Do you have such troubles?
The baby is irritable after eating for a few minutes, pulling and pulling the nipples;
It took half a day with the breast pump, humming, before sucking on the bottom of the bottle
……
Ball Mom has also encountered these two problems before.
Really particularly hit the self-confidence, looking at the doll annoyed, the breast pump can not suck out, there is only one explanation - I have no milk, collapse!
Later, after continuous study, I figured out the mystery, in fact, a large part of the reason is related to the "milk array".
What is Milk Array?
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
Breastfeeding is not uniform, but bout-by-bout.
The technical term of milk array is called the ejaculation reflex, commonly known as "lower milk".
Nipples are rich in sensory nerve endings, infants sucking nipples can make the brain secrete oxytocin, acting on the muscle epithelial cells in the breast to produce contractions, squeezing the milk in it, causing milk to be discharged, milk volume instantly increased by 2 to 3 times, in a short period of time milk will be sprayed out rapidly, which is the baby's most enjoyable time.
Is there a feeling that the milk array is coming?
Some mothers will have a sour tingling sensation, some will have a prickly feeling, and some mothers describe it as a feeling of electric shock, like a gust of electricity flowing from the collarbone to the breast.
But not all moms feel this way.
Some mothers have never even experienced the feeling of "milking". This feeling also becomes less intense over time.
It should also be mentioned here that whether the baby can eat enough or not has nothing to do with whether the mother feels the milk array.
Can't suck it out with a breast pump
Is it because I don't have milk?
It's a big pit.
The principle of breast pumping is that the low negative pressure rapid suction cycle causes the milk ejaculation reflex, and then the slow pumping cycle continues to use the negative pressure to suck out the milk.
The baby's way of feeding is to rely on the upper and lower jaws to squeeze the back of the areola, stimulate the nipple areola, trigger the ejaculation reflex, use positive pressure to suck the milk out, and then cooperate with the movement of the tongue to swallow the milk. Positive and negative pressure are used together, and the efficiency is leveraged.
Breast pumps are far less efficient than babies with small mouths. So it is often said that babies are the best breast pumps.
Moreover, the quality of the breast pump is different, and the efficiency of pumping is also different. Some breast pumps do not stimulate the function of the milk array, just a frequency, sudden ~ sudden ~ suddenly a sharp suction, not much milk is not said, but also easy to cause edema damage to the nipple and areola, resulting in milk can not be discharged smoothly, affecting the amount of milk drawn out.
And whether the breast pump cup is suitable and whether the motor is aging are also factors that affect the amount of milk pumping.
It boils down to one thing: the amount of milk pumping out of the breast pump is not representative of your actual milk volume.
Babies are irritable after eating for a few minutes
What's going on?
Some babies are reluctant to eat after 5 minutes of eating; sometimes they will pull and pull on the nipples and be irritable when eating.
This is because some mothers come after the first milk array comes, the second one comes more slowly, and the milk flow speed is slow, and the baby can't wait. Your baby may help you "stimulate" the next milk array by pulling and pulling.
Sometimes mixed-feeding children also experience this phenomenon. Because the milk flow of the bottle is uniform, it can flow out immediately without waiting for the ejaculation reflex, so the baby can be satisfied immediately without much effort, grunting, and has been very enjoyable. But how did Mom's milk go on and off? I'm not satisfied.
At this time, we can speed up the milk flow by squeezing the breast and other methods, so that the baby can eat more enjoyable.
Here's how:
Support the breast with one hand, thumb on one side and the other four on the other, paying attention to the baby.
When your baby is not actively sucking, gently squeeze the breast and keep it squeezed. As the milk flow increases, your baby will start sucking aggressively again.
These actions can be repeated at different locations in the breast as needed until the baby stops sucking aggressively. After this you can switch your baby to the other breast to feed.
Audit expert Chen Ying
Faculty of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing
Internationally Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
Bachelor of Pharmacology in Clinical Medicine, Doctor of Pathogenic Biology
Audit expert Zhang Zheng
10 years of experience in breast surgery in a provincial tertiary hospital
Producer: Astro Boy
Typography: Beautiful
Title image source: Stand Cool Helo