In a message dated 97-01-07 10:23:30 EST, Kathy Auerbach writes:

<< I think we need to be careful about how we approach the subject of REDUCED
 MILK PRODUCTION at a time when normally healthy thriving breastfeeding
 babies are simply shifting into a slightly lower gear of demand, thus
 cueing the body (so smart) to produce what is asked for and not much more.
>>

My guess is that as long as baby is normal, healthy & thriving, decreased
milk production IS normal because of the change in the constituency.  It's
the baby that isn't thriving, and has been up until this point, that worries
me.

A number of researchers/writers have noted that milk production for women
rises from a low of 14 to 37 cc in the first day or two to about 500 cc/day
at the end of the first week to a high of 800-900 cc/day at the peak of milk
production.  That is only, according to the calculations of 120kcal/kg/day,
enough to sustain a 10 to 11 pound baby.  Obviously things change, including
a decreased number of kcal/kg/day, leading to either a decreased or a steady
production of milk.

Now for a baby that isn't thriving, is it just volume of milk that is not
meeting the need, or does his mother's milk not meet his particular need?
 Has anyone done any studies on milk composition beyond the first weeks or
two?

A sidebar:  If mother's milk composition changes from feed to feed, from hour
of the day to hour of the day, from beginning of feed to end of feed, and
based on the age of the baby, then I ask you, just WHICH mother's milk is
formula most like?  And at what point in time?

By the way, I had a client who chose to pump and bo feed two of her babies --
long story -- but neither of the babies went on solid foods until 6 months;
the first she used a manual Medela pump, the second she used a classic with a
double pump.  Both babies were in the 150th percentile for weight; at her
peak (about 4 to 6 months) she was pumping 16 ounces four times a day -- for
a sum total of 64 ounces a day (1920 cc!!).  Her 5th (and so far, last, baby)
didn't latch on for over 2 months -- then suddenly did, and hasn't looked
back.  He just started solids at 7 months, and only because he was grabbing
everything off anyone's dinner plate.  He is over 100th percentile in weight.

There is more to breastmilk and breastfeeding, Horatio, than we will ever
know.....

Jan Barger, in Wheaton, where it is actually sunny!