How do I know if I have excess lipase?

[truly scrumptious]

How do I know if my breastmilk has excess lipase? (I think that's the correct term.)

When I pumped for DS, he didn't seem to mind the taste of my milk, but honestly I don't think he was too picky.

DD doesn't seem to like drinking breastmilk from a bottle - can't tell if it's because she's just used to the breast or if there's something about the taste she doesn't like. She seems willing to go without eating rather than take the bottle and it's concerning me a bit.

I am bit leery to taste my own breastmilk (don't ask me why, but it skeeves me out) but I'm willing to do it if I know what to look for. So how do I know?

Any other tips to help DD take the bottle would also be appreciated!

[natness]

Tasting it is the only way I know. Taste it fresh, then taste some after it's sat chilled/frozen/thawed (however you store it to give to dc). If you have excess lipase, it will taste soapy or metallic. Nothing like the fresh milk. Have water nearby-- it's pretty awful if you do have excess lipase.

[PGTB]

I have excess lipase. Found out after having enough of the pumped milk to sit around in the fridge for 24 hours, which was fortunately early on before I started building the frozen stash. The thing that threw me off was the smell, the excess lipase milk smells fishy or metallic. It doesn't smell like milk that has soured, it's a different type of smell, but still disgusting. Another sign is the change in appearance of the fatty layer of milk. With excess lipase the cream begins to desintegrate and looks stringy or liquidy, lipase breaks down the fats in the milk even in the freezer. The taste is the more definite way to find out, you will know when you taste it. There is a forum on la leche league website that is very helpful explaining how to deal with lipase issues, it's a long read, but you should be able to find all necessary info there.

scalding milk due to excess lipase

To summarize, you need to scald your milk (at least 160F for 15 sec or 142F for a minute) before storing it in the fridge or freezing. This kills lipase and will keep your milk's fatty layer intact. I used to pour my pumped milk into the glass bottle, put the food thermometer into it and stick it into the bottle warmer. It was not much work, but it does get old doing this every single day for several months. I am so happy I am done pumping, which is itself a PITA for a working mom, but lipase makes it worse. Fortunately, I never had a large frozen stash and had to throw it away when finding out it stunk like other poor moms with lipase issue.

On other note, my DS refused to take EBM at around 9 months, he boycotted bottles a bit earlier, don't know if this has to do with lipase or with use of bottles and him wanting to be more independent. He loves nursing though and still going strong. I hope that if and when I have another baby I could be staying home/working from home to not have to pump and deal with this ever again.

[Momto1]

Give it a taste. You don't need to take a full sip or anything, just dip the tip of your finger in it and try it.

Good advice from PGTB above!