You spent weeks building that freezer stash. Pumped during lunch breaks, middle-of-the-night sessions, whenever you could grab time. Finally got a decent reserve going. Then you thaw some milk for the first time and it smells... wrong. Like soap. Or metal. Something vaguely chemical that definitely shouldn't be going near your baby.
Now you're panicking.
Before you dump everything, hold up. Your milk probably isn't spoiled. You're most likely dealing with high lipase. It's annoying but not dangerous.
What Even Is Lipase?
Lipase is an enzyme in breast milk. It breaks down fats so babies can digest them easier. Every mom has it—totally normal and actually helpful.
Some women just have more of it than others. When you freeze milk with high lipase, the enzyme keeps working on those fats even while frozen. This breakdown creates a soapy, metallic, or sometimes fishy smell and taste.
The milk isn't bad. Not spoiled. Just different.
How Do You Know If You Have High Lipase?
The signs show up after storage:
Fresh milk smells fine. Right after pumping, everything's normal. Sweet, mild, maybe slightly creamy.
After 24+ hours in the fridge, it starts changing. Some moms notice it here. Others don't until freezing.
After freezing and thawing, it's obvious. The smell hits you. Soapy, metallic, sometimes "off" or "chemical-like."
Test it: pump fresh milk, smell it, taste it. Put some in the fridge for 24 hours and some in the freezer. Check both after storage. Big difference in smell or taste? That's high lipase.
Will Baby Actually Drink It?
Here's where it gets weird. Some babies don't care at all. They'll drink high lipase milk like nothing's wrong. Others refuse it completely—the taste bothers them even though the milk is safe.
From mom communities we're part of, it seems about half and half. Half don't notice or don't mind. The other half act like you're trying to poison them.
No way to predict which camp your baby falls into except trying it. If they refuse, you need solutions. If they drink it fine? Lucky you, skip the rest of this.
The Scalding Method (Actually Works)
If your baby won't drink the soapy-tasting milk, scalding stops the lipase enzyme before storage.
What You Need:
- A pot
- A thermometer (candy thermometer works)
- Freshly pumped milk
- Ice bath (bowl with ice water)
How To Do It:
1. Pour fresh milk in a pot. Don't wait—scald right after pumping.
2. Heat on medium, stir constantly. Not boiling it. Watch for tiny bubbles around edges and slight steam.
3. Check temperature. You want 180°F (82°C). Some people say 160°F works, but 180°F is more reliable.
4. Pull it off heat immediately. Don't keep heating. Too much heat destroys nutrients.
5. Cool it fast. Stick the pot in an ice bath and stir till it's cool enough to store.
6. Store or freeze like normal. The lipase is deactivated. Won't keep breaking down fats.
Let's Be Real:
This is tedious. Adding another step to pumping, which already takes forever. But if your baby refuses unscalded milk and you need a freezer stash, this is what works.
Some moms scald everything. Others only scald milk for freezing and use fresh for immediate feeding. Figure out what you can actually maintain.
Can You Fix Milk That's Already Frozen?
Nope, not really.
The lipase already did its thing. Fats are broken down, taste changed. Scalding after doesn't reverse it.
Your options for already-frozen high lipase milk:
Mix it with fresh milk. Some babies will drink it if you dilute the soapy taste. Start with 1 part thawed to 3 parts fresh. Adjust based on what your baby tolerates.
Use it for solid food. Once baby starts solids, high lipase milk works fine in cereals, purees, cooking. The taste matters less mixed with other flavors.
Offer it anyway. Babies' preferences change. Some who refused it at 3 months will accept it at 6 months. Worth trying periodically.
Last resort: donate or use it. If baby absolutely won't take it and you can't use it for solids, some milk banks accept high lipase milk (check first). Or use it in milk baths for baby's skin.
Don't just dump it. You worked too hard for that.
Other Methods Moms Try
Beyond scalding, there are other approaches. Results vary a lot:
Flash heating. Like scalding but quicker—heat just until you see bubbles, then cool immediately. Some moms swear by this. Others say it doesn't work as well as full scalding.
Tiny bit of vanilla. Add alcohol-free vanilla extract to mask the taste. Start with literally one drop per ounce. Test small amounts first.
Warm it slightly. Sometimes warming thawed milk to body temperature makes the taste less noticeable. Sometimes makes it worse. Trial and error.
Peppermint tea. We've seen this in forums but mixed feedback. Use caution—peppermint can mess with milk supply.
Honestly? Scalding is most reliable. The other approaches work for some people but not consistently enough to recommend first.
Does High Lipase Affect Nutrition?
Nope. High lipase milk has the same nutritional value as regular breast milk. The enzyme is just more active. Fats are being broken down earlier instead of later in baby's digestive system.
Scalding does reduce some heat-sensitive nutrients a bit (like vitamin C), but we're talking minimal loss. The difference between scalded and non-scalded milk nutritionally is tiny compared to breast milk versus formula.
