put them in a pot of boiling water with the pot water just a little below the milk level in the bottle. Then check frequently with a meat thermometer, etc.
If I were you, I would take an oz or so and see how long it can be in the fridge before going soapy tasting. I think it can vary depending on how much excess lipase you're producing. I mostly found it much easier to scald in batches at the end of the day than to do it after each pump session, but sometimes the evenings were so busy, it was a challenge to fit it in, so whatever works for your schedule should be fine. I used the glass evenflo bottles. They stood up to the heat well, but the drawback would be that if there was less than 3oz in the bottle, the thermometer didn't reach sufficiently deep into the milk to get an accurate reading.
Hope this helps you get a plan of action together!

 

[Calif]

Wow, thanks so much. I pumped some this morning and 12 hrs later it already tasted bad to me, but DH thought it was still ok. I know LO took day old milk before, so I will offer him tomorrow to see if he'll take it. If he can take 2 day old milk then I won't need to scald when I pump at work, just for the freezer stash or on Fridays. Crossing my fingers.

 

[missk1989]

I had this problem and had about 100oz that i had to bin I just collected 2 days milk and scolded it all at once before seperating into bags and freezing. I still thought it smelt funny but oh assured me that that was how fresh milk smelt when heated up too.

 

[HelsBels07]

I have had this issue. I have been pumping and building up a freezer supply for some time, and when I express the milk goes straight into the freezer, so I knew it wouldn't have gone sour at any point. I have found that if the milk has been frozen for a couple of months or more then it gets the soapy smell as freezing can also activate the excess lipase. Luckily my LO isn't phased by it and happily takes it so I haven't had to scald it. It is safe for them to drink without scalding as the excess lipase just effects the taste.

 

[Belen09_10]

I have overt 200 ounces and my son will not drink it.

 

[MommyJogger]

I have overt 200 ounces and my son will not drink it.

Sorry, luv! If you don't want it to go to waste, you can donate it to a baby who will drink it through "Eats on Feets" or "Human milk for human babies". If you don't feel comfortable doing that or can't find someone who knows their baby will take lipase-high milk, you can donate it to a project aimed at raising breastfeeding awareness if you're in the northeastern US. If you are, you can PM me and I'll give you the email of the woman in charge of the project.
If you're willing to experiment and risk wasting a little more milk for the chance to save a lot, you may can experiment with mixing scalded and unscalded milk to see if you can dilute the taste enough that your lo will drink some lipased milk mixed in with the fresh. (You can only mix them right before feeding, though. Don't mix and then store.)

 

[Kaleido]

Wow I had no idea this could happen! I have probably 150 ounces in freezer so far for my return to work in sept.....I guess I should defrost a bag and try it tomorrow . I would literally cry if I had to toss it!!

 

[Calif]

Anyone else have a problem with glass bottles cracking? I use the munchkin bottle warmer. I tried using the plastic bottles at first (medela and dr brown, but the temp did not go past 160. So I tried a relish jar from a suggestion on google, and it cracked after a few uses. Then I tried evenflo glass bottle, and it cracked after I put cold milk in. So I bought another evenflo, but this time it cracked after putting normal milk in. They all crack when heating in the bottle warmer. I always cool in a plastic bottle.

If you don't get cracked bottles, what brand bottles do you use? If you use plastic bottles, how do you get it to heat up to temp?

 

[MommyJogger]

Anyone else have a problem with glass bottles cracking? I use the munchkin bottle warmer. I tried using the plastic bottles at first (medela and dr brown, but the temp did not go past 160. So I tried a relish jar from a suggestion on google, and it cracked after a few uses. Then I tried evenflo glass bottle, and it cracked after I put cold milk in. So I bought another evenflo, but this time it cracked after putting normal milk in. They all crack when heating in the bottle warmer. I always cool in a plastic bottle.

If you don't get cracked bottles, what brand bottles do you use? If you use plastic bottles, how do you get it to heat up to temp?

I use evenflo and my bottles have never cracked, even after about a year of use. Is the bottle still hot when you're putting the cold and room temp milk in? Because that's a no-no. Let all the glass cool slowly to room temp after heating each time.

