Breastmilk with less "in it" than other moms? - weird question

[othersomethings]

I'm about to have another baby and I've been thinking about this quite a bit over the last few months.

With DD I nursed her to age 2 when she weaned herself. Sad day. But pretty much from day 1 she was a petite baby, child...slow to gain weight. Still is. she's three and wears size 2 clothes. it makes no sense because my husband and I are NOT small people by any stretch of the imagination. I'm 5'10" and he's 6'5".

So I've wondered if my breastmilk perhaps just wasn't as fatty as most mom's seem to be? All the babies around us are big fat happy breastfed babies with the chunky thighs and the growing out of their clothes faster than you can blink. And DD was the opposite. Always in the 1-3 percentile in weight. She grew consistently (if slowly) so her Dr never seemed concerned. But obviously I'm thinking about it.

Is low fat content breastmilk even a thing? And if it is, is there anything I can change this time around to make sure my new baby is getting the best I can give him?

The only info I can find on sites like kellymom etc. is about supply and I'm not worried about that. I'm sure I had enough even though I have itty bitty boobs and wasn't a big leaker, etc. blah blah blah. She had all the proper wet and dirty diapers etc. and never NOT grew. so I'm sure "enough" wasn't the problem. It's the content of the milk I'm thinking about.

Thoughts? (feel free to call me crazy. That might ease my mind, lol...)

[ssh]

Not all breastfed babies are chubby or grow fast. Have you checked WHO's growth charts? They are based on breastfed instead of formula fed babies. There have been lots of posts in these forums on small breastfed babies. If your DD is meeting all her milestones, don't worry. From what I've read your body takes what it needs from fat and nutrient stores in you own body to make milk if your diet isn't adequate.  Your own milk does differ in fat content. The milk your DC gets when she first starts nursing has less fat than the milk during the later part of the nursing session,, but other than that human milk has the same fat content.

You said you and your DH are not small people, but is anyone in either family small? Genetics isn't just the two of you it's your entire families.

[othersomethings]

thanks for the feedback.

Both sides of our family are large structured, the only small person is my MIL who is asian and at the five foot mark. I have considered that being a possible genetic dominance although it seems so unlikely since its outweighed by so many genes with the "big and tall" markers. I'm not a geneticist though, lol...

So I guess taking supplements or examining my diet with a fine tooth comb probably won't make much difference on this issue?

[crystal_buffaloe]

Nothing to add, really, just that I've wondered about this before, too.

I had oversupply at one point and still have kind of a petite baby. I read on one thread about a woman (also with oversupply/foremilk-hindmilk imbalance) who would skim the fat off of one bottle and add it to another bottle so as to make more hindmilk-rich bottles for daycare. I've never done that (DD takes very few bottles), but sometimes I've thought about it, if what I pump one day looks particularly "watery" when it separates in the fridge.

[ssh]

Originally Posted by othersomethings 

thanks for the feedback.

Both sides of our family are large structured, the only small person is my MIL who is asian and at the five foot mark. I have considered that being a possible genetic dominance although it seems so unlikely since its outweighed by so many genes with the "big and tall" markers. I'm not a geneticist though, lol...

So I guess taking supplements or examining my diet with a fine tooth comb probably won't make much difference on this issue?

So one grandparent would be 1/4 of your child's genetic makeup. Some traits, like eye color, have dominant and recessive factors but other with other traits it's just chance how it's expressed.

[corrabelle]

I've often wondered the same thing. My milk has always looked more watery. Still white, but slightly see-through. My sister's is pretty yellow, with a thick layer of what looks like oil that comes to the top! It's really weird, isn't it?

I never could seem to make enough milk to satisfy them, and pumping brought nothing...so I was told to supplement with formula.

This time around, with baby on the way, I'm prepared with all sorts of tinctures from my naturopath that is supposed to help milk come in ten fold..so we'll see. I'd really like to bf exclusively!

[othersomethings]

I actually have no idea what my breastmilk LOOKS like...I was never able to pump successfully (I only had a crappy hand pump that hurt like crazy) so other than spilling out of her mouth occasionally I never really saw it.

However, last year I was living with my brother and sister in law and I was able to support her through some incredibly trying breastfeeding trials that involved a LOT of the "galactaouges"(sp?) and everything under the sun to help increase supply. We had some friends who had over-supply that donated and in the end he never had to go on formula but it was TRYING. And I saw a LOT of breastmilk during that time.

Some did seem thicker/fattier than others. But the babies of the moms didn't seem to be adversely affected by how fatty the milk looked...they were all healthy and thriving. And my nephew, once the AMOUNT increased sufficiently to where he was getting enough every day...he fattened up quick. My SIL still pumps, still takes all the supplements, and at 9mo though he's on her BM only (which I'd guess is in the medium fatty range based on looks only), in addition to solids...he's a big boy. Very solidly built.

I guess it's the genetics thing, for me.

[Momsteader]

I think milk most definitely can have different content.  When I pumped and donated to several families, they had commented that mine was really thick and yellow compared to some of the lighter more 'white' milk they received from other donors.

As far as your dd being small, she very well could be! I am 5'10", my brother over 6' and our full biological sister is 5' tall and tiny--about 100 lbs. Only our paternal grandmother is the only one in the family who could called "tiny". Everyone else is average to quite tall. She was a small infant and small all along. We were all breastfed as well.

So, I think within a family there can be a ton of variation!

[ssh]

Originally Posted by othersomethings 

Some did seem thicker/fattier than others. But the babies of the moms didn't seem to be adversely affected by how fatty the milk looked...they were all healthy and thriving.

Foremilk is watery and quenches the babies thirst and hindmilk is thicker and creamier and satisfies hunger. If you let your baby empty your breast before nursing on the other one they will get the hindmilk. So the differences in fat content in milk isn't about whose milk it is, but about whether it's foremilk or hindmilk. I was usually only able to pump when my breast was full so I was mostly pumping foremilk.