Breast milk insufficient after not eating for a day?

[TwinDaddyToBe]

Hi all,

My wife was unwell with an infection and fever for a couple of days, one of which she hardly ate anything all day. Our doctors have advised us it's ok to continue to feed breast milk but we've noticed that our boys are never hungry noticeably quicker than they ever have done before, after just 1-day of changing how we feed them.

• we had previously only fed them formula once a day
• we had previously had them up to at least 3-hours between feeds

Is it possible that my wife not eating properly for a day means that the milk is no longer nutrient-rich and is now very watery, not keeping them satisfied for long enough?
Alternatively, we're thinking that potentially after just 1-day they're now 'used to' how much heavier formula is and they want that all the time now instead.

Any thoughts on these possible reasons are very welcome!!!
Many thanks!

It’s not really possible that after not eating much for one day that milk is so different in quality. There are plenty of reserves in the body to draw from first. I’m not sure how old your children are, so wondering whether there may have been a small temporary dip in supply?
They may be feeding to make sure that the supply stays at the level they need.

It might be that they’re ‘catching up’ with feeding - did they take as much with formula? Whenever I bottle fed mine, he would take a minimum and then feed much more enthusiastically from me when it was available.

It’s hard work feeding when you feel rubbish. It’s most important to keep well-hydrated, a couple of days without much food shouldn’t matter.

Yes I think it's possible. I know other women and myself have found that when we've tried dieting too hard, our babies have become fussy, demanding to feed far more frequently. I can only assume they are hungry as the breastmilk is less rich (blood sugar would be low?).

TwinDaddy, milk quality and quantity are unrelated to diet. There are anecdotal experiences that suggest otherwise but whenever proper science has looked at the situation, coupled with what we know of how milk is made, it’s just not possible to make a link. Certainly not a thing would happen after a day. It’s seriously only on a literal starvation diet that milk is eventually affected. If you need some links to convince you just say . Hope things are ok now.

Blood sugar levels absolutely do not impact on the richness of the milk .

I expressed and noticed a very quick drop off in milk supply if I was in calorie deficit or not drinking enough. The quality didn't noticeably change though.

This is helpful:

www.llli.org/nb/nbmarapr04p44.html

Thanks so much everyone! :)

What your twins may be preferring is the fast flow and lack of work needed to achieve a massive feed very quickly from a bottle.

Were they pace fed?