Excess Lipase
In February 2010 I was frustrated that my 5 month old daughter wouldn’t take a bottle. Then I smelled it. Something was wrong with my breast milk. After some online research I discovered that I have excess lipase in my breastmilk.
I was devastated and heartbroken over the 575 oz of frozen breast milk that my daughter would never drink. I turned to my blog to vent my frustrations and pass along what I’ve learned. I had no idea how many women I would end up reaching through these posts.
Everyday when I see hits on my lipase posts, I am reminded that I am not alone in my struggle with excess lipase. This page has been created to support other excess lipase women. Below is an up to date list of all my posts on excess lipase.
Excess Lipase: An Introduction
Excess Lipase: An Emotional Struggle
Excess Lipase: Scalding Breast Milk
Excess Lipase: My Journey to Becoming a Milk Donor
Excess Lipase: FAQ on Becoming a Milk Donor
I would love to hear your story. If you are an excess lipase mom feel free to leave a comment on this page sharing your journey. You never know who you’ll touch by sharing your story!
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17 Responses to Excess Lipase
Any idea how to deal with excess lipase if you are a working mom? My son is about 7 months old and has recently started refusing bottles. We tasted the milk and noticed a soapy or almost vomit-like taste (yuck!) Nursing is fine. I don’t mind taking the extra time to scald my milk, but I am a working mom and pump at 10 am, noon, and 3 pm. My work doesn’t have an oven and I know better than to use a microwave. I hate the idea of having to supplement after all this time but don’t think I can pump enough during the non-working hours since I typically nurse my son mornings and evenings. Thoughts?
Dana, I’m so sorry to hear you are experiencing excess lipase in your breast milk. I would highly recommend that you try using a bottle warmer to scald your pumped milk. I had great success with that method. You can read all about my experience with scalding here:
simplyrebekah.com/2010/05/03/excess-lipase-scalding-breast-milk/
I made a science experiment with my original lipase issues. I wrote this paper up on it. hth nativemothering.com/2010/08/my-baby-is-refusing-my-stored-milk-is-something-wrong-with-it/
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Serena, thank you for sharing your link. I really wish more women knew about the possibility of having excess lipase in their milk. Good job on spreading the word!
Hi – I’m starting to think I have excess lipase. My milk smells of nothing when in the fridge – even for 4 days – but when it starts to come up to room temp it has a cheesy/vomit aroma. Does that sound like lipase? Am not sure I would be able to scald so do you know if lipase-ey milk can last at all in the fridge? Even if could last 24 hours I could still use it.
Thanks for your blog by the way – really helpful you took the time x
Christine, I know how frustrating this can be. I hope I can be helpful!
1) Everyone’s milk has different amount of lipase that effects how long it “lasts” in the fridge. Mine was good for 24 hours, but through this blog I’ve talked with women who’s milk only lasted 4 hours.
2) Your milk might smell ok even though it is turning “sour.” The best thing to do is to TASTE the milk every couple of hours to see how long it really lasts. You’ll start to notice a gross after taste before anything else.
3) Even if your milk taste bad, there is nothing wrong with it. If your baby will drink it then go ahead and give it to him/her. However, I completely understand why a baby would turn up their nose to it (mine certainly did!). You said you might not be able to scald the milk, but I would encourage you to read over my post on how to scald the milk using a bottler warmer. It is really very easy and doesn’t take long at all.
I hope this answered your questions. Please feel free to ask more and keep me posted!
hi Rebekah. I was wondering if you have any idea if the fat content in the milk is the same if it’s already being broken down by lipase. My daughter is 12 1/2 months and still accepting my nasty tasting milk, which is great. But now I’m starting to wonder if the fat content is affected. I’m not finding a lot of info on it. I have about 4 months of frozen milk still and I really would like her to take it but if it’s going to affect her growth I’ll obviously switch to whole milk. She is still nursing twice a day and takes 10 to 12 oz of frozen milk per day. Thanks
Britt, I haven’t heard anything about poor fat content in milk effect with excess lipase. Do you have any reason to be concerned about your daughter’s growth? Is she gaining weight? Is there any concern from your pediatrician?
