The simplest action that allows you to fully develop good immunity for your child is breastfeeding. Making every effort to ensure that only the best milk is given to your baby is the most important thing a mother can do. But there are stereotypes that instill mistrust in women about natural feeding, let's look at all aspects.
One of the most important parameters for breast milk is its fat content; it is this parameter that often drives young mothers into the jungle of ambiguities and fears for the health of their baby.
We will tell you what it should be and how to determine fat content further.
Change in fat content
We can divide breast milk into hind and fore milk. Foremilk serves to quench the baby's thirst for drink, so it contains approximately 9/10 water in its composition. And the hind is characterized by increased fat content of breast milk, and acts as a valuable high-calorie product.
When expressing milk into a container, it is usually the front milk that leaves the breast, while the back milk remains. Thus, baby food does not contain the necessary beneficial elements and calories, and many inexperienced mothers wonder how they can increase the fat content of breast milk?
Please note that if your baby does not gain at least half a kilogram per month, then most likely he is not getting enough to eat and needs to increase his caloric intake.
The need to check fat content
Women are often worried about the low fat content in breast milk, do not know the information, but want to know how to determine it. Deficiency and excess are important for the development of the baby. In order to understand whether milk is full-fat, every month or every two months, a child of the first year should visit a pediatrician at his place of residence. The nurse performs a control weighing and calculates the weight norm. This is a particularly important factor for low birth weight, premature babies. If you are underweight, the doctor suggests reducing the fat content of lactation.
Another factor is maternal observation. In her opinion, the child does not eat enough, becomes capricious and often reaches for the nipple and gasps for air. During pumping, the milk has a blue tint, but should be yellow. The yellower it is, the fattier it is.
Therefore, the mother and pediatrician must ensure that the fat content of the milk is sufficient.
Problems with the quality of infant nutrition arise due to bacteria that have settled in the ducts during inflammation in the female body, due to lactastasis, depression and nervous disorders. Such conditions require medical attention.
Excessive fat content in milk also causes bloating, gas formation and indigestion in the baby. It will be more difficult for the baby to suck out milk, and it will be more difficult for the woman to express.
Normal calorie content
The fat content of milk depends little on the nutrition of the nursing mother. Its energy value should be approximately 270-290 kJ per liter.
It is important to know that eating fatty and high-calorie foods does not affect fat content, and can only affect a woman’s figure, and the milk will remain empty as it was. It is almost impossible to visually determine a change in composition.
With short-term feeding from one breast and frequent changes, the baby may simply not receive enough fatty milk and gain minimal weight. When expressing, you will also not be able to organize the complete emptying of milk bags.
What determines the fat content of breast milk?
For infants, this product is food and essential liquid. Contains antibodies transmitted from the mother, immunoglobulin, beneficial bacteria for digestion and strengthening the immune system, hormones, enzymes, vitamins, fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
The appearance of milk and its value depend on the stages of feeding. The fat content often changes depending on the time of the previous feeding.
Types of milk:
- Colostrum. It is produced after childbirth for three days. Forms a yellow thick consistency.
- Early. Formed when the lactation period is established. Occurs on the fifth day after the formation of colostrum.
- Later. Enters the stabilization phase.
- Mature. Forms 2-3 weeks after birth.
- Involutive. It occurs at the final stage of lactation, when the baby has grown up and the need for breastfeeding remains a habit. Characterized by a large amount of antibodies and immunoglobulin.
The level of fat content depends on different situations: illness of the mother, prematurity, weak sucking reflex of the baby, multiple pregnancy, active growth of the child. When a child drinks milk frequently, the maximum fat content will be reached half an hour after the previous feeding. At night, fat content levels are elevated.
First, the baby drinks foremilk, which contains a lot of water and few nutrients. The color resembles a bluish-gray liquid, produced between feedings. Towards the end of lactation, he receives thick nutrition - fatty hind milk, similar to colostrum. This type of milk matures during the suction of the milk ducts. It is important for your baby to receive both fore and hind milk. The calorie content of breast milk depends on various factors.
We recommend reading: Is it possible to feed breast milk if your mother has a fever?
Checking
It is almost impossible to check the fat content of breast milk at home, and young mothers should know this. Conducting clinical studies will also not be entirely logical, since milk changes its composition and the average may differ greatly from a one-time analysis.
You can determine whether milk corresponds to the calorie content or not only by observing changes in the physical and emotional state of the baby.
How to increase the fat content of breast milk
Nature has included everything necessary in this product, but mother must replenish the reserves of what she eats. To increase the fat content of milk, mommy should eat cereals, fruits, meat, drink a lot of clean water, and eat vegetables. Much depends on the baby’s diet - on the frequency and correctness of feedings. This should be done more often, trying to eat small portions. Eight times a day will be enough for a nursing woman. Thus, the body receives the necessary elements
Products to increase lactation:
- Walnut.
- Green tea with milk.
Correct attachment and latching of the nipple increases milk production. Fat milk during breastfeeding should be in moderation. It is important to watch the milk come in. If lactation is insufficient, you can drink special lactogenic teas. They do not directly affect fat content, but by increasing its production, weight deficiency is successfully resolved.
Feeding errors
If your baby suddenly stops gaining weight, don’t sound the alarm and blame bad milk, read the list of possible reasons for this situation and think about whether you made these mistakes.
Reasons for bad typing:
- You may be feeding incorrectly;
- You need to feed on demand, not according to a schedule;
- The nipple is not positioned correctly in the baby's mouth;
- While eating, the child falls asleep and does not get to the fatty milk;
- Frequently changing breasts during feeding.
In order to increase the calorie content of milk, you should be sure that this is necessary. You can carry out a simple manipulation at home, but you should not completely trust the result, since it is from the category of worldly wisdom and it is better to always pay more attention to the condition of the baby.
Procedure:
- Take a glass, preferably with a narrow bottom, or a test tube and mark 10 centimeters from the bottom and draw a line;
- Fill the glass with expressed milk until it reaches exactly the line;
- Leave the glass to stand in a cool room for a while, preferably at least 6 hours, please note that you cannot shake the container, otherwise everything will be in vain;
- Once a layer of cream forms on the surface, measure its thickness. In theory, one millimeter of cream is considered one percent fat.
A simple test that you can do at home.
