Random Breast Questions...

[SilverStarfish]

As DD was having her last supper for the evening I started to ponder a few things and was wondering if anyone knew the answers to a few Random Breast Questions...

RBQ1. When breastfeeding it's recommended that you feed from one side at a time so that the baby gets the right amounts of foremilk and hind milk. So if a baby has a really good feed from one breast, how long until it stops with the hind milk and starts producing foremilk again?

RBQ2. When bottle feeding, as the baby gets older you change teats - usually with faster flow rates etc. How (or do) breasts and nipples change flow rates?

BRQ3. After pregnancy, before your milk comes in, breast produce colostrum which contains all the goodies to get bubba off to a good start. If you are still breastfeeding an older child when the next one is born, your milk is obviously already in (as it never left :laughing: ) so does it come in again and step up production? And do they start producing colostrum again? or does the baby just start on the milk that is already happening?

[JnA]

RBQ2. When bottle feeding, as the baby gets older you change teats - usually with faster flow rates etc. How (or do) breasts and nipples change flow rates?


I believe the baby becomes more efficient at sucking. Also IME the breasts don't change, the baby does. I leaked and leaked in the early months because there was so much milk, but don't leak at all now. The nipples are a showerhead system a bottle teat is a hose.


these are good questions, hopefully someone smarter than my guessing will be able to answer them for both of us :)

[SilverStarfish]

Showerhead isn't wrong :laughing: Something else I didn't know about breastfeeding...

Not too long ago I was feeding DD when I was out at the shops. She pulled off suddenly and the milk kept coming! Sprayed all over her face! :o

[elissas]

Re the foremilk-hindmilk. It's really all the same milk, but the fatty bits that bubs gets in the hindmilk actually separate between feeds - you can see the separation when you express milk and let it settle.

So, when bubs first starts feeding, the milk that comes through first is lighter, less fatty (called foremilk). As bubs sucks, the fatty bits that have settled in the milk ducts start to come through as well, which creates the hindmilk.

My understanding is that until feeding stops and there is sufficient time for the milk to settle and separate again, the hindmilk will continue to come through.

That's why I was determined to feed DS one boob per feed, and it worked out well. Whenever I'd offer the second boob (in the first month) he ended up with terrible wind pains (the foremilk is higher in lactose ie. sugary milk). If you offer both boobs they are getting two shots of foremilk, and if they don't finish the second boob there will often be an imbalance compared with the amount of hindmilk they're getting.

I hope this makes sense - don't know whether I've explained it very well. Maybe a bf guru like Goosie might step in and clarify if I haven't explained clearly enough?? :D

[kadownie]

About the pregancy and breastfeeding question:

When you are pregnant your milk changes back to colostrum (at some time, not sure when) so when the new bub is born it has colostrum until your milk comes in. It's fine to breastfeed while you are pregnant but I understand that your nipples become very sensitive and it can be a bit painful.

Hope that helps

[SilverStarfish]

Thanks Jaderocks, elissas & kadownie for your answers! A few fewer things for me to be lying awake wondering about at night :laughing:

[mamachops]

RBQ1. When breastfeeding it's recommended that you feed from one side at a time.....

Yes, thank goodness, I just can't get both in her mouth at once!:laughing:

Great questions. I had also thought about these, but having a memory like a goldfish, I never remembered to ask!

[SilverStarfish]

Both at once :laughing: I'm now picturing some sort of contraption involving two funnels and some plastic tubing... :idea:

I'm glad I remembered to ask when I did, else sieve-for-brains here would have forgotten all about it too. Until the next time I was lying awake at 3am no doubt!