Just like you probably wouldn’t drink that espresso before bed, you might want to reconsider giving your bub that expressed breast milk you pumped this morning as a dream-feed top up…
We’ve all read about how brilliantly intuitive our bodies are when creating milk for our babes. A mama’s body knows when we’re nursing newborns, six-month-olds or even if our baby isn’t well. In short, breast milk constantly changes to meet the needs of your baby as he or she grows. But the cleverness doesn’t stop there.
Prepare to have your mind blown.
Expressed breast milk – time REALLY does matter
Yup, it’s true, time matters. And we’re not talking how long it takes to fill a breast milk storage bag with liquid gold – we’re talking if it’s 8am or 8pm when you’re clocking on with the pump.
As though breast milk isn’t already enough of a magical unicorn, research shows that there is actually a difference between morning breast milk and evening breast milk. WHO EVEN KNEW?
Give me a bottle of your best morning brew thanks mum
Science shows that breast milk changes throughout the day. BabyMed put it perfectly saying “Morning breast milk is designed to wake up baby while breast milk produced at night helps baby fall asleep”
“When pumping breast milk, it is important to label the milk with the date and time the milk was pumped. Only feed baby breast milk pumped at a comparable time each day. For instance, morning breast milk should be used in the morning, afternoon breast milk in the afternoon and evening breast milk in the evening.”
- Morning breast milk is like breakfast – it sets baby up for the day, full of cortisol and cortisone.
- Evening breast milk has a higher concentration of melatonin, perfect for drifting off into a sweet blissful slumber. (FINGERS CROSSED)
So, in short for those of us who have pumping to get on with, mark breast milk storage bags and bottles with date and TIME before storing, got it. That makes it SUPER easy for anyone to match an expressed feed with a hungry baby. After all, no one wants to have a coffee before bed.
If you’re looking for more breastfeeding-related reads, you’ve come to the right place! We have real mums’ breastfeeding questions answered, breastfeeding tips and even 10 milk boosting recipes to consider!
