In a message dated 7/6/2007 11:06:10 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

we all  know that colostrum is made at an early time in the gestation  peri=
od
of which I do have rather plentifully, if he nurses until the  day I deliv=
er
my midwife is then convinced there will not be enough  for the newborn. I
gave up and said I would look into it, so here I am.  Thanks for your word=
s
of wisdom,


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
hi emily!
 
my understanding is that while colostrum production begins sometime during  
pgc, the body's clock automatically resets itself at birth and begins the  
metamorphosis from colostrum to mature milk all over again then, no matter how  
many and what ages have already been nursing.
 
i have nursed 2 side by side through 3 pgc's now and have nursed 3 for  2 yrs 
following the last pgc and it looks like it will be doing that again come  
october. when i 1st faced tandem nursing, my concern was not 'can the toddler  
take all the colostrum before birth?' b/c i knew birth itself begins production 
 of said liquid gold anew; my concern was, 'after the birth i know colostrum 
is  only produced for a few days - if the newborn is a heavy sleeper (like all 
of  mine are) and the toddler has unrestricted access to both breasts, can he 
take  the lion's share of the colostrum?' i researched and high and low and 
could not  find any definitive info on this, so i elected to assign a breast to 
each and  have done so ever since the 1st tandem pair. 
 
 i found that the colostrum in the toddler's breast depleted and  turned into 
mature milk much more quickly than in the newborn's. w/ every new  birth, i 
notice the colostrum -tinted milk lasts up to 3-4 wks in the newborn  breast 
whereas the toddler only gets it for about a week. the only  contraindications 
i've been able to unearth to assigning breasts is the concern  that the newborn 
might not get the hand-eye coordination it should if always put  to the same 
breast. i feel changing positions on that breast and plenty of tummy  time 
when not on the breast along w/ normal sibling interaction has prevented  this 
being a problem for us...
 
 i am growing increasingly interested in having this observation  
validated/officially researched and am thinking of posting to see if anyone here  knows 
of anyone that might like to do an informal/observational study on the  issue 
that i can assist w/ or be a guinea pig for...if you do end up assigning  
breasts and notice the same differing rates of colostrum depletion, i hope you  
will post about it or save my email and let me know ! 
 
 ps - other advantages include the toddler feeling more secure that  s/he has 
his/her own breast that the new baby can not encroach upon and less  
confusion for mom as to when new baby last nursed during the flurry of nursing  2, b/c 
the new baby's breast will feel fuller and remind her if the toddler has  not 
been nursing on both...
 
~jacqui gruttadauria, bsw
near detroit, michigan
(where i am confounded to find that 'gravel through the nipples' feeling is  
recurring regularly at 3 wk intervals this pgc !!)



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