Tag: Breast milk composition

You are what you eat, and so is your baby

- Julie Matheney

Did you know that not only do the volumes of milk produced by the left and right breast differ, the milk made in the left breast can also taste different than that made in the right… during the same feeding!!

What you eat used to change the flavor of your amniotic fluid, exposing baby when they were a fetus to the profile of your diet, preparing them for the flavors they would later experience in your breast milk. Eating a wide variety in your diet while you’re pregnant and breastfeeding exposes your little one to a wide variety of flavors, getting them used to the spices, herbs and tastes of food they will be given when they start table food eaten by your family. The more of a particular food you eat, research says, the better the chance your baby will also like to eat that food.

Eating allergenic foods during pregnancy also protects baby from food allergies, especially if you continue to eat them while breastfeeding suggests new research. So far, there is no evidence that avoiding certain foods while breastfeeding helps prevent baby from developing allergies or asthma. The exception to that might be eczema: avoiding certain foods may reduce the risk of eczema. Allergy studies are challenging because of many factors, including food introduction, genetics, and maternal diet. Most studies conclude that exclusive breastfeeding (even as little as one month) lessens how often some allergies occur. Evidence also suggests that exclusive breastfeeding during the first four months may offer protection against certain types of allergic diseases including cow’s milk allergy and atopic dermatitis. So while oatmeal 24/7 may help increase your milk supply, switch it up for baby’s sake (and yours!!)

Can I empty my breast?

- Julie Matheney

Did you know that you will ALWAYS be able to make milk? You’ve had the milk making glands in your breasts since puberty. They’re like little empty clusters of balloons at the back of the breast. Pregnancy activates your milk making hormones, allowing the glands to expand and start filling with milk between 16-20 weeks gestation. In the early days after birth, the more stimulation the breast has (from feeding or pumping), the more the milk making glands and their corresponding hormone receptors multiply. The milk balloons fill and empty milk multiple times per feeding.

After at least 40 days of not expressing any milk, once you completely wean, your milk making balloons deflate and become dormant, like before pregnancy. But they aren’t dead. Pregnancy and breastfeeding hormones caused a permanent change in your body. Your milk making glands will FOREVER remember how to make milk. They can ALWAYS make milk again, no matter how long it has been. They just need enough of the right stimulation to turn on and start filling again. Some times years after breastfeeding a mother may feel the tingle of let down if she hears a baby cry. Or she may leak if her partner does enough nipple stimulation. There are grandmothers in other cultures who bring back milk to breastfeed their grandchildren! Our bodies are AMAZING!! Now you know!

Sunflower lethicin and plugged ducts

- Julie Matheney

Lecithin is used in food to provide a smooth, moist texture and to keep ingredients from separating. Lecithin can naturally be found in green vegetables, red meat, and eggs. Commercial preparations are often made from soybeans, egg yolks, or animal products. It is also commonly used in eye drops, skin moisturizers, and food emulsifiers (agents that keep ingredients from separating).

Sunflower lethicin, a specific kind of lethicin, is often taken during breastfeeding to reduce plugged ducts or to help increase milk flow. Sunflower lethicin is thought to reduce the “stickiness” of breast milk by thinning out the fats in the milk and keeping them from clumping together. There are no known contraindications for breast-feeding, and lecithin is “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA. However, people with a preexisting tendency to depression may become depressed if taking high doses of lecithin. While very rare, if you begin to have a fish-like odor while taking high doses of lethicin, stop taking it immediately and notify your physician, as this is a serious sign of liver damage. As there is no recommended daily allowance for lecithin, there is no established dosing for lecithin supplements. Different brands might have different amounts of lecithin in each pill or capsule, so be sure to read labels very carefully before taking lecithin or any other dietary supplement. Per Kellymom.com, the maximum dosage recommended for recurrent plugged ducts is 4,800mg/day. As always, consult with your doctor before trying any dietary supplements while pregnant or breast-feeding.