Here is my completely non-medical opinion: I think it should be fine. The fat is being broken down, not eliminated. When you eat normal foods, the fat is broken down in your stomach so that it can then be absorbed in your intestines. I don’t see how the excess lipase would make the milk go away. Instead it just changes the composition of the fat. Does that make sense to you?
You are extremely lucky to have a child that will accept the bad tasting milk. If I were you, I would continue to give it to her. However, if you have any concerns about her weight gain then I would call your doctor and ask them what you should do. After all, they are the professionals.
I would be curious if anyone else has any thoughts on excess lipase effecting the fat content of the milk!
Hi, Im now one of the mothers that are having trouble with the the excess lipase in the breast milk! Its sour smelling & tasting as its thawing out
I have been freezing my milk so that when I stop B. Feeding her I have the frozen B. Milk stored for my daughter so that she is getting the good milk for longer even tho she has been weaned! So scalding it is mostly out for me because she wont be getting the nutrients from it! I haven’t tried to give it to her but will as all im going to do is toss it out 
Next best thing woulb be to visit a naturalpath to see if she can help me in any way!? Chrissy
Chrissy, your child will still benefit from scalded breast milk. It is true that some of the properties of the milk change when it is heated, but not all. Scalded breast milk is still better than formula or cow’s milk. Don’t give up on scalding just yet. Perhaps you should talk to a lactation consultant or your child’s doctor to see what they have to say about the benefits of scalded milk.
Also, if you have a lot of frozen milk, please consider donating it instead of throwing it away.
I’m curious to hear what you find out from a n.p. Please keep me updated!
Will let you know and thanks!! Not sure if we have can donate the milk in Townsville??
Chrissy, I live in PA, but I was able to send my donated milk to OH! Check out my FAQ on Milk Donation. At the end of that post I share a link where you can search for the closest milk bank to you. I would give them a call even if they are the next state over and see what they can work out.
im in Australia and Im guessing your in USA
Thanks for the comment on my blog. Like you, I’m hoping to help even one mama before she gets too far into breastfeeding and finds out there is a problem. I did have one friend (that just announced she was pregnant) say she appreciated the post.
I have had good luck so far with scalding. My son continues to take the bottles well at day care. It is a bit more of a process to scald at work, especially since I work in multiple locations, but I’m finding my routine.
Thanks again for the guide and being a good reference source!
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Thank you so much for this site! I have a 6 month old who has accepted pumped milk from day one, but now at 6 months old I found her refusing the bottle and I tried it and realized this is problem. I have two questions that I’m wondering if you can answer:
1.) Why does excess lipase happen? I am wondering if I should be concerned about something in my own health.
2.) Is it possible this is connected to eating somehow or what I eat because this doesn’t seem to have been a problem until recently and she is now 6 months old and we’ve been pumping her entire life in addition to nursing. I just don’t understand how this happened all of a sudden. I recently started using pumped milk from August and the stuff from June/July seemed fine. Could something have changed in my diet or my health or in August to cause this? I’m just curious for your opinion! I’m just learning about this today. Crazy stuff I tell ya! I appreciate your thoughts!
Rachel, I’m sorry, but I just don’t know. I certainly wish I had the answers to your questions! I had read something about moms experimenting with their diet, but then I never heard back what the results were. If you figure anything out, PLEASE let me know!
I suggest you use start scalding your milk and use your newest frozen milk first. Then work backwards until you get to milk that has “turned.” That way you can take advantage of your fresh milk before it gets the bad taste.
Again, I’m so sorry I don’t have the answers you are looking for. Trust me, I’m looking for them too.
Thanks so much for your reply! It’s just good to know I’m not alone!