Fat/ thin milk

[jenstar]

Well I was chatting to a health visitor today at the baby club and she was saying that breast milk should be something like 90% fatty hindmilk and that if you express and leave it to settle and separate out there should be more creamy fatty milk than the thin watery milk. But she also said she wasn't 100% sure on this and would check and let me know next week.

Now mine looks completely different to what she described- if I leave it in the fridge in a container about 5 cm deep there would be about half a centimetre of cream then the rest watery milk.

So what does your expressed breast milk look like when it separates? Could this be why my baby didn't gain weight on exclusive breastfeeding? And if this is my problem, what is the solution?

 

[Mervs Mum]

mine certainly wasnt 90% creamy/fatty.

 

[marley2580]

It's quite hard to express out the fatty hind milk, unless you're lucky and could be a milking machine lol. Usually you get the foremilk. That said I'm pretty sure that cows milk is really fatty, but when you leave it to sit there's less fat and more water. I think it's just the way milk works?

 

[jenstar]

It's quite hard to express out the fatty hind milk, unless you're lucky and could be a milking machine lol. Usually you get the foremilk. That said I'm pretty sure that cows milk is really fatty, but when you leave it to sit there's less fat and more water. I think it's just the way milk works?

so maybe there is more fat in the milk than looks to the naked eye?

 

[Lucy&Pard]

Mine just separated out but was no where like 90% - and anyway doesnt breastmilk fat and calories adjust to how much you are feeding so thats not very reliable anyway?

 

[KarenLV]

Ive been BF'ing for almost 6 months and can honestly say it's probably 10%fat,90%foremilk.I think she accidentally switched it around.How else would their thirst be lessened if it was 90%fat?