Transcript: Healing with Breast Milk: The Topical Benefits

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The Boob Group
Healing with Breast Milk Topical Benefits

[00:00:00]

Please be advised, this transcription was performed by a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.

[Theme Music]

LEILANI WILDE: Have you ever wondered why breast milk is so special? Can breast milk be used for any other reason, other than feeding the baby, like maybe fighting infections. Today we are exploring the components of breast milk and the topical benefits. This is The Boob Group.

[Intro/Theme Music]

LEILANI WILDE: Welcome to The Boob Group, broadcasting from the Birth Education Center of Santiago. The Boob Group is your weekly, online, on the go support group for all things related to breastfeeding. I am your host Leilani Wilde, I am also an IBCLC and owner of Leilani’s Lactation and Doula Services. Thanks for joining us today. If you enjoy listening to our shows, week after week, please tell another breastfeeding mama about us. You can also help other mamas discover us through iTunes, by leaving us some honest feedback about the show. Search The Boob Group in iTunes and click on our podcast to rate us and leave a comment. Want to be a part of The Boob Group? Here’s Sunny to tell you how.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah, so we would love our listeners to be part of The Boob Group. So, there’s a couple of different ways you can do this. You can submit for our segments and we’ve got a couple of different segments that we are always looking for listener responses for, and I’ll just share a couple of with those with you now. So, we’ve got a segment called ‘ask the experts’ where you guys can ask our IBCLC’s your breastfeeding and pumping questions. We have a segment called ‘boob oops’, where you guys can share your, funny breastfeeding and pumping mishaps. And let’s see, another one. Oh! We’re always looking for story ideas and I would be planning out our episode shortly for 2016. So, if you guys want to submit for any of those or if you guys want to send us ideas for, topics for the future, we would love to hear from you. so, you can go to our, website at www.NewMommyMedia.com, go to the contact link section and that way you can send us an email. But if you are sharing a story and you’re like “hey, you know, I’d really like to share it myself” as supposed to me or Leilani reading the story on your behalf, you can just call our voice mail at 619-866-4775 and share your story there. No one’s going to pick up the phone, so you just leave a message, and we’ll go ahead and take that and we’ll put it in our future episode.

LEILANI WILDE: So let’s meet the moms that are here with us, today. Crystal, can you tell us about yourself?

CRYSTAL ALLEN: My name is Crystal Allen. I am 29 and mom to five kids, four girls and one boy. They are six, five, three, 17 months and six weeks.

LEILANI WILDE: And Anna, can you tell us about yourself?

ANNA SCHULTZ: Sure, again my name is Anna and I am a local Satiagan. I’m 45 years old and just had my second child. My first is 22 months old, almost 2 years old and my youngest is 5 and a half weeks.

LEILANI WILDE: Great

ANNA SCHULTZ: Breastfeeding both of them.

LEILANI WILDE: Wonderful.

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Alright, so, before we start today’s episode, we are going to talk about a headline that I saw, and, related to best feeding, related to stress. We’ve recently released an episode about, “breastfeeding and stress”. So headline here is “Stress Hormone Cortisol, found in mother’s milk could affect the social behavior of children after weaning. So, you’ve heard of cortisol, again the stress hormone.I mean, they’re saying that, basically, it can impact the social behavior of children long after they are weaned. This is based on the research carried out by the ‘US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and they tested the effects of cortisol levels of 26 female monkeys, Rhesus, Rhesus monkeys, I don’t know, I don’t know my monkey population or species very well, these infant monkeys and the scientist found that the babies suckled on milk containing higher levels of cortisol appeared to be less impulsive at the age of six months and I love how they tested this. They said, the baby monkeys were tempted with marshmallows, by the scientist to test their impulsivity, so I guess, if you can resist the marshmallows, you pass the test.

LEILANI WILDE: I don’t think I could do that

SUNNY GAULT: Right?

LEILANI WILDE: I love marshmallows.

SUNNY GAULT: So I know, I mean, I don’t want us to get all bent and out of shape about this, because moms have enough stuff to worry about besides, you know, how our children are going to be impacted after weaning, just because we have some high-stress levels, or whatever, but just kind of wanted to get you guy’s opinions. I know it sounds a little funny, but this is a legit, you know, research and that was carried out and they are, you know, trying to find out about stress. So Leilani what are your initial thoughts?

