Basically, we have a cool system of communication happening here. I like the science (check it out!), but it can be very heavy. Here’s a way diluted version of what’s happening in your body:
Pretend your body is a milk factory. You’ve got a client, a hungry one, so your body starts producing these little containers of milk waiting inside them. It makes a bunch and waits to see if the client consumes the milk. As long as the milk stays in there, the factory won’t make more. And if the milk stays in there long enough without being removed, the factory starts to shut down some of the containers.
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Now, in the beginning, the milk factory is still programmed for extra containers to be created. As long as more milk is being requested, more milk is made. If the containers are all being emptied every time, your body will make more containers and fill those too. Often times from the outside this looks like cluster feeding, a baby who is ‘stuck to you for hours at a time’. Some people worry that this a hungry baby and you’re not capable of making enough milk. The beauty is that what it often ends up being is a baby who is demanding and forcing your body to make more containers to make more milk. And if you resist the urge to supplement with formula, your body will respond! Cluster feeding will often happen multiple days in a row. Some people feel like they have a cluster feeding baby for the entire first month. I did with my first, for sure. But this is totally normal! It doesn’t mean you have a starving baby. It usually means you have a growing baby!
Photo by Akil Mazumder from Pexels
So, the factory will continue to make and fill more containers as long as there is demand for them. This happens until you hit sort of a plateau, where all the containers are being emptied or nearly emptied, but no milk is requested beyond that.
Photo by Madison Inouye from Pexels
Your infant client will tell you they’re getting enough milk. As long as baby is drinking, continue to let them. There is no need to cut them off at a 15 or 20 minute mark. If baby is getting ornery or disinterested on one breast or nipple, offer them the other one. If they take it and keep drinking, let them do it! Sometimes after a full feed on both sides, you can even offer the first again and they’ll keep drinking!
Remember that as soon as you empty a container your factory is getting a signal to refill it. So it’s entirely possible to have a new supply of milk in a breast that was emptied only a few minutes before! A cluster feeding baby is demanding an increase in production. Totally normal, totally healthy. Supply and demand in its most natural form!
Of course, as always, talk to your doc or a lactation professional if you’re concerned about your baby’s growth or eating habits. Remember that when feeding a baby directly from your breast or nipple they won’t overfeed, so an overweight breastfeed baby is not really a thing. A good indicator of adequate milk intake is an appropriate number of poos and pees every day, and a baby who is following their own growth curve. So if you have a pretty happy baby who is hitting all those marks, trust in your body to make enough milk!
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article sponsered by Northern Michigan certified lactation consulting and Mother Hubbards Country Cupboard
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