Breast Milk Chronicles: Know Your Milks and When To Use Them
Welcome Back! In this blog series we are discussing anything and everything nursing and breast milk for moms as they get started with their breastfeeding journey. As an anxious mom-to-be, I spent endless hours reading up on everything I could find on the topic, because I made the choice to try to breastfeed as long as I could, and wanted to go in as prepared as possible on the subject.
A reminder, this is NOT meant to be a resource pressuring moms to breastfeed. We already have enough pressures in the world shaming moms one way or the other, and I don’t have any intention to add to the bunch. This series is solely to educate those who want to know more.
Getting Started: Different Breast Milks
As you are getting started with breastfeeding you may not realize the different breast milks your body will produce. I know I was surprised when I actually saw all the changes in my breasts and my milk. Breast milk changes as your baby grows so it can match what your baby needs in each phase of infancy. When your baby is fresh and new, they nutritionally need a different combination of macronutrients than when they are months older infants. Starting with day 1, let’s explore the different milks you will see if you pursue breastfeeding!
Colostrum
When you first have your baby, the first few days you are going to be creating colostrum. You and your baby will be working on trying to figure out how to latch, so you may have to pump if your baby doesn’t understand latching from the start. Colostrum will look thick and have a deep yellow coloring to it unlike the future breast milk that will be white and runny liquid. Colostrum is regularly labeled “liquid gold” as it is so nutrient and antibody packed to kickstart your baby’s immunity and digestive system. It is loaded with good bacteria, and protective white blood cells so your baby has protection in those early days when they are so small and vulnerable.
You may not produce a lot of it, as your breasts are just getting started with producing milk. Don’t be discouraged if you get 10-20 ml of it at a time when you pump. The more you nurse and pump, the more colostrum your body will produce. If you are pumping colostrum with a traditional breast pump, try switching to a hand-pump as that may draw out more colostrum. Because of its thick consistency, a traditional breast pump may find colostrum difficult to express.
Saving Colostrum
Some mothers opt to try to save and freeze some colostrum ahead of time, so they can give it to their babies to help them fight off illness later on when they are sick. Some also try to save colostrum after the baby arrives, so they can have it for future use. The issue with saving colostrum is the colostrum phase is very short, and your newborn needs it those early days. Rarely are you going to find a mom who made so much colostrum that she was able to give her newborn all the colostrum they could eat when they were born plus had some spare for the freezer.
There are some mothers who start leaking colostrum early, before birth. Colostrum can start leaking as early as the second trimester. It may be annoying to have leaky breasts, but it’s awesome to have colostrum to store for your future little one! In those cases of early colostrum production, mothers can collect and store the colostrum for their future baby. Although it’s good to collect what is being leaked, ask your doctor before you start pumping that early colostrum. Pumping colostrum before birth can lead to early contractions and premature labor. Do what is right for you, but it may not be wise for mom’s to try to force colostrum collection early. Be sure to ask your doctor before pumping colostrum so make sure it is right for your situation.
Early Supplementing
You are ecstatic. Your new baby is here! But how do you feed your little one? Because you are only producing a little colostrum at the beginning, you may be asked if you want to supplement so your baby gets more milk in their stomach before your milk comes in. Make your own judgment call for your situation, depending on how much colostrum you are producing and what your newborn needs.
Newborns have tiny stomachs (the first few days it’s the size of a cherry), so they also don’t need an abundance of milk initially. To add to that, the baby comes out of the womb with a stomach full of leftover amniotic fluid. Your baby probably won’t be super hungry the first day as they spend that day spitting up the leftover amniotic fluid from their stomach. After they clear the leftover fluid, everything changes. That new baby of yours will be very hungry, (and cranky) so be ready to tackle that with supplemented formula or lots of pumped colostrum.
Transitional Milk
After 3-5 days, your breasts will start to produce transitional milk. This milk will be higher in calories so the baby can begin to work on getting back to birth weight. Your baby just spent a good amount of time coughing up liquid and starting to get acclimated to this new world, so they may be a full pound below their birth weight. The higher calorie count in your transitional milk is now exactly what they need. The protein count goes down and the fat content goes way up to get your newborn growing as soon as you get home!
You will notice your breasts getting much more full, as the volume of milk produced increases. This is when you will need to start feeding or pumping about every 3 hours to start getting your production up. This milk is far more liquid than colostrum, but is still thicker than the mature milk that is going to come around the 2-week mark. Over the course of the next week or so, you’ll see the consistency slowly become more light, and the color will transition slowly from yellow to white.
Building a Supply
Almost everyone I know, me included, is eager to immediately start trying to build a supply of breast milk for the freezer. When you are getting started, don’t worry too much about having a ton of leftover milk for the freezer. Your baby is tiny and you are doing great with getting started breastfeeding!
That being said, if building a supply is your goal, it will come. Building a supply takes time and persistence. It will be a few weeks before your breasts start making enough milk to save some for the freezer. My recommendation: try to stick with the “every 3 hour rule” to help your body recognize you need it to create more milk. (And before you ask, yes, even at night) Stick with this for a couple of months until you’re confident in your supply.
It may sound tough to wake up every 3 hours to pump, but let’s be honest: you’re up anyways with your newborn. This is where your supportive partner will be helpful in tending to childcare while you are on milk duty.
Mature Milk
After about 10-15 days, you will begin producing mature milk. This milk should include all nutrients your baby needs long-term. This milk will be the thinnest in consistency and produced at the greatest volume of all the milk variations you’ve had. This milk should be white, but it may have tints of other colors (blue, tan, green, yellow for example).
Foremilk vs Hindmilk
Did you know your milk will change in composition during the breastfeeding session? Milk expelled at the beginning of the breastfeeding session is called foremilk and is going to be mostly water with a lower percentage of protein, fat, carbs and nutrients. Hindmilk follows after foremilk and is a gradual transition to the more fatty, and calorie-dense milk.
If you are an Exclusive Pumping mama, this may not matter much for you as it all mixes in the bottle. If you’re a nursing mama, it’s worth being aware of, so you don’t kick your baby off the boob before they get to the more calorie-dense, and filling milk.
Breast milk is the best Medicine of all!
Breast milk is not only the best for your baby’s nutrition, but it’s a great way to give your little one much needed protection when they are at their tiniest. When a mama is sick, she creates antibodies in her breast milk to protect her baby from getting whatever it is she has. Unfortunate for the mama’s who were hoping to have some sort of a “sick day”, but it’s true: Mom’s don’t get sick days. But the good news is your breast milk is working doubletime to make sure you aren’t passing your sickness on to your baby. (your partner may not be so lucky)
Perhaps the coolest fact in this whole post: if your baby does get sick, your breast milk can help them be on the mend in no time! Per the CDC, when a baby latches to their mama, her body can learn what the baby needs from their saliva and alter the breast milk composition to better serve the baby. So if the baby is sick, mama’s body can detect that and create antibodies to that sickness. That is mind-blowingly cool and a wonderful help to a baby when they are so young and vulnerable.
Who knew breast milk was so cool and dynamic! Be proud of yourself mama, you are doing an amazing thing with your body. You created a beautiful, comforting, and nurturing environment for your little one for nine months, and your body continues to provide what your little one needs. Keep on crushing it, and know how lucky your baby is to have you!