LEILANI WILDE: You, know, I think that initially you want to think about how stress is in your life and in regardless, stress is not good for any of us, right? So, hopefully what we can take from this is that we need to learn to relax, as much as possible, enjoy the moment and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

SUNNY GAULT: Michelle, any thoughts based on this article?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: I wonder if the lowered cortisol, you have a more relaxed parent, and we all know that breastfeeding is a relaxing act, sometimes you know, you have this good hormones releasing, so maybe a more relaxed parent leads to a more relaxed child.

SUNNY GAULT: My kids are actually pretty relaxed. Breastfeeding was always a soothing thing for me, I mean, I had a couple issues here and there, but for the vast majority of you know, breastfeeding on my children, it was pretty relaxed experience for me, and I have a lot of people tell me that I- not only are my children usually more relaxed, unless, you know I just gave them a bunch of Halloween candy or something like that, but that I am also a more relaxed parent.

And I don’t know if that has something to do with it or maybe that’s just a personality trait, but that’s kind of what I thought from this and I’m like maybe there is, you know, I mean I have stress in my life. We all have stress, you know, in our life. But, maybe there is something to it.
Yeah, so we’ll put link to this article up on our website, actually on Facebook would do that, because Facebook is a little bit better for discussion purposes and you guys can check it out for yourselves, see what you think about monkeys eating marshmallows.

[Theme Music]

LEILANI WILDE: Today on The Boob Group, we are learning all about what’s inside breast milk and how it can be used topically to help your entire family. Our expert is Michelle Stulberger an IBCLC in the DC Metro area. Thank you for joining us Michelle.

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Thanks, thanks for having me.

LEILANI WILDE: Michelle, how many different animal species make milk, specifically for their young?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: So, all the mammals produce milk for their young and something that I find really fascinating is that the mammary glands were so important to species classification that literally the entire group is named that, so mammals, they are named after the mammary glands. They are named after their ability to make milk, so even mammals that lay eggs, well, produce milk.

LEILANI WILDE: What makes human’s milk- breast milk so unique?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Well, human milk is very unique because, it’s designed specifically for human babies and I know that, that sounds like a really easy answer, but if you really think about it, humans are the only species that drinks the milk from another species. So, you don’t see baby cows drinking goat’s milk, and we don’t see baby goats drinking cow’s milk. So, it is really fascinating that our, that human are the only one that do that, but our milk is designed specifically for human babies, and more specifically the composition of human milk is just very, very different from that of other animals, the ratios of protein and carbohydrates and also our milk contains antibodies that strengthen our immune system.
So, when you are exposed to viruses, or other bacteria, it causes your body to produce specific antibodies, for that. These antibodies are not found in animal milk.

LEILANI WILDE: Well, and that’s super important to know for lot of moms out there, because I know in some situations, you know, we do have to use another mammals milk, right? And, in that case, you know, we have to think about how, how is it different from let’s say, cow’s milk, because that’s usually, where we are getting our other sources, we, we feed our babies. How different is it, our breast milk compared to them?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: That’s a really great question. So, one of the thing is that our milk is much lower in protein and it’s higher in carbohydrates. And when you think about it, that can kind of explain why babies sometimes nurse so frequently, we talk a lot about how breast milk is digested so quickly, and our protein content is much lower. These animals are designed to be a little more self-sufficient, at an early age. So, when a baby cow is born, you know there is not quite a much coddling, a baby cow is born and upon its feet and ready to go. And they don’t feed quite as often. And, you know, having the lower protein means that we need to feed a little bit more frequently. The proteins in other animal milk are also not as digestible as breast milk protein.

ANNA SCHULTZ: Yeah, you know, I was aware of how unique our breast milk is. I, for my understanding and I think I take this to heart is that, when the baby latches on to the breast, so there is a communication that happens and a communication kind of the baby telling the body what it needs and the breast milk is going through constant changes to provide the baby what they need and that’s an incredible thing to me and I know it cannot be done by any other source of milk, cow’s milk. So, I think that uniqueness makes it incredible for the health of our babies.

