In a message dated 6/15/2007 9:13:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

If a  woman in tandem nursing, one child on each breast consistently,  
will  the two breasts produce different milk? I know that this is true  
in  some cases in the animal kingdom (marsupials, for example).

A related  question, are there any cultures in which women in fact  
nurse  different children on different breasts? I know of the women in   
Taiwan (I think it's Taiwan) who nurse exclusively on one side, but   
is there anyone who nurses different children on different  sides?

Curious minds want to know...

Thanks,
Naomi



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
hi naomi!
 
i have tandem nursed 4 children over the last 7 yrs non stop... and  triandem 
nursed for 2 yrs of that time, as well. (and will be nursing 3  again in 
october).  i also assign breasts to my nurslings.  newborn always gets the left, 
toddler gets the right. so i can tell you that  each breast definitely makes 
different milk -at least visibly in the  beginning and i'm assuming for some 
time. 
 
whenever i have a new baby, i notice the colostrum lasts longer on the  
newborn side  - i have pure colostrum turning into yellow colostum-y milk  for 2-3 
wks on that side whereas the toddler side converts to white milk w/in a  wk or 
less. i also notice after a few mos that the toddler milk is heavy  and 
sticky and stays like a drop of pudding on their cheek whereas the new  baby's milk 
is still watery and runny.  seeing this is what made me think  assigning 
breasts initially is best to ensure the newborn gets every bit of  colostrum w/out 
the toddler rushing it into mature milk by his/her stronger and  more 
frequent sucking. 
 
 i started assigning breasts the 1st time i tandem nursed b/c i  noticed when 
my 1st son was born premie, his milk looked like lemonade for  almost 6 mos. 
i often wondered if there was something 'wrong' w/ it, but he  seemed fine so 
i let it be. when my 2nd son was born, my milk was heavy w/ lots  of cream 
separating on top when i pumped and stored. ( i thought i needed to in  case of 
emergency separation and to keep my supply up since they slept through  the 
night - i ended up never using it, but it was interesting to compare how  
different it was from my 1st baby's milk!) seeing this made me assume our bodies  
make diff milk for diff babies and i had also read and learned that the breasts  
can work independently of each other so it seemed like the next logical step 
to  assume if i assigned a breast to diff aged babies, each breast would make 
milk  that was most appropriate for 'their' baby.
 
 i tend to keep them on their own breast until i begin to feel  lopsided and 
the new baby has started solids - making me think the younger  baby's 
nutritional needs and demands are now pretty similar to the older  one's.  
interestingly, this current particular set of tandem nursers  are only 15 mos apart and 
they are now almost 2 1/2 and 18 mos and i've never  had to switch and have 
never become lopsided, they seem to have kept apace w/  each other's milk demands.
 
i'm not sure if there are actual cultures who do this as a rule... when  i've 
tried to research the issue myself to see if my theories/observations have  
any validity, there doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there. i have  learned 
there may be some concern/need to switch from the beginning so the  babies 
develop optimum hand/eye coordination. i've weighed the small concern  that the 
baby won't learn/develop this w/ lots of belly time, sibling  interaction and 
constantly being worn and slinged against my certain  observation that s/he 
will get colostrum longer if i don't switch and have opted  to continue to 
assign breasts as being in their best interest overall. 
 
in my work w/ bfing moms, if i do ever get one facing tandem nursing who  
gets to the point of wondering about this issue (should i assign or make them  
switch at  every nursing?) i do tell them of my own experiences and  
observations  - not the least of which is that it also makes the toddler  feel less 
rivalrous/insecure when a baby isn't taking his/her cherished breast -  but 
emphasize that each mom should do what works best for her family. i do find  that the 
few moms who end up tandeming and subsequently assigning  report many of the 
things i've observed myself and this bolsters my opinion on  the subject. 
 
i did post not too long ago that one mom was told that babies should switch  
at every feed b/c the foremilk contains more antibodies and it will keep a new 
 baby healthier to get a chance at antibodies from both breasts. but as a  
long-term tandem nursing mother, i don't see how it would be very practical to  
make a toddler sit and wait until the baby had a chance to take the foremilk  
from both breasts... i still would love to know if it's an issue in the mind 
of  anyone that knows for sure...is there really that much of a demarcation b/c 
 antibody rich foremilk and presumably less protective hindmilk? is getting 
it  from one breast alone really not enough for a newborn? were we biologically 
 intended to use 2 breasts for one baby, primarily?
 
so there you have the ramblings from the distracted mind of an assigning  
tandem nurser, i hope they answer your son's very good questions!!
 
~jacqui gruttadauria, bsw
near detroit, michigan
 



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