A few days ago, Dr. Clove received a question:
Some people told me that breast milk is still divided into stages. Babies need to drink each stage of breast milk to grow well. Is it true or not?
Well, that’s true. Dr. Clove invited Yu Beifang, a senior national prolactin, to see what she said.
Breast milk intelligent phasing
Some precious mothers may have such experience. There is a big difference between the milk secreted at the beginning and the milk secreted after feeding the baby for a period of time.
Yes, this is where breast milk is strong.
1. The milk in front is nutritious,
The milk that has just begun to secrete is also called [front milk]. Although it looks clear and thin, like rice soup, its nutrition is very strong.
Pre-milk is rich in water, vitamins, minerals, protein, etc., and its fat content is slightly lower. Babies drink it to quench their thirst.
2. The milk at the back is fuller.
When the milk is secreted for a period of time, the fat slowly increases, the color turns white and thicker, and the baby is easy to fill his stomach after drinking, which is the [post-milk].
The baby grows well and eats well, so it should be fed like this.
In order for the baby to obtain comprehensive nutrition, the baby should eat both the front milk and the back milk on the basis of meeting the baby’s needs.
When the baby is not skilled in breast feeding, Dr. Clove suggests that one-sided breast feeding should be carried out for 15-20 minutes before changing sides. Babies after 3 months are usually skilled in breast feeding and may have enough milk in 5-10 minutes.
The baby is satisfied and relaxed when he is full. He may automatically loosen his nipples or just suck gently and symbolically. If these [full] signals appear, the mother can stop nursing.
If the baby is full after eating only one breast, he can feed the other breast next time.
Here, clove doctor should remind everyone: mothers don’t change sides frequently when nursing, and don’t wait for too much milk to rise before feeding. In this way, the baby is easy to drink too much front milk, and a large amount of sugar in front milk is easy to make the baby’s poop appear a lot of foam. Moreover, in this case, after milk is drunk less, it is easy to be hungry.
Other related issues
1. The milk array judges the milk before and after, which is unreliable.
Some mothers feel [tight chest] during breast feeding, which is the result of contraction of mammary duct myoepithelial cells. At this time, milk accelerates to flow out and forms [milk array].
However, the principle of milk production is different from that of milk array, and some mothers do not feel obvious or do not feel milk array at all. Therefore, it is unreliable to judge the front milk and the back milk by milk array.
2. In addition to fullness, comfort is also important.
Breastfeeding can provide not only the baby’s [food] milk, but also intimate contact.
For example, many mothers go to work before their babies are weaned. When the baby sees the mother who has just returned home from work all day, he may already be full, but he still wants to take a few bites in his mother’s arms.
At this time, the baby’s sucking is often a one-to-one, will only eat a small amount of front milk. In this way, not only comfort the baby, but also won’t let the baby eat too full.