LEILANI WILDE: And you are right. Michelle, can you explain a little bit more about, what Anna is saying in regards to that?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Anna, that’s great. That actually touches on exactly that I was thinking, that breast milk changes not only as he baby grows but from feeding to feeding and even during the feeding. So, you know, as most people know the first milk that the baby gets is, Colostrum, which is much thicker, and it’s really designed to coat the stomach, act as a laxative, it has millions and just millions of white blood cells, and antibodies. It’s really the perfect first food, because babys’ stomachs are just super tiny, much smaller than we even think of.
And even in the beginning the ratio of whey and casein which is kind of the components of the breast milk, there is more whey, which, it’s present in the early days. It’s much easier to digest for the babies.

So, you know like Anna said, our bodies are communicating with the babies. We are making it exactly what they need, when they need it. The mature milk that you would have, you know once you pass these early days that actually changes composition like I said, from feeding to feeding.
For example, when you are breast feeding towards the end you have a higher fat content, which is sort of like the dessert milk. You start off with the lower fat milk and you kind of get to the full fat milk, helps the baby kind of signals at the end of that feeding. So, breast milk absolutely is just a constantly changing thing. The composition of breast milk between women would never be the same and even during times of day with the same woman, it would never be the same.

LEILANI WILDE: You know, I often will tell my clients about how the breast milk constantly changes and it’s different. So, in the beginning of a feed it’s kind of low fat, so, I would say it’s like vegetables, eating your vegetables and in the middle of the feed it’s like eating your steak and potatoes and then at the end of the feed it’s like eating dessert and so you get a full course meal and like, you know, other types of milk, so you know, longer that they can stay on them, full, the full feed that they get, then they get a full balanced meal. Michelle, I know, you just answered that how the breast milk changes from feed to feed, but how does it change as the baby grows?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Really it doesn’t change much as you might think. The volume stays pretty steady, what would really be changing as the baby grows, is just sort of in response that I think environmental factors. So, the types of antibodies that are present are going to change. You know, is there a cold going around? You know, our people, what sort of germs, is the baby being exposed to?
I mentioned a little earlier, that the whey and casein ratio will change, so, you’ll get a higher casein ratio later on. It’s a little bit more robust, the protein content goes up a little bit. It is like, once the mature milk comes in, it’s really kind of a feeding to feeding change and not a huge overall change.

LEILANI WILDE: Okay, great. Well, when we come back we will talk about the topical benefits of breast milk and how we can treat infections with it. We will be right back.

[Theme Music]

LEILANI WILDE: Welcome back to the show. We are here with Michelle an IBCLC, from DC Metro area. Michelle, how is it that breast milk can topically cure things like diaper rash or eczema?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: That’s a great question. We often say that breast milk has healing properties and what that means is that the antibodies present in the milk are things like enzymes, amino globulins and leukocytes, so white, it is sometimes called white blood. The breast milk isn’t just a cooling or soothing feeling, it’s literally, providing the healing needed.

LEILANI WILDE: Anna, have you ever used breast milk to cure a diaper rash?

ANNA SCHULTZ: Not for diaper rash, no. I have used it for other topical things, not for diaper rash.

LEILANI WILDE: And, what about you Crystal?

CRYSTAL ALLEN: I have, many times. My son who is now five, had a wheeze cough diapers and he had an allergic reaction to a certain fabric that we were using and so he developed, this, like, really awful, awful rash, and we were kind of grasping our straws and didn’t really know what to do.
I figured it couldn’t hurt anything, and it was literally the only thing that helped was mixing coconut oil with breast milk and then putting it in the fridge so turn into a solid and then we’d just put that on him every diaper change and it was the only thing. I mean, we tried prescription creams, we tried every topical cream over the counter that they make. It was, we tried powders, everything. It was the only thing that cured like cleared it up. And it was within hours, it was amazing.

LEILANI WILDE: Yeah, I have actually seen that. And you just mentioned earlier today before you even got on the show that you actually, made a concoction for somebody else, right?

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yes, I had a friend calling me earlier and that was in tears, because her baby had a rash so bad and so I was like, oh! just pump a little bit and put some with coconut oil and I mixed some tea tree oil too, which is good for you know, the yeast, because she thought it was yeast infection. But, put that and gave it to her and she just texted me literally 10 minutes ago, saying that it was already clearing up.

