Just for the fun of it I will add another spice to this pot.

Long ago I read of a study looking at why a mother feeding her thriving
6-month-old baby exclusively at her breast could have so little milk
volume. This was in the years of "testing" a mother's milk for adequate
nutrient levels.

A mother's milk would be found to have too little fat. Another mother's
milk had too much calcium, while a third had too little calcium. (Remember
those testing days--the '70s?) The mothers were warned of the dire
consequences of such poor quality of their milk, with the recommendation of
adding a superior food to her baby's diet--guess what.

Someone decided to follow individual mothers and babies for a year to see
what they could find. What they found was that a given mother's milk
changed in nutrient composition many times throughout that year,
correlating with her baby's physical developments--growing tall...more
calcium for a while, etc.

How did this happen?  The conclusion was that a baby's saliva sends a
message through the nipple--a 2-way conduit--programming the milk to her
needs. The nutrient content could vary even within the day. Of course, also
thrown in was a "request" for antibodies to any germs or viruses that baby
had been exposed to. The request was answered effectively.

So a 6 months old baby may not need more liquid than a 4 month old but her
nutritional needs may change and, voila, the breast comes through. A baby
drinks to thirst as needed and the nutritional needs are met all along.

I read of this research in my days before LCs and I was not keeping
articles which, in James McKenna's words, "proved the obvious." I
remembered it because it made sense in light of what I saw with mothers of
exclusively breastfed babies, including my own.

I was not surprised to read of Hartman's study of babies' not needing
greater and greater volume of milk as they grow older. And with my employed
clients I have seen that their babies grow fine on less volume than they
expected, so long as they are feeding at the breast when they are at home.
As the baby grows and needs more calories and other nutrients these are
"magically" supplied by the miraculous system of breastfeeding.

Since I can't produce the reference for this study, most of you will not be
able to use this information until someone in this decade replicates the
research. But I thought that I would share it with you for your
consideration.

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mailto:[log in to unmask]

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