This week is week is World Breastfeeding Week. I’ve had two very different breastfeeding experiences.
I breastfed my first son until he was almost 2 years old. It was definitely hard starting out, but once we got the hang of it, I really loved the bond it created.
When I had the twins, it was a different situation and experience. While I did not get to breastfeed my twins, I did pump for them exclusively for a year. You can read my struggles with Pumping here. It was a very hard and humbling experience, but I did it because I felt I was doing the best I could by providing them with breast milk.
I truly believe in the benefits of breast milk, but it’s not for everyone. Some women have difficulties breastfeeding or getting their child to take their milk. There may be a problem with your milk that you didn’t even know about. I wanted to share this guest post on Excess Lipase because it is something I didn’t know about until thawing out some of my frozen milk for my twins. I think this could help a lot of woman, so here is Rebekah Hoffer to give you more information.
I thought my breastfed daughter was picky.
I thought she was stubborn.
I thought I had the wrong type or bottle or nipple. Perhaps we didn’t give her a bottle often enough or early enough.
Again and again my daughter refused to take a bottle while I was gone. I was extremely frustrated. What was I doing wrong??
And then I tasted the breast milk that was in her bottle. I was shocked. Nothing had prepared me for that moment. My breastfeeding class, lactation consultant, mom, and girlfriends had never warned me.
My breast milk tasted bad. No… not just bad. My breast milk tasted horrible.
I was devastated and instantly flooded with questions. Did all of my milk taste this way? Is there something wrong with me? Is there something wrong with my freezer? What if all of my frozen milk taste like this? Oh my word. All that milk in my freezer! Is it all bad???
After hours and hours of research, I diagnosed myself with excess lipase activity. There was nothing wrong with the nutrition of my milk, but an overactive enzyme (lipase) was causing my expressed breast milk to develop a bad taste over time.
I didn’t discover that I had excess lipase activity until my daughter was 5 months old. By that time, I had 575 ounces of breast millk in my freezer and all of it tasted bad. I had spent hours and hours pumping breast milk and my daughter refused to drink it. It was gut wrenching.
My daughter will be turning 6 next month and her little brother is 3 years old. Now that I have years of experience dealing with excess lipase activity, I have a few things that I want every breastfeeding mother to know.
5 Things I Want You to Know About Excess Lipase Activity
1. It can happen to anyone. There hasn’t been any formal research to determine the cause of excess lipase activity. If you are a breastfeeding mother who pumps (even if it is just for the occasional babysitter), you could experience excess lipase activity.
2. Don’t wait. Test your milk right away. When you are ready to start your pumping routine, put a quarter ounce of breast milk in your refrigerator and taste it every couple of hours to see if the taste changes. If a week goes by with no significant changes, then you are in the clear. If you notice an offensive taste change, it is likely you have excess lipase activity.
3. You can still have a healthy breastfeeding relationship with excess lipase activity. You don’t have to stop nursing or pumping. It is possible to build a supply of frozen breast milk even if you have excess lipase activity.
4. You are not alone. I felt extremely isolated when I was searching for answers after I discovered my breast milk tasted bad. None of my friends or family had experienced this. Even my daughter’s doctor wasn’t sure what was going on. I don’t want another mother to feel as desperate for answers and support as I did, which is why I wrote an ebook dedicated to excess lipase activity.
In the book Why Does My Breast Milk Taste Bad? you will find:
- An explanation of excess lipase activity that you don’t need a medical degree to understand.
- Answers to 31 frequently asked questions.
- Detailed instructions on how to test your breast milk for excess lipase activity.
- Step by step directions on how to stop your milk from developing a bad taste.
- 8 suggestions on what to do with all of the bad tasting breast milk in your freezer.
- My personal story and what happened when my second child was born.
- Valuable information from Dr. Ruth Lawrence, the nation’s leading authority on breastfeeding.
- Support, encouragement, and the knowledge that you are not alone.
5. Awareness is crucial. Please help spread the word about excess lipase activity. Even if you don’t have this problem, someone in your social circle might benefit from this information.