SUNNY GAULT: So, I have a question with regards to that, so, one of twins, right now, I am still breastfeeding my twins and they are almost two, they’ll be two next month and one of them keeps getting, this horrible diaper rash and its ongoing and once it clears up, it comes back and we’ve just been doing the song and dance for at least three months now. And so, I haven’t really done anything, because it keeps going away, really haven’t you know, called the pediatrician or done anything like that. But since I’m still breastfeeding them are they getting the same benefits through just the oral consumption of breast milk as they would if I topically did something as well?

LEILANI WILDE: It is different when you put it on topically. Right, Michelle?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Absolutely, just think of that like putting Neosporin on a wound, you’re applying that breast milk directly to the wound and you are letting the, you know, antibodies inside the breast milk get onto that wound.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. So maybe I need to do a little mixie-mixie tonight.

MICHELLE STULBERGER: I love this concoction with coconut oil and tea tree. That’s fantastic. Tea tree oil is definitely an antifungal. So, I bet that feels great.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah, it works really well. And like, if we tried just putting breast milk just by itself, but it would turns into a mess, and so I kind of thought like “Oh! We should mix it with something, with coconut oil”, because it

LEILANI WILDE: Solidifies.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah, it solidifies. So, it really, really works well.

SUNNY GAULT: Well, how do you know how much breast milk to put in versus other ingredients? Like do we have any idea, from other parents, like me? Because I’ve got to go home and do this now. I am going to be like, this is my first question. Now, how much breast milk? Michelle, any thoughts on that?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: You know, I am not sure because I’ve never mixed it like that. But, I would think that whatever amount would get it to that good pasty consistency. Has that been your experience mixing it with coconut oil?

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah, I actually do over an ounce and then I mix it in a little tub.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah

CRYSTAL ALLEN: I don’t know exact amount, but it’s surely like 3:1.

SUNNY GAULT: Ok, Well, that helps, that’s simple.

LEILANI WILDE: So three parts breast milk?

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah

CRYSTAL ALLEN: No, three parts coconut oil.

LEILANI WILDE: Three parts coconut oil?

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Because, if you put too much of the

LEILANI WILDE: It’ll stay running.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah, It won’t solidify.

LEILANI WILDE: Well, one thing about cooking oil that you probably know, is that the minute it gets warm it liquefies.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yes, yeah. So I mix it while it is slightly warm and then I put it in the fridge, to solidify it and then I just use that.

LEILANI WILDE: But then you go to put it on topical it starts to melt.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah.

LEILANI WILDE: Right?

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah

LEILANI WILDE: Right. So, I mean the other part of that is, even if it did liquefy, you could just kind of pour it on to. I am actually treating my granddaughter that way and it does, it really works.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah.

LEILANI WILDE: See, Michelle, what other infections can breast milk help cure?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Oh, lots of things. I am thinking specifically, things like pink eye and even cracked nipples. We have a lot of moms that we recommend, we tell them “ press a little bit of milk onto your nipples after your feeding and it absolutely helps with the healing.” You know a lot of times, when I was working in the hospital, we would tell moms on day one and day two, you know, just get a little Colostrum on there.
The other major thing that breast milk is literally a medication. Babies in the NICU, so premature infants in you know, neonatal intensive care. There has been study after study that shows that the breast milk is literally, lifesaving because it protects these newborns from something called NEC, and that is Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

So, a lot of NICU babies will get donor milk or you know that sort of thing, because the doctors have seen, it just lifesaving.
You can see these effects, kind of in communities in malnutrition as well. So, communities where a lot of children might die of like, gastrointestinal diseases, basically diarrhea, breast milk is just absolutely incredible in that case.

LEILANI WILDE: And why is that? How does that work? Can you explain that a little bit?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: You know, I wish I could explain it, but then I’d need to go back to look at the studies, but I think, it has to do with the fact that it has all the antibodies in it. Little premature babies are really at high risks forgetting, you know all sorts of infections and breast milk has some protective qualities to begin with. When you have something like a formula you know, artificial milk, just as you mentioned earlier in the show, there is no antibodies in that, there is no protective qualities to it, it’s simply nutrition. And that’s why breast milk is so important because, it’s not just about the nutritive needs, just not the protein and the carbohydrates, it’s literally the antibodies, that you are passing along. I think that plays a huge role.

