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Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 13 Jan 1999 10:18:22 +0000
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Pamela writes: 'Could
it be that the mother's storage capacity gradually increases over time with
the result that the infrequently breastfeeding older baby or toddler (or
even Laurie's 4 year old) can still obtain the a large volume of milk in
spite of fewer emptying episodes?'

I am still pondering the mystery of why the old baby, toddler and child can
keep a supply going on minimal stimulation...and I thnk Pamela may have a
really pertinent point here.

I have read *somewhere*  that with established lactation, the fat in the
breasts gets almost *wholly replaced*  with milk producing and storing
tissue. This process is gradual, starting in pregnancy and  taking time,
post-partum, to complete.

Now think about this. If a mother stops bf just a few weeks after the
birth, her breasts get back to a pre-pregnancy state fairly quickly. If she
stops after a longer period of bf, say, a year or more, her breasts become
like two fried eggs for a while, and then, over a longish period, they
start getting back some sort of shape as the fat is replaced. The fried
eggs arise, I assume, because the milk production and storing tissue
shrivels as the milk ceases to be stimulated.

There's an earlier 'fried egg' stage that's not quite so dramatic or
fried-eggy  - when the breasts soften,  after a period of anything (in my
experience) from four weeks to three or four months of happy bf, and become
(to the mother) apparently less full of milk. This is the stage that
sometimes precipitates a call saying 'I have lost my milk' when the only
sign is the breasts are soft and in some cases a bit saggy and
flattish...because mothers think the only sort of lactating breasts are
full and round.  I suspect production has settled down, *and* there's very
little fat there now.

So, yes, I think it's clear the storage capacity does increase over time,
and that this may be at least part of the explanation for the wonderful
flexibility of bf as it progresses...but it still doesn't tally with the
idea that leaving the breast full allows 'milk inhibitors' to make
production cease. A mother feeding a child once every day or two or even
less frequently, should, according to this theory, find her production
ceases. But it doesn't....

The mystery deepens - any other ideas? I'll post separately about my ideas
on how this tallies with expressing long term.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne

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