Every breastfeeding mother who chooses to pump should test their milk for excess lipase activity.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I had an experience with excess lipase after I thawed some frozen milk for my twins. It smelled bad, and my twins refused to drink it. As Rebekah mentioned, I was devasted and concerned as to what went wrong. Luckily, I talked to a nurse from the NICU, and they helped me figure out what it was. I wish I would have had Rebekah’s book at the time, then I wouldn’t have had an extra worry added to an already stressful time.
If you think that you have excess lipase activity in your breast milk, click here to find out more about Why Does My Breast Milk Taste Bad? and buy the book.
Have you ever tasted your breast milk? Do you suspect that you could have excess lipase activity?
Rebekah Hoffer blogs at Simply Rebekah where she shares parenting advice from the perspective of a mom who knows she isn’t perfect. She also shares tips on natural living and money saving.
I breastfed my son for 15 months and I’m still nursing my 19th month old daughter. I love finding articles that help women understand all of the struggles that may come from it. It’s a wonderful thing but it’s certainly not easy and natural for everyone and it’s so important to share information like this. Thank you!
I formulas fed, so I am out of the loop when it comes to breast feeding. Formula was the right choice for me.
Wow – I had no idea that this was a thing. I’m so sorry you went through this. It’s definitely important that others are aware that this can happen!
This is very interesting! Both of my kids were bottle feed just because I didn’t have much success in nursing.
I have breastfed all 5 of my including my baby now. I am thankful I went this route, I did have to supplement my 1st with formula though because I was not making enough milk.
This was so informative! Especially the lipase activity test!
Mikayla | A Seersucker State of Mind.
Thank you for sharing! It had to be a challenging time. Breastfeeding can have so many unique challenges.
I’ve never heard of this! I am so glad you shared your story!
Thank you!
i breastfeed both kids for 16 months. But both sister never been able to breastfeed their babies due to busy work schedule and medical
I love the fact that we have choices. However, I wish our choices were be more accepted.
I don’t have kids, however, this is extremely helpful information for new moms who are probably wondering the same thing about feeding their babies.
I wished that I could’ve breastfed my little guy, but medication unfortunately had to come first for me, so it was formula for him. I’m hoping the second go round I can breastfeed. Thanks for the great info, though! This is SO good to know!
Thank you for reading. Glad to be of help.
My daughter recently went through the whole breastfeeding versus formula experience and we can so relate to this post. Thank you for sharing
Wow, I never heard of this, but it makes sense that a baby would resist drinking the milk if it had a bad taste! I never tasted my breast milk, but it sounds like a good idea if the baby’s acting fussy about it. This was really informative!
I had never heard of this! I can imagine the frustration of not keeping all of that milk. It’s great you are spreading the word to help other mothers out!!
Thank you!
I’ve never heard of this! This is full of great info. Will share with some friends, who are pumping! I always found pumping hard to do, so I didn’t stick with it too long, but I know I would feel frustrated seeing all the stored milk in the freezer and realize they all taste bad.
Thank you. I appreciate that!
Wow I did not know this could happen! Love that you are sharing info that will help a lot of mothers and mothers to be!
Thank you!
Wow thanks for sharing!
I am also a firm supporter of breastfeeding. For me, it is the only way to go. Thanks for sharing this too!
You’re welcome. Thanks for reading!
I only breastfed my kids for a few months and thank God I never had this issue. I will definitely share this with my family and friends to raise awareness.
Thank you. I appreciate that!
I have never heard of this until now. This is good to know. I am way past this stage, so I will just share this to my friends.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
I had absolutely no clue about this. I’m so glad to be armed with helpful knowledge now.
Never knew that could even be a problem. My sister loves breastfeeding her son, but she is weaning him now that she is going back to work.
These are very helpful tips for any breastfeeding mothers. I myself breastfed two babies who are now 12 and almost 9.
I’m a big supporter of breastfeeding. I was not aware of excess lipase activity. My wife breastfed our oldest and is still breastfeeding our youngest. This is great information!
Thank you!
Oh wow! I had no idea that this can happen. Great information to know. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. Thanks for reading.
Pumping is the pits! I commend pumping for twins – that is perseverance and strength! Scalding the milk before freezing it is great for high lipase 🙂