If scalding means your baby drinks your milk instead of refusing it, you're way ahead nutritionally.
The Mental Load Part
Let's talk about the emotional side. You're already pumping, which takes forever and exhausts you. Now you're adding another step that makes everything more complicated.
It feels unfair. Other moms just pump and freeze. You have to scald every batch or risk your baby refusing it.
From conversations across mom groups, the frustration is universal. Women feel defeated discovering their freezer stash is unusable. They feel guilty dumping milk they worked so hard to produce. Overwhelmed by extra work scalding requires.
All those feelings? Valid. This sucks. No way around it.
But here's what else we hear: once moms figure out their system—whether scalding everything, mixing with fresh, or realizing their baby drinks it anyway—it becomes manageable. First few weeks are hardest. Then it's just routine.
SilkMum Solutions for Easier Scalding
If you're scalding regularly, the right equipment matters.
Our manual breast pump works well for scalding workflows because you pump smaller amounts more frequently. Instead of scalding a huge batch, you scald 2-3 ounces right after pumping. Less milk heating means faster cooling and less chance of overheating.
For storage after scalding, our leak-proof milk storage bags are pre-sterilized with double zip seals. After going through the effort of scalding, last thing you need is a leaky bag ruining everything.
The bags have clear measurement markings too, which helps when you're mixing ratios of scalded frozen milk with fresh to find what your baby tolerates.
Using our wearable pump and pumping larger volumes? Consider scalding in batches and freezing smaller portions (2-4 oz each). You'll waste less if baby refuses a bag, and smaller portions thaw faster.
When to Test for High Lipase
Not everyone needs to worry about this. If you're planning to exclusively use fresh milk and never freeze, lipase doesn't matter. Baby drinks it fresh anyway.
Test for high lipase if:
- You're building a freezer stash for return to work
- You're exclusively pumping and need to store milk
- You're planning to be away from baby and need frozen backup
- You want frozen reserves for security
Do the test early—ideally first month of pumping. Don't wait till you have 200 ounces frozen only to discover it's unusable. Test a small batch, freeze it for a week, thaw it, see what happens.
Common Questions
Does high lipase run in families? No solid research, but some moms report sisters or mothers also having it. Could be genetic, could be coincidence.
Can you reduce lipase naturally? Not really. It's just how your milk is. Diet changes don't affect lipase levels.
Does lipase increase over time? Activity levels seem pretty consistent, though some women report changes after hormonal shifts (periods returning, etc.).
If baby drinks it now, will they always? Babies' preferences change. Some tolerate it as newborns but refuse it at 6 months when taste buds develop more. Others do the opposite.
Is scalding worth the effort? Only you can answer. If baby refuses unscaled milk and you need frozen reserves, then yes. If baby drinks it fine or you can use fresh milk, then no.
You're Not Doing Anything Wrong
High lipase isn't caused by something you ate, how you pump, or how you store milk. It's genetic variation in enzyme activity. Some women have it, most don't. Not better or worse—just different.
If you're dealing with this, you're not alone. Estimates from lactation consultants say somewhere between 10-20% of breastfeeding women have noticeably high lipase. That's millions of moms figuring out the same workarounds.
The frustration about extra work? Normal. The disappointment about unusable frozen milk? Everyone dealing with this feels it. The overwhelm of adding another step? Yeah, we get it.
But you're still feeding your baby. Whether that's fresh milk, scalded milk, mixed milk, or eventually switching strategies—you're still doing it. That counts.
Quick Reference: High Lipase Decision Tree
Baby drinks the soapy milk fine → Do nothing. You're good.
Baby refuses thawed milk → Try mixing with fresh first (1:3 ratio)
Baby still refuses → Start scalding fresh milk before freezing
Already have frozen high lipase milk → Try mixing with fresh, or save for solids later
Scalding feels unsustainable → Consider using fresh milk only, adjust pumping schedule
Need frozen reserves for work → Scald becomes necessary, find a routine that works
Final Thoughts
High lipase is one of those things nobody warns you about until you're dealing with it. Then suddenly you're in Facebook groups at 2 a.m. asking if anyone else's milk smells like soap, wondering if you're losing your mind.
You're not. Your milk is fine. Your baby is fine. This is just an annoying biological quirk requiring some adjustments.
Figure out what works for your situation. Test early. Don't dump your whole freezer stash without trying mixing first. And remember if you end up scalding, it gets easier once you build the routine.
Still Have Questions?
Every high lipase situation is slightly different. If you're not sure whether to scald, how to scald, or what to do with frozen milk you've already stored, reach out.
Email support@silkmum.com or WhatsApp +91 9727270687. We've talked through this with hundreds of moms and can help you figure out your specific situation.
Because dealing with high lipase is complicated enough without feeling like you're figuring it out alone.
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