Can your DC smell your milky boobs?

[bessie26]

DD2 is 6 weeks old. I usually sneak into the room during one of her naps & have a little snooze myself

However, the last 3 days when I've done this she's woken up after about 10mins, I haven't been able to settle her & she then decides she wants a feed!

Do you think she can smell my milky boobs? She's been waking a bit more frequently in the night for the last week or so... Perhaps it's time to move the Moses basket over to the other side of the room?

She could just be hungry with the 6 week growth spurt. My LO lived on my boob for about 10 days for her "6 week growth spurt".

I wouldn't eliminate the possibility of her being able to smell it though but I reckon she would have woke up anyway...

My DD is 13mo and I swear she has a sixth sense for ms. If I've been out for the night and return home say 11pm, she will wake up and want a feed. But if I'm in all evening she tends to sleep through till 4am ish.

I'm fairly sure it's a fact that dc can smell your milk if you're cuddling them and trying to settle them without a feed, so I think it's quite likely she is smelling you!

I think the idea that they "smell your milk" is bollocks actually - they know it's you, and they know you provide comfort and food, so that's what they want! They don't need to smell milk to know you are their mother, and mother=milk.

I also think they smell "you" and not the milk.
when dd is in bed with me, she def feeds more often than when she is in her cot.

Babies also can't understand why you withold feeds from them - I know when we tried stopping ds feeding so much at night it wouldn't work if I went to him but didn't feed him (too confusing/upsetting for him) but if his dad went to him he didn't expect milk so was fine.

Totally disagree about not smelling milk. During my pregnancy my milk dried up and both girls stopped asking. I noticed the smell of milk and about a day later I was back to tandem nursing. My eldest when my middle one was a baby used to tell me which one her sister wanted and always my fullest boob.

It would surprise me if the baby smelt mum rather than milk as personally I think my milk has a definite smell. Not a bad smell just a distinctive smell. I would have assumed it was a stronger smell than me.

Well whether it was the smell of me or my boobs I'm pretty sure thats what was waking her up - I napped in a different room today & she slept for 1.5hrs! Also, last night she slept for a 5th stretch when I first put her to bed but woke every 2hrs as soon as I went to bed...

I will be rearranging the furniture tomorrow so she can sleep further away from me!