~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eva Bild wrote:

I received a question from a client of mine today.  And I am not sure how to
answer.  Maybe you can help.

My client, who has given me permission to post, is newly pregnant.  She has
a 7-month old baby who is still getting the vast majority of his food at the
breast - eating a few solids.

She asks:



"When I was preg with Baby #2 my milk changed to colostrum I think around
12ish weeks (maybe later?). Of course Baby #1 was 12 months then and wasn't
so dependent on the milk for his nutrition.

1)Do you think it's possible that my body will realize I have a baby who
needs milk and I'll keep my milk longer this time?

2) If I don't, am I better off making up the difference with a variety of
solid food or supplementing with formula? If so, how much? I intend to keep
nursing no matter what. Benjy will be 7 months on Friday."



Eva, although it is "conventional wisdom" that women "can't" build up the
milk supply during pregnancy, in my experience it can be done.  After the
supply drops in the early weeks, if the baby feeds very frequently it is
possible that the body will respond.  I know of no research on this (it
would be hard to get the numbers), but I have personal experience. Although
I've never been a huge milk producer, I needed to boost my supply in an
emergency situation for my baby of 10-11 months, maybe slightly younger.  I
breastfed her at roughly hourly intervals overnight, when we were marooned,
and her hydration was fine in the morning and she was bright and happy.
This meant I'd raised my supply enough to replace the other fluid
(bovine-origin milk) she'd been having by cup.  I mentioned this in a book
of mine (long out of print) and someone I know, who knew my kids, asked me a
few years later how come this was possible when I was pregnant.  Till she
mentioned it, I hadn't even thought of that aspect.  I just did it, because
I had to, and had total confidence.

Eva, you might like to let us all know how this mother goes, if she offers
frequent feeds to an avid baby.



Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA

Brisbane, Qld, Australia

E: [log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






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

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