LEILANI WILDE: Yeah, and also to add to that, I mean to help understand, help these moms understand, if you can provide your own breast milk, it is designed specifically for your baby. So, your body knows, your baby is premature and so your body is making specific milk for that baby.
So that actually helps, coat and line the stomach for the baby And I believe

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Exactly

LEILANI WILDE: I believe, that’s why it works so much better to protect the baby from any illnesses. Even in the NICU all the way through its breastfeeding life, and beyond, right?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Yes, although, interestingly if you have a premature baby, you only make premature milk, I’d say it’s for four weeks. It’s no matter how early the baby is, I’d have to go look at the specific citation, but your body does switch over. And babies in the NICU, you know, donor milk works as well, for things like, you know, with NEC, with the colitis- assisting with that. So breast milk really is, I mean, it’s just an amazing, it’s literally seen as a medication in that case.

LEILANI WILDE: It does, definitely. So Anna, have you experienced using breast milk for any topical reasons with your babies?

ANNA SCHULTZ: You know, I have used it on my older daughter, it was just on cuts, bleed or not, you know. She’s just fast as two, she falls a lot and recently she had a pretty big gash, that she had on her leg and I you know, routinely just found that, so I started to add some breast milk to it and it’s so much, it helps, so much faster once I added the, just added little bit of topical breast milk.
I haven’t rationally read any studies that say that, you know, shrivel through that particular reason, but, I did believe in the power of the breast milk and so I’ve used it for that.

LEILANI WILDE: How about you crystal, any other things besides diaper rash?

CRYSTAL ALLEN:I have used it on cuts and stuffs, scrapes for my other kids. I have also used- I’ve pumped and given it to my 5 year old, who got a really bad stomach ache and I gave him a cup of it, and he drank it and he actually started feeling- I don’t know if it actually had any real thing to it, but I mean, I like, once again, I was grasping a straw, trying to figure something out, because he had- we ended up finding he had issues with his gallbladder, but that helped his stomach ache that one time.

LEILANI WILDE: Michelle, have you heard, them use it for like, cleaning their nose and stuff like that, for nasal, instead of nasal sprays?

MICHELLE STULBERGER: Oh! I haven’t. But I have a really stuffy ten month old, so I may have to try that.

LEILANI WILDE: Yeah, actually, I have had some clients use that and they seem to

ANNA SCHULTZ: Yeah, I did use it.

LEILANI WILDE: You did?

ANNA SCHULTZ: I totally forgot about that, yeah, I’ve been using, she’s a little stuff- my kids are all sick right now and she’s stuffy and so, every, before each feeding, I put some in her nose and I just, she usually sneezes and then, wipe it away.

LEILANI WILDE: Perfect. That’s great

SUNNY GAULT: Let’s see, Michelle, can breast milk be used for other family members; I mean may be outside of your children.

MICHELLE STULBERGER: So, that’s a really great cultural question in my opinion. Because, of course, it would work from a strictly structural point of view, it would work exactly the same as it does with an infant. And I bet other cultures wouldn’t hesitate to squirt a little breast milk on pink eyes, but I just don’t know in the United States. I think we might be more, you know, likely to really on antibiotics. But I would be curious to hear what our panelists think about using it for other family members. I mean, I don’t know, if my husband would appreciate a squirt of breast milk in his eyes, but maybe.

LEILANI WILDE: Would you guys consider it? Do you think that your parents or grandparents or anyone that might, consider taking your breast milk and using it for something.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: My mom actually has, for pink eye. She, yeah, she is really against using any kind of antibiotics and I kind of was taken aback when she asked me, but, yeah, she asked me to pump a little and give her some. This was a few years ago, and she said it worked really well.

LEILANI WILDE: Awesome

CRYSTAL ALLEN:I was really surprised, but, yeah, I mean, there is

LEILANI WILDE: Power of milk

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Just like my friend called me today and like I think I am pretty known for this. My friends and family must think I am crazy, but

SUNNY GAULT: Breast milk pickles

CRYSTAL ALLEN: Yeah, I think it’s just because I have been breastfeeding for ten years. But yeah, so, but yeah, my mom, she said, it healed her within like a day or so.

LEILANI WILDE: That’s way faster than any medication that they give.