Breastfeeding and lactose, dairy, food intolerances and allergies

- Julie Matheney

Lactose is the number one sugar in breastmilk. It is the protein in cow’s milk that is difficult to digest for some babies. Human milk has human protein. It is easily digested by the stomach and absorbed in the intestines. The protein of cow’s milk is shaped different and not easily absorbed by the stomach and intestines as it’s designed to be absorbed by calves. It can sometimes make babies gassy or have poops that have bloody or mucous in them. Cow’s milk sensitivity or allergy can cause colic-like symptoms, eczema, wheezing, vomiting, diarrhea (including bloody diarrhea), constipation, hives, and/or a stuffy, itchy nose. Which can also be signs of other things. You could always try decreasing your dairy intake. Baby’s symptoms will usually begin to improve within 5-7 days of eliminating a problem food. Baby may not improve immediately, however, especially if the reaction is to a food that has been a regular part of your diet. Sometimes symptoms get worse before they begin to improve. It usually takes 2-3 weeks to see an improvement.

If baby is sensitive to dairy, it will not help to switch to lactose-free dairy products or put your baby in formula, which is cow protein based.

While culture may dictate what you can and cannot eat while breastfeeding, science does not. Most babies have no problems with anything that you eat. It’s generally recommended that you eat whatever you like, whenever you like, in the amounts that you like and continue to do this unless you notice an obvious reaction in your baby.

There is no list of “foods that every nursing person should avoid” because most of us can eat anything we want, and because the babies who are sensitive to certain foods are each unique – what bothers one may not bother another.

Babies’ guts are also constantly developing. So what bothers them as a newborn may not bother them the closer they get to a year.

Unless there are known food allergies in your family history or your baby is having severe reactions to what you think you may be eating, there’s no need to restrict what you eat. Remember: fussiness and gas is normal for a young baby, and is not usually related to foods you eat. If your baby is sensitive to something you are eating, you will most likely notice other symptoms in addition to fussiness, such as EXCESSIVE spitting up or vomiting, colic, rash or persistent congestion, crying inconsolably for long periods, or sleep little and wake suddenly with obvious discomfort. Other signs of a true food allergy may include: rash, hives, eczema, sore bottom, dry skin; wheezing or asthma; congestion or cold-like symptoms; red, itchy eyes; ear infections; irritability, fussiness, colic; intestinal upsets, vomiting, constipation and/or diarrhea, or green stools with mucus or blood. Fussiness that is not accompanied by these other symptoms and calms with more frequent nursing is probably not food-related.

Fact of the Day: Milk Fat: Pump that heavy cream

- Julie Matheney

Human milk changes in its composition throughout lactation as your baby grows and is constantly changing to meet the needs of the baby from the first few days of colostrum to beyond the baby’s second year. The composition of your milk can change  from day today especially as hormones ab and flow with your menstrual cycles. They can change during a given day  based on your stress levels, how often your baby feeds, and how well your baby MDs your breast. But did you know that the composition of your milk can also change during an individual feeding  and from breast to breast?!?!  As the baby eats, protein and fat content rise in the milk. There is actually 4 to 5 times more fat and 1 1/2 times more protein present at the end of the feeding than at the beginning. The baby may consume nearly 18% of their calories between minutes 11 and 16 of a feeding.  The fat content at the beginning of a feeding is around 1% milk fat. By the end of a 15 to 20 minute feeding, the fat content can be as high as 4 to 5%! By comparison, whole milk contains just 3.25 percent milk fat.  Fat content varies from mother to mother and from feeding to feeding. The amount of fat in breastmilk is dependent on the length of time between feedings, the degree of breast fullness, and the length of time the baby sucks at the breast. To put it simply, the emptier the breast, the higher the fat content. The fuller the breast, the lower the fat content. By trying to “stretch” a baby to scheduled feedings actually decreases the fat content in a mothers milk. It is always best to feed baby on demand.