Amazing Lact-Facts
This is part three in our series “Why Does My Baby Do That?!”. This post will cover some amazing Lact-Facts. That’s a catchy way of saying lactation facts, as in, cool stuff relating to breastfeeding, lactation, and breastmilk. And I know what you’re thinking, oh brother, the same old facts I’ve heard before. Well, maybe you have but these are five of my favorites.
Have you heard about skin to skin or kangaroo care? Well, let me tell you, it’s amazing and it’s one of the most basic and simple things that we can do after the baby arrives. By holding your baby with their skin touching your skin, it can actually change physiological things going on in your body and the baby’s body. What is skin to skin? Well, it’s taking everything off of your baby, except the diaper - protect yourself! And for you, taking off your bra/tank top/shirt and holding your baby on your chest with as much of their skin touching as much of your skin as possible. The easiest and most effective way to do this is chest to chest. Before your baby’s eyes are able to see much, their other senses are heightened so the sense of touch, taste, and smell are really important. Your baby touching your skin helps their heart rate and breathing stabilize. It helps them regulate their temperature, and helps them learn how to breastfeed. For you, skin to skin contact helps to increase oxytocin (the love hormone) helping you bond, and it helps you actually produce more milk. Who doesn’t love a little cuddle time for all those amazing benefits, am I right?!
Alright, here’s maybe one of my favorite Lact-Facts, like ever. Have you noticed that through pregnancy you developed some little bumps on your areolae? Those little bumps are called Montgomery glands, and they secrete a liquid that smells like your amniotic fluid, which makes it easier for the baby to find the nipple because it’s a familiar smell. Wait, what?! YES! IT SMELLS LIKE YOUR AMNIOTIC FLUID! Crazy, right?! I know! It’s my one of my favorite facts, too. Who knew that those little bumps serve a purpose?! Washing your breast off before latching actually makes it harder for your baby to find the nipple and get a good latch so don’t go scrubbing at your breasts or using a lot of lotions. If your nipples are a little sore express a couple drops of breastmilk and rub it in, allow it to air dry and then apply lanolin or a nipple balm, even olive oil or coconut oil work. Breastmilk has antibodies to protect the baby from infection, and something called Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) that can help heal your skin too, and the lanolin or nipple balm or oil feel nice and keep the skin moisturized. Use a pea-sized amount of lanolin, nipple balm or a few drops of oil after a feeding and let it soak in before the next feeding but don’t go scrubbing it off. If you’re sore for more than a couple of days, contact me for a consult!
Did you know that breastmilk changes? Yeah, yeah you say, you’ve heard that before. But listen, it changes from when your baby is a few days old, to when your baby is a few months old, to when your baby is a few years old. Sure, sure, sure. Everybody knows that. Ok, ok but did you know that it changes HOUR by HOUR too?! WHAT?! YES! Your milk is different day to night, and mid-morning to early-evening. At night your milk has higher levels of tryptophan, that same substance that makes you sleepy after a turkey dinner, yup, it’s in your milk to make your baby sleepy. And then in the morning, there is less! So when you’re pumping don’t forget to label with the date AND the time so your baby gets sleepy milk at night and not wake-up-and-conquer-the-world milk at 1am.
While we’re talking about pumping and making milk, did you know that the size of the breast does not indicate how much milk will be made? Some people with very small breasts make lots of milk, and just because a person has very large breasts doesn’t mean that they will have oversupply. It’s all about storage capacity and how frequently the milk is removed from the breasts. Always aim for removing milk 10-12 times a day, whether its by pumping or nursing. If you are concerned about how much milk you are making, contact me for a consult!
Breastmilk is alive. It’s living and growing and changing and is absolutely amazing! Breastmilk has stem cells in it that travel into the baby’s body and are used in whatever way the baby’s body needs. Breastmilk has killer T-cells (yes, that’s a real medical term) that attack and kill cancer cells (there’s research on this, if you want to see it, email me). Also, breastmilk for premature babies is higher in protein, fat, and other minerals that are just what their little bones and brains need to grow and thrive. In fact, the more breastmilk a premature baby gets in the first month of life, the better the brain development is shown later in their lives and protects them from something called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) which is an infection and inflammation in the gut that does some serious damage.
So that’s it folks, some of my very favorite Lact-Facts. I hope you learned something new. Be sure to stop by my Instagram or Facebook pages and let me know which last-fact was your favorite! You can find and follow me at @SummitLactation on both Instagram and Facebook.