CRYSTAL ALLEN: I’ve used it on all my kids for pink eyes. So, before I even talked to her for it. So

LEILANI WILDE: Breast milk is so wonderful. What about you, Anna? What would you consider using that for other family members?

ANNA SCHULTZ: I’ve used it, my husband used it. So, he, when it was quite, it was quite a, hilarious scene. As he was shaving, cut himself and he was saying how it was bothering him because it was a pretty noticeable cut. So, let me apply some breast milk and he looks and he was no, you are not going to apply breast milk on my, on my cut and I applied some into it. And it cured so fast. He was like, hey my shave, put some aside from me. You know...

LEILANI WILDE: Wonderful

ANNA SCHULTZ: He really believed in it. My mother actually right now, I’m glad you mentioned this, has shingles, and luckily, in a very small area on her hands. But I am wondering if that might be a good option for her to, to help her, you never know.

LEILANI WILDE: Well, Crystal was just saying, yeah. She

CRYSTAL ALLEN: So, I had shingles, two years ago. It was on my leg, and once again I tried putting breast milk on the rash, and it made it feel so much better. It literally felt like a 500 pound man was stepping on my toes and lighting it on afire and I totally just toned it down a lot, way better than any medicine, they threw at me. So

LEILANI WILDE: That’s awesome. So your, is it your mom, is that what you said, or you maternal?

ANNA SCHULTZ: My mother, yes, my mom, yes my mom.

LEILANI WILDE: So, she’s going to be thrilled to hear about this. So, you have got the medicine for her. That’s awesome.

ANNA SCHULTZ: No kidding, thanks for sharing.

LEILANI WILDE: Yeah, yeah. Well thank you so much, Michelle and Crystal and Anna for sharing this important information about breast milk components. Boob Group club members, our conversation will continue after the end of this show, as Michelle, will talk about why she is so passionate about breast milk. And for more information about our Boob Group club, please visit our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com

[Theme Music]

LEILANI WILDE: So, here’s a question for one of our experts. This is from Elizabeth Keivner. “I have a wonderful new baby boy. He is almost too good, and already sleeps 4-5 hours stretches at night, and he’s only 5 weeks old. While it’s wonderful that I can actually get some extra sleep, I am worried about how this will affect my milk supply. I try to pump once a night, but I really get more than one or two ounces, even though I am starting to feel engorged. So, far everything seems to be fine and he’s gaining weight and growing like a chimp. Also, he has a habit of nibbling. Our day time nursing sessions only last a few minutes, and they might me as close as together as every 20 minutes. This has been happening since he was born. If the breasts aren’t fully drained, will that also affect my supply? Right now, I try to let him nurse several times on one side before switching, then he is nursing for such short periods of time. I’d really appreciate your help. Thanks”. Elizabeth.

ANDREA BLANCO: Hi, Elizabeth, my name is Andrea Blanco and I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant out of south Florida. Thank you so much for your question. Congratulations on your baby’s birth. You sound absolutely in love. If you find your baby is going a longer stretch at night, then you will have to find a way to make up for his other times during the day, which is probably what is going on. Being able to pump one to two ounces between those stretches is not cause for concern alone, as there are many factors that go into pumping and determining whether it’s a good gauge or how much milk you are making in general. However feeding every 20 minutes for a short breasts may be his way of overcompensating for something else, that might be going on, like something hindering his ability to transfer milk, effectively.

My first suggestion would be to spend a couple of days tracking his feeding patterns and diaper output so that you are able to see what is going on. If he’s feeding more that 8- 12 times a day and anything else about his behavior is worrying you, I feel like the best course of action would be to see an experienced International Board Certified Lactation Consultant to help determine what is going on and whether it is just a variation of normal. Mama’s like you are very good about knowing when something is off and I encourage you to listen to yourself on this.

[Theme Music]

LEILANI WILDE: That wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to The Boob Group.
Don’t forget to check out our sister shows:
• Preggie Pals for expecting parents
• Newbies for newly postpartum moms during baby’s first year
• Parent Savers for moms and dads with infants and toddlers and
• Twin Talks, for parents of multiples.
Thanks for listening to The Boob Group: “Your judgment-free breastfeeding resource.”

[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. Though such information in which areas are related to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, medical or advisor care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.

SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our lineup of shows for new and expecting parents.If you have an idea for a new series or if you’re a business or an organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com.

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