Great explanation of foremilk/hindmilk

[@llli*LLLKaren]

The terms "foremilk" and "hindmilk" cause some confusion because they seem to imply there are two types of milk, which, of course, there aren't. This post at thefunnyshapedwoman.blogspot.com does a fantastic job (with pictures!) of showing the gradual increase in the fat content of milk during the course of a feeding, and explaining why it happens.

[@llli*mtmama]

great article, i love this kind of info. thank you

[@llli*mothersky]

Thanks for posting Karen.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

I thought it was interesting.

I will say though, that when I had crazy oversupply when Lilah was little, if I pumped, I would pump 5 to 10 ounces of watery "foremilk", and it took several weeks to get the oversupply under control by block feeding. So maybe the problem was oversupply, but I do think that it was more of a too much foremilk/not enough hindmilk problem. And she nursed every 20 minutes to 30 minutes, so it wasn't an issue of leaving the milk in there too long. My body just wanted to feed triplets.

[@llli*sixyearplan]

You should sticky this in the BF forum because it comes up again and again.

[@llli*mothersky]

You should sticky this in the BF forum because it comes up again and again.

Agreed. I've always thought of it the other way as well. Good to get the clarification.

[@llli*katia11]

I remember when I saw that Wikipedia picture I was reallly worried because it didnt look like I had enough hindmilk when it separated.

Thank you for posting this!

[@llli*LLLKaren]

Okay! I stickied it in both the newborn and infant forums.

[@llli*durhamgrrl]

A little off topic, but this ould have scared me if I were still pumping, because I can tell you that 90% of the time when I pumped for DD I got what looked just exactly like tube 1, even when separated. I knew I was a bad pumper I did no know how bad and i am kind of glad I didn't.

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

I think it's important to note that there may be some variation in the appearance of milk (from different women, from the same woman at different times of day, same woman at 2 wks PP and 10 months PP, etc.) and if your pumped milk doesn't look like those test tubes, that's okay. It doesn't mean it's bad, you know? I just know ladies are going to see those photos and start obsessing that even their "hindmilk" is "too thin"!