Why is last milk so important to babies?

When your baby is first fed, the breast milk produced at this time is called colostrum. First milk has a lot of milk but is low in fat. And baby's milk is breastfed in the near-late stage called final milk. This milk is small but high in calories, fat and other essential nutrients for your baby. Therefore, when breastfeeding, you should pay attention to how the baby can fully suck the last milk.

Normally, the final milk will be creamy white and bring many benefits to the baby, such as helping the baby feel full, sleepy and rich in nutrients. However, your baby may miss out on milk late in a feed when the time you are breastfeeding is short.

How to get last milk?

For babies, you should breastfeed for 10-15 minutes on each breast. During the early days, it may take longer for your body to get used to releasing milk. Let your baby breastfeed longer, this action allows the breasts to produce final high calorie milk.

As the little angel gets older, the baby will not need to breastfeed for long. You can see your baby is able to breastfeed in less than 10 minutes and receive both first and last milk.

Not enough colostrum or too much colostrum

Your baby needs to get enough last milk to feel satisfied between feedings and weight gain. Without feeding long enough, the baby may not get enough breast milk and will not get enough final milk. One problem that prevents this baby from feeding is that the mother produces too much milk. When breastmilk is in excess, your baby can suckle a lot of milk and get full before the final release.

If your baby is drinking too much milk or can't finish last milk, you may notice your baby has the following symptoms:

Flatulence

Crying, stomach pain, and colic- like symptoms

Green, liquid manure

I'm more hungry than usual.

If you have these symptoms, you can try to breastfeed your baby on only one breast at a time to help your baby get the last milk.

The problem with infants not gaining weight evenly

You should talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about your baby's weight. The doctor will monitor the baby's weight and growth as well as notify if parents need to take any special measures to help the baby gain weight.

If breastmilk is abundant, you can also breastfeed your final baby more by pumping out less milk for 1-2 minutes before you start breastfeeding. This way, you will save the first milk and your baby will also receive a lot of final milk with high nutritional content.

However, if your breast milk is low, you should not use this method. Instead, feed your baby on both sides until all breasts are empty. In the event that you feel your baby is not getting enough milk , you may need to supplement your baby with formula .

How to collect final milk for preterm and sick babies?

For premature babies and babies with congenital health problems such as heart disease, kidney disease, lung, stomach ..., final milk is really good because it provides enough nutrients to help children gain weight well. To collect the final formula for your preterm baby , you should use a breast pump, and then separate the colostrum from the colostrum by:

When you start to pump, the milk will be slightly thin, continue to pump for about 2 minutes, stop and change the bottle. The amount of milk collected at this time is the first milk.  

Put the breast pump in and pump again until the breast is empty. The milk now looks denser and this is the final milk. 

Label the colostrum and formula on the milk container.

Give the final bottle to the health worker so they can feed the baby in the feeding glass cage.

As for the first milk, you can store the milk in the refrigerator and use it when needed.