Dear all:

I am quite frustrated with the link to the article on foremilk/hindmilk.  It starts out with a 
complete and total falsehood.  There are NOT two kinds of milk.  There is a gradual shift 
in the fat content during a feeding and there is no one moment that it can be labeled 
foremilk and one moment that it can be labeled hindmilk.  There is simply no criteria 
whatsoever.  Furthermore, even if there were an established criteria for the fat content 
that would enable you to declare it "foremilk" or "hindmilk" you can't give a mother any 
simple criteria for determining when that "hindmilk" might be attained. The variation in 
how long it takes to shift from a certain level of fat content to a higher level of fat 
content from woman to woman, breast to breast, feed to feed is far greater than the 
variation in total volume from woman to woman and feed to feed.  

What I see more frequently with busy second time mothers is that the baby simply 
doesn't have enough time on the breast, period.  

As as for draining the breast -- they aren't ever drained.  So why do we talk about 
"draining" when the latest research suggests that a fair bit of milk is left in the breast 
even by an efficiently feeding three month old?  It seems to me that the sonogram 
studies showed that the physiologic norm is to still have a fair bit of milk in the breast 
(the number I remember was 50% but I could be wrong on that one).  The studies on the 
pump actually showed that the particular pump that was studied drained the breast even 
more than the baby and so therefore, that is NOT the physiologic norm.  If a baby is no 
longer swallowing on the breast, they are NOT getting milk out of that breast. So, 
keeping them on that breast longer is not achieving the goal of removing more milk or 
feeding the infant.  It would permit bonding.  If the baby is still hungry and can no longer 
remove milk out of a breast, then that baby is not going to be able to get more milk out 
merely by keeping the baby on that breast for a longer time. 

Time and time again, I keep reading about the leap to one sided feeding without sufficient 
information to really judge whether or not it is warranted.  Sometimes it IS warranted, 
but I think you need to gather a lot more information before concluding the appropriate 
approach is one sided feedings than is usually provided in a typical Lactnet post.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't read further when an article starts off with a false statement.

Best, Susan Burger

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome