Foremilk question

A Breastfeeding 101 question here... about when during a feeding does the
milk transition away from foremilk? We've been having a little OAL over
here and I've been expressing into a cloth whenever we get a choking
spray, but I'm never really sure how long to do it. Should I just do it
until the spray dies down? And does expressing this part of the feeding
deprive him of something, so that I should be careful about how much I
express? I've been wondering also whether I end up expressing hindmilk as
well. Thoughts/info?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

Alphawave wrote in message ...
A Breastfeeding 101 question here... about when during a feeding does the
milk transition away from foremilk? We've been having a little OAL over
here and I've been expressing into a cloth whenever we get a choking
spray, but I'm never really sure how long to do it. Should I just do it
until the spray dies down? And does expressing this part of the feeding
deprive him of something, so that I should be careful about how much I
express? I've been wondering also whether I end up expressing hindmilk as
well. Thoughts/info?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

From what I understand, once letdown happens, all the rest is hindmilk. The
foremilk is just what's leftover from the last feed, and anything new you
produce is hindmilk. For me, hand expressing wasn't enough (took too long
as I had to express too much and by then he was screaming). I ended up
pumping between 1.5-2 ounces before 3 feeds a day to get things under
control; things were a lot better then. Point being, I doubt you're going to
express too much! I would just try doing it until the spray dies down and
see if that's enough. Are his poops yellow? If they're green a lot, that
indicates he's getting a lot of foremilk.

laurie
mommy to Jessica, 27 months
and Christopher, 13 weeks

*This email address is now valid*

I have pumped alot because I only pumped not bf for my first dd, and
it all looked the same to me. I always wondered about the hind milk
thing since it all looked the same to me. No matter when I stop I
always seem to get the same ratio of fat at the top of the bottle. I
have tasted it after just expressing a a tiny bit and it tasted more
watery than later though, so I am thinking for me the foremilk part is
just at the very beginning and hind milk starts coming pretty fast. I
have always had supply issues, so perhaps that is why.

KC

"Shannon G" wrote in message ...
I don't have an answer I can back up with any scientific data, only my
pumping experience where I can *see* what's coming out.

When I am really full, the first 1-2 ozs. are the real bluish, watery
foremilk. Then it's skim-milk type combination for 2-3 ozs. After a 2nd
letdown is the real whole-milk type fatty hindmilk.

If you're trying to just not *serve* the real watery foremilk, I'd wait
until you quit spraying. JME.

Shannon


"Alphawave" wrote in message
...
A Breastfeeding 101 question here... about when during a feeding does the
milk transition away from foremilk? We've been having a little OAL over
here and I've been expressing into a cloth whenever we get a choking
spray, but I'm never really sure how long to do it. Should I just do it
until the spray dies down? And does expressing this part of the feeding
deprive him of something, so that I should be careful about how much I
express? I've been wondering also whether I end up expressing hindmilk as
well. Thoughts/info?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

In Alphawave wrote:
A Breastfeeding 101 question here... about when during a feeding does
the milk transition away from foremilk? We've been having a little
OAL over here and I've been expressing into a cloth whenever we get a
choking spray, but I'm never really sure how long to do it. Should I
just do it until the spray dies down? And does expressing this part
of the feeding deprive him of something, so that I should be careful
about how much I express? I've been wondering also whether I end up
expressing hindmilk as well. Thoughts/info?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net


Generally speaking, there isn't any set time that the milk moves from
foremilk to hindmilk. It's a very gradual transition, really.

As a fellow OAL sufferer, I can tell you that you're not depriving him
of anything by expressing into a cloth. Usually I don't start seeing the
thicker milk until well past the letdown, so I've never worried about it.
Besides, that thicker hindmilk is full of all the good stuff!

I usually express until the flow slows down to a more manageable drip,
if you know what I mean. Now that Elizabeth is getting older, she can
handle a faster flow, so it's not an exact science. But when milk is
just shooting out (for lack of a better description), I usually use a
cloth diaper.

I've found that good management of my oversupply/OAL has helped a LOT.
And in another month (I'm guessing) I won't have to worry about it at
all due to the management techniques and her age.

Hope that helps!
Meredith

"Alphawave" wrote in message
...
A Breastfeeding 101 question here... about when during a feeding does the
milk transition away from foremilk? We've been having a little OAL over
here and I've been expressing into a cloth whenever we get a choking
spray, but I'm never really sure how long to do it. Should I just do it
until the spray dies down? And does expressing this part of the feeding
deprive him of something, so that I should be careful about how much I
express? I've been wondering also whether I end up expressing hindmilk as
well. Thoughts/info?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

additional question:
does expressing add to the "demand" therefore making me supply even
more...the never ending viscous cycle...
Edith

Meredith says:

As a fellow OAL sufferer, I can tell you that you're not depriving him
of anything by expressing into a cloth. Usually I don't start seeing
the thicker milk until well past the letdown, so I've never worried
about it.

Thanks, this is good to know. It sort of goes against the grain to just
let breastmilk be wasted, you know?

I've found that good management of my oversupply/OAL has helped a LOT.
And in another month (I'm guessing) I won't have to worry about it at
all due to the management techniques and her age.

About what age can a baby handle the faster flow of OAL?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

Edith says:

does expressing add to the "demand" therefore making me supply even
more...

Things I read online suggested that if you offer only one breast per
feeding (and use the same breast for each subsequent feeding that might
happen in the 4 hours after), you help your body adjust production. So I
guess letting the spray go into a cloth doesn't end up creating too much
more demand, as long as you don't stimulate both breasts at each feeding.

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

Alphawave wrote:

Laurie says:

From what I understand, once letdown happens, all the rest is hindmilk.

I spent the last couple of days really taking a hard look at what's going
on when I nurse and when I pump. I get letdown after only a short while
of nursing, and it comes with a gusto. I get letdown for the pump a
little later than with nursing, but it also comes on strong once it does
come. And it seems to me like what you're saying about letdown bringing
on the hindmilk is pretty much the way it is for me. So that's handy to
know.

It's not so much that it "brings on the hindmilk" as that the milk you've been
pumping prior to letdown is mostly stored milk that has had the fat resorbed,
and the "letdown" milk is the milk produced on the spot, with the full
complement of fat.

foremilk/hindmilk is kind of an artificial concept, your body doesn't produce
two kinds of milk.

Dawn

In Alphawave wrote:
Meredith says:

As a fellow OAL sufferer, I can tell you that you're not depriving
him of anything by expressing into a cloth. Usually I don't start
seeing the thicker milk until well past the letdown, so I've never
worried about it.

Thanks, this is good to know. It sort of goes against the grain to
just let breastmilk be wasted, you know?

I've found that good management of my oversupply/OAL has helped a LOT.
And in another month (I'm guessing) I won't have to worry about it at
all due to the management techniques and her age.

About what age can a baby handle the faster flow of OAL?


It does go against the grain to not use breastmilk, I agree! At one
point I thought about saving it, since my letdowns often produce an
ounce or more, but then I realized that all that watery foremilk would
just upset her tummy anyway.

As far as when they can handle the letdown, it probably depends on age.
It seems like with my first, since I didn't do anything to try to reduce
supply, it took much longer for him to handle letdowns with ease. Maybe
six months? And I leaked during feedings for well over a year. This time
around, since I've taken steps to reduce supply, Elizabeth is handling
letdown really well now at four months and I usually don't leak on the
other side unless I've gone a long time between feedings.

Meredith