 

[Calif]

Anyone else have a problem with glass bottles cracking? I use the munchkin bottle warmer. I tried using the plastic bottles at first (medela and dr brown, but the temp did not go past 160. So I tried a relish jar from a suggestion on google, and it cracked after a few uses. Then I tried evenflo glass bottle, and it cracked after I put cold milk in. So I bought another evenflo, but this time it cracked after putting normal milk in. They all crack when heating in the bottle warmer. I always cool in a plastic bottle.

If you don't get cracked bottles, what brand bottles do you use? If you use plastic bottles, how do you get it to heat up to temp?

I use evenflo and my bottles have never cracked, even after about a year of use. Is the bottle still hot when you're putting the cold and room temp milk in? Because that's a no-no. Let all the glass cool slowly to room temp after heating each time.

The bottle is stored in my cabinet, so it's room temperature. I always wash and sterilize afterwards and it never breaks while sterilizing even though the medela steam bags get super hot very fast.
I only pour the newly pumped milk into the bottle and then heat it. Every time I heat the bottle I hold my breath. =(

OH WAIT, I realize, I do not use even flo. I use munchkin bottles. Maybe I need to switch to evenflo!

The ones I use:
https://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Mig...qid=1377560646&sr=1-7&keywords=glass+bottle+3

 

[Calif]

I just saw this review of the bottle:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R37QMMDTLM2PDT/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

yikes! I should try the evenflo

 

[Calif]

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I looked into the evenflo and people have the cracking problem too:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R21F2...e=UTF8&ASIN=B000056W4W&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=

Is that that bottle you used without cracking problems?


I also looked into born free bottles:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R1IVL...e=UTF8&ASIN=B006VIJOPW&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
ALSO the cracking issue. =(

 

[Calif]

I'm so so sorry for replying so much, but I think I found the answer. I found that I could buy autoclavable (can withstand extreme heat and cold) lab-quality bottles on ebay. I will buy a bunch of those. They are pyrex 250ml borosilicate glass bottles.

 

[MommyJogger]

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I looked into the evenflo and people have the cracking problem too:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R21F2...e=UTF8&ASIN=B000056W4W&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=

Is that that bottle you used without cracking problems?

These are indeed the bottles I've used without cracking problems. How are you cooling the milk after heating? Are you cooling the milk while it's in the glass bottle or are you transferring it into another container to cool it? Because if you dunk a hot bottle in cool or room temp water, it will crack (and it will crack sometimes if you just transfer it directly to the refrigerator in the glass bottles). The autoclavable bottles will definitely withstand the heat without cracking, but still try to avoid drastic changes because I've had autoclavable glass crack if they're cooled too quickly after heating. What brand are you looking to buy? Some of the thicker ones will have heat transfer problems (it will take foreeeeeeever to heat your milk). I work in a lab. If you tell me the brand, I can check them out at work and let you know if you're likely to have heating difficulties with them or if they look thin enough to use for scalding.

 

[MommyJogger]

PS. double check they're bpa-free. Some borosilicates are manufactured with a coating to prevent chemical leeching that contains bpa. If you like, I can see if the manufacturer of your bottles has a rep in our area and I can ask them for a list of chemicals used in their coating process.

 

[Calif]

PS. double check they're bpa-free. Some borosilicates are manufactured with a coating to prevent chemical leeching that contains bpa. If you like, I can see if the manufacturer of your bottles has a rep in our area and I can ask them for a list of chemicals used in their coating process.

Shoot you're right, these may be thick. I was thinking of the Pyrex:
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/cls1395250?lang=en&region=US


I always transferred to a plastic bottle to cool in ice water. They always cracked while heating, way before temp was reached.

 

[Calif]

I found that the Philip advent bottles are borosilicate glass!

 

[MommyJogger]

Sigma bottles are pretty thick, but not the thickest I've seen. You could probably get away with using them, but the ones we have definitely wouldn't fit in a bottle warmer, fyi. They are not coated.

 

[MommyJogger]

Are you in the mountains, by chance? I really want to figure out why you're having such a cracking problem. High elevation is what I'm down to, but if you tell me you're close to sea level, I'm back to the drawing board.