Possibly a stupid question about quality of expressed breast milk

[abigboydidit]

I have a 5 month old DD and currently give her a bottle of EBM at bedtime. I tend to express off one side 1st thing in the morning (so it hasn't been used for 12 hours) & get about 180mls. I have noticed that if I express at other times of the day my milk looks much creamier and less watery, though obviously I get considerably smaller quantities. Does this mean my morning milk is less calorific or nutritious? Sorry for asking such a daft question

Not daft at all :)

Your milk is just fine on both occasions.

Fuller breasts produce larger quantities on expressing, with proportionately less fat in the milk - that's all. Explanation here:

www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/2010/6/27/worries-about-foremilk-and-hindmilk.html

Thanks for the reply. So does that mean I shouldn't really be using it for a night feed? Since she will then be getting 2 more diluted feeds because am feeding her artificially (so to speak!). Sorry, her weight gain has slowed/dropped and am worried I am at fault..

I'm not an expert but I have read that morning milk is different from night-time milk, and so it can sometimes be a bad idea (in terms of getting them to sleep) to feed them morning milk at night, iyswim?
Obviously it's still perfectly safe to give though.
You're right though, it's much easier to express a decent amount in the mornings.

If you are using your ebm to create longer gaps between feeds then this might have an impact on supply.

However, it is normal for weight gain to slow with an older baby.

Call one of the bf helplines and thrash it out :)