The fat in your milk accounts for 50% of the calories your baby takes in each feeding. While protein and lactose remain relatively stable throughout the day, milk fat concentration can vary by 47% in a 24 hour period!

Factors that influence milk fat in breast milk:
🤱🏽 In the lactation parent (some of these you can change and control and some of these you can’t):
Lifestyle
Diet
Body size
Health or disease/inflammation
Number of children
Type of birth
Overall milk volume produced daily

👶🏼 In the baby (the lactating parents body responds to make specific milk to accommodate the baby):
Gender
Gestational age
Birth weight

🍫 Other factors that influence fat in human milk:
⏰ Time of day (highest fat is in the afternoon/evening)
👶🏼 👧🏽 Stage of lactation (colostrum has the lowest amount of fat. Extended milk for toddlers 12+ months has the highest amount of fat!)
🗓 Time postpartum (milk fat increases with time!) mm
Ways to help increase milk fat:
🤱🏽 Feed more frequently. An emptier breast has higher fat and lower water concentrations. Pump
⭐️ Shake your breasts prior to feeding. This gets the fat at the back of the breast to be activated more quickly to flow sooner in the feeding
🐠 Add in healthy fats to your diet: salmon, herring, sardines, flax and chia seeds, and walnuts are high in healthy fats that can boost your milk fat.
🍦 Manage diabetes/blood sugars
🏋🏽‍♀️ Make sure you’re not anemic or iron deficient
♨️Reduce inflammation in the body (can often be done with diet and lifestyle changes and/or with the help of a naturopathic practitioner)