EBM tastes soapy

[sommer2000]

Hi
I have gone back to work 2 days a week dd is 15 weeks had been mainly breast fed with the odd top up started for medical reasons. The problem now I manage to express at work only about 7 oz in total but she won't drink it at all. I have just tasted it to see why and it tastes really soapy. Is there anything I can do. I will continue to express to maintain supply
The second problem is that she is getting increasingly windy. She woke last night screaming and was inconsolable for 1hr until she passed wind+++ Ifeel this is worse since incresing her formula intake while I'm at work. I am giving her aptamil through avent teats any advice

where do you keep the milk while you're at work?

I remember someone on here once saying that they had a problem with their breastmilk going sour very quickly... perhaps it's that?

Was the bottle rinsed well? Pump rinsed well prior to sterilising?

Milk does not usually taste soapy so can only think there has been remnants in the containers. Mind you, the smell of sterilised containers could make you think it tastes soapy IYSWIM?

Formula milk itself can cause more wind but she will get used to it. Keep persevering with the breastmilk though. Do you give it to her at the same temperatre that you are giving the formula out of interest? Do you express in between feeds at home to build a stock for work?

sommer, this isn't all that uncommon....it's called 'saponification' which just means 'turns to soap' and it happens to ebm because of the way the fats change under extreme temperature (not sure of the exact science of the process). Some babies do reject it. Others don't. I think it would be worth continuing to offer it to her, and to maybe change the way you store the milk - not freezing it for example.

How interesting, Tiktok. DS2 would never touch frozen (and thawed!) EBM, only fresh.

Bottles are well rinsed I use a steam steriliser at home and milton at work. It goes straight in the fridge and then in a cool bag to bring home. I remember having a similar problem with son he wouldn't drink it either. I have had supply problems and to be honest breastfeeding has been an absolute nightmare ever since my midwife insisted that I top up on day 12 as dd was still losing weight. She was very insistent with hindsight I regret it. So have not really got enough to build up a supply despite domperidone and fenugreek.
The ebm has a very strange taste and does not taste like this when it is fresh

Thanks tiktok will continue to offer EBM never made it as far as the freezer usually try to use within 24 hrs

sommer, do you need to keep it in the coolbag? I know convenional wisdom has it that ebm has to be refrigerated inmediately but there is other work to show it is just fine at room temperature for several hours....maybe that would be ok? We're talking of a healthy 4 mth old, not a tiny prem, so she wouldn't be harmed by non-refrigerated milk.

Ive learned something new this morning. Saponification - now thatis a good word to bandy about

Out of interest sommer - how often do you top up with formula?

Mears it varies but she has about 8oz in 24hr period. I almost managed to get her off it a few weeks ago but she was unwell at the time once she seemed better she became unsatified again. I still have no routine at 15 weeks as I feed her whenever she seems vaguely interested. I sometimes feel this is counterproductive as she grazes all day and then demands a large feed She refuses gthe breast at this point.
I did see a lactation consultant almost from day one. She suggested getting my milk analysed to check it's quality. I couldn't face been told I made low quality milk so declined

Have you tried reducing the top-ups by an ounce at a time every few days? Now you are at 15 weeks I would think you may be able to distract baby for a wee while between feeds that have baby constantly 'grazing' as you say. I cannot believe there is anything wrong with you milk when your baby is doing well with 8oz of formula in a 24 hour period. It is something that you may be able tophase out now that she is older.

That is so interesting. I do love Mumsnet.

DD2 had no problems with vast amounts of defrosted breastmilk but has always tried to chomp the soap, btw

Mears It's my fault she grazes I'm conviced she's not getting enough so keep trying to feed her. Her wt gain is not brilliant

Fenugreek makes your wee smell appalling (), so I'm sure it can make the milk taste different.

sommer, where are you? Where on earth is the lactation consultant who suggested getting your milk 'analysed' to check for quality? This is utter rubbish.....what an appalling thing to suggest. I would love to ask her 'what would you ask them to look for?' and 'against what standard are you comparing the sample?' and 'how would you know the sample was typical of this mother's production?'

Sheesh...you are doing great, but I agree with mears that by now it would be ok to handle the grazing if you prefer to, in the way she suggests.

This is what I wrote on mumsnet in October 2003:

My son refused frozen milk and when I happened to taste it, it was digusting and rancid. Even after leaving it in the fridge for more than 1 day it became bad tasting. After a lot of surfing the net I found out this could be due to an enzyme called lipase. However, if you briefly warm the milk up in a pan til you get a few bubbles at the edges (not boiling) you can avoid the problem. Anyway, when I went back to fulltime work he was about to start solids so he became less dependent on milk so I needed just to express once in the morning and once in the evening.

Yep - I have looked this up, and apparently lipase is activated by a change in temp and this affects the fats in the milk and makes the soapy result (the same process is used when making real soap!). I'd forgotten this tip about scalding the milk to inactivate the process. Could be worth a try.

tiktok I'm in the uk, I went to the local breastfeeding clinic usual person was away. They thought the latch looked great so they thought it would be reassuring to check milk quality by centrifuging. TBH dd always latched on better in the clinic don't know why but it left me with doubts
I can't scald the milk at work as no cooker only microwave but i may try it at home
Thanks for all the suggestions

sommer, thanks for this info....I think that is appalling, to be honest. Centrifuging would separate out the fat....but so what? What would that tell anyone about anything? Milk differs from sample to sample with regard to fat - no big deal. For someone whose job it is to support breastfeeding to suggest something so daft and pointless, and yet so potentially undermining, makes me very cross

Just quickly, cos this soapy thing happens to my milk sometimes too, would you scald the milk before freezing it, or after defrosting, to reheat it?

I had this problem with ebm that tasted like soap. I got around it by scalding the milk as soon as I'd expressed it and then either freezing it or storing it as normal in the fridge. It's a little bit of extra hassle, but it was such a relief to have a baby who finally took ebm. I'm back at work now and I do have access to a cooker, but haven't quite worked up the courage to boil up the milk in the coffee room!