Benefits of giving breastmilk occasionally?

[Tinkjon]

Hi all, sorry for the umpteenth thread about BFing that I've started

Does anybody know if there are any health benefits to giving a baby breastmilk occasionally (say 2 or 3 times a day)? I know abut all the benefits of 6-month exclusive BFing, but would my baby gain anything from 2 or 3 feeds a day, with the rest of his feeds as formula?

Its good for hydration too i think, bfed babies dont need drinks of water cos they can have a quick feed off you if they ffancy a drink and not a full meal.

Also different tastes which some people think help witth weaning.

Ive started mixed feeding now at 4mo.

It's always worth giving breastmilk, Tink...difficult to quantify them exactly, but you can be sure whatever you give is nutritious and healthy

The difficulty will be keeping up a supply on just 2-3 feeds a day. Most women will cease to produce on so few feeds, unless they are doing it with very well established and long lasting bf....you might find you will only maintain a supply for a few weeks, if that, and the baby might start to object some time before that....just so you know!

Mixed feeding only really works for sure when you have been bf for a while.

Tiktok, ah, I thought that you could keep a supply at a particular time if you always fed at that time... didn't realise you had to BF more than that to keep supply up. Thanks, everyone!

No, Tink....it's frequent, effective removal of milk that drives the supply. In the early weeks, feeding/expressing has to happen at least 8 times in 24 hours, or the production line stops producing.

kelly mom is good on this.

When breastfeeding is very well established - say after several months - you can maintain some milk on 2-3 feeds a day, and infrequently-feeding toddlers can maintain their mum's supply on just 1 or 2 a day.

But in the early days and weeks, the body just assumes the milk is not needed and shuts up shop.