Feeding with expressed milk

[IHeartOldYork]

Hello,

I hope someone can help. Does breastmilk change throughout the day? My 4 month old son feeds for anything between 15-30 mins during the day, every two hours or so. His last feed before bedtime is much longer (40-50 mins). Is he likely to be taking the same amount as he does at day time feeds? I have looked on the Kellymom website and that seems to suggest that babies take roughly the same amount at each feed.

I am wondering if milk expressed earlier in the day (from a freezer supply) will satisfy him at his night time feed?

We are going to experiment with my husband giving my son a bottle of EBM one night to see how much he takes and whether he settles well but if anyone has any information or advice it will save us some time and worry!

Thanks in advance.

Not sure if this helps, but I exclusivley expressed for my DS and he took the same amount at each feed except at night when it was a bit more. At 4 months he was on I think, 4 5ozs a day plus a 7 before bed. It was a hit or miss if he slept through or not. I didn't mark the time on my milk so he was getting morning milk at bed time or vis versa. I wouldn't have known.

It's maybe his way of just winding down for bed time.

Someone else will be along with proper advice I'm sure!

Breastmilk does change a bit, York, but not in a very predictable way :)

The main change is the amount of fat - if the breast is very full, the milk in it will be proportionately lower in fat; if the breast is emptier, the milk will be proportionately higher in fat.

Night time breastmilk has been shown to have more relaxation inducing hormones in it, but I would need to search a reference for that - and honestly, I can't think the difference is that great.

Babies take varying amounts at each feed - are you sure kellymom says not? Whatever - the time on the breast is not a good guide to volume of milk taken, so you're back to square one there :) There is a great Australian study which monitored the amount of milk taken per feed from a bunch of babies aged (IIRC) newborn to 6 mths. The variation was something like 0 ml (yes, zero!) to 250 mls (yes, quarter of a litre!).

Just try your ebm and see what happens? Remember, breastfeeding is more than the milk, and babies settle with the experience of breastfeeding not just the actual milk :)

Hi,

Thanks GlaikitFizzog. It's good to know you are able to use milk from other times of the day for a night feed. I feel more confident about giving it a go.

tiktok, thanks for your advice and knowledge! Yes, I think I may have got a bit confused with kellymom which discusses averages. I will look out that Australian study as it sounds interesting.

I agree BF is more than the milk. :) I am a dedicated BFer who is in need of a little break! I love our relaxing bedtime feed. It does worry me that he won't settle without actually being fed by me though. I was planning to try using the ebm anyway but as my son has a heart condition I am constantly worrying about not letting him get worked up and any information that makes experimenting with his night feed a more relaxed process is gratefully received. We want my husband to be able to settle him just so we know someone else can do it when I am not around. After 4 months I am quite keen to go out for a meal one evening. My son has just started some medication so we are feeling we could leave him with my MiL one night with a little more confidence than we had before.

Thanks again for the replies.

York - here's the ref for the Aus study on variability of intake:

KENT, J. C., MITOULAS, L. R., CREGAN, M. D., RAMSAY, D. T., DOHERTY, D. A. &
HARTMANN, P. E. (2006) Volume and Frequency of Breastfeedings and Fat
Content of Breast Milk Throughout the Day. Pediatrics, 117, e387-395.

Thank you