How Amazing is Breast Milk?!!

[melbel]

For baby, a breast-milk cappuccino: Morning feed gives infants a natural pick-me-up

By Jenny Hope
Last updated at 12:01 AM on 03rd October 2009

Breast milk given in the mornings contains natural stimulants

Baby's pick-me-up: Breast milk given in the mornings has natural stimulants

Breast-fed babies receive a different milk drink depending on the time of day - the natural equivalent of cappuccino in the morning and Horlicks at night, say scientists.

Breast milk delivered in the morning gives infants a pick-me-up because it contains natural stimulants.

But the night-time version will help babies sleep thanks to calming chemical compounds, a report claims.

This means mums who express milk for feeding from a bottle should make sure it is given to baby at the same time it came from the breast - otherwise it could disrupt sleeping patterns. The report in the journal

Nutritional Neuroscience might explain why some babies sleep or become active at odd times of day or night when working mothers express milk for use later in the day.

They could be giving morning milk in the evening and vice versa.

Spanish researchers discovered the chemical make-up of breast milk changes across a 24-hour period.

A woman's body adapts the amount it produces of nucleotides - compounds used to regulate a baby's sleep or promote activity-Breast milk has three different nucleotides - adenosine, guanosine and uridine - and the combination between them decides whether a baby is restless or sleepy or normally active.

The scientists from the University of Extremadura looked at samples of breast milk taken at eight different points of the day from a group of new mothers.
Breast milk expressed in the mornings should be given to babies at the same time of day so it doesn't disrupt their sleep

Cappuccino time! Breast milk expressed in the mornings should be given to babies at the same time of day so it doesn't disrupt their sleep

The nucleotide concentrations during the night were at their most sleep-inducing but less so during the day.

Researcher Cristina Sanchez said 'You wouldn't give anyone a coffee at night, and the same is true of milk.

'It has day-specific ingredients that stimulate-activity in the infant, and other nighttime components that help the baby to rest.

'It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time.'

NHS experts say breastfeeding gives babies all the nutrients they need for the first six months of life.

Research published earlier this year found women who breastfeed are less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, and heart disease.

Other studies have shown breastfeeding helps protect mothers against ovarian and breast cancer, and osteoporosis in later life.

For baby breast milk cappuccino Morning feed gives infants natural pick up

[MantaRay]

It is amazing isn't it! Thanks for posting such an interesting article.

[Epacris]

Ahhh.... Yes, it's amazing stuff isn't it! Thanks for posting that melbel

I do just have to say though...

This means mums who express milk for feeding from a bottle should make sure it is given to baby at the same time it came from the breast - otherwise it could disrupt sleeping patterns.

.....

'It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time.'

sorry DD but that's just not going to happen. It's hard enough working, breastfeeding and expressing without throwing "is that morning or afternoon milk?" into the mix. And a bit more laughing Whoever suggested that was obviously not a breastfeeding working mother.

[Twin Sister]

Whoever suggested that was obviously not a breastfeeding working mother.

I was thinking the same thing!

I didn't have to deal with going back to work but in the early days of BF the cluster feeds at night were too much for me and I would pump a bottle in the morning (when I had an abundant supply) to give my BBs a break at night (when my supply was lower). There was no way I could possibly have pumped at night. Ds did just fine though.

Interesting article though

[selkcerf0142]

What has this study proven, and how much difference does it really make?

Let?s not forget that without incident millions of mums around the world have feed their babies expressed breastmilk that has been expressed at different times of the day, and with the advent of freezers even in different periods of their babies lives. And let?s not forget life-saving breast-milk banks.

We have to discuss the comments of Cristina L. S?nchez, the lead study author and researcher at the Chrononutrition Lab at the University of Extremadura, Spain as they have become news, and are already being included on breastfeeding web-sites around the world as fact ? BUT *WARNING * WARNING * HER SENSATIONAL COMMENTS CANNOT BE CONCLUDED FROM HER STUDY!

No wonder at the end of each news article there is a comment about how good breastfeeding is ? one news article even saying ?The World Health Organisation (WHO) says breast milk is the best food for the newborn, and should not be substituted, since it meets all the child?s physiological requirements during the first six months of life.? Otherwise with the types of comments being made by S?nchez, mothers might reach for the formula rather than feed their baby breastmilk expressed at the ?wrong? time of day. AND THIS IS THE REAL DANGER OF THESE UNPROVEN COMMENTS.

This article in the New Scientist (1) tells us that:
?Since previous studies have also hinted that bottle-fed infants have more problems sleeping through the night, S?nchez's colleague, Javier Cubero, has been investigating whether sleep-inducing nucleotides could be added to formula milk.
In a separate study, S?nchez and Cubero created a "night-time" milk by adding 5'AMP and 5'UMP? (2 OF THE 3 NUCLEOTIDES IN THE STUDY) ?to standard formula milk. Infants receiving this milk between 6 pm and 6 am, and normal milk during the day, fell asleep faster and spent longer sleeping than when they drank standard formula milk all the time.?
(As an aside, the comment above that formula-fed infants have more problems sleeping is an interesting one.)

So now we get to the crux of the problem. S?nchez's study into sleep inducing nucleotides in breastmilk is funded by formula companies! Her study is interesting, but the conclusions that she draws do not follow, and are pseudo-science.

What are the pseudo-science comments that Cristina L. S?nchez has made?
* ?It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time.? (1,2,3)
* ?You wouldn't give anyone a coffee at night, and the same is true of milk. It has day-specific ingredients that stimulate-activity in the infant, and other nighttime components that help the baby to rest.? (2,3)

And other unhelpful comments that are made in the news articles as a direct result of S?nchez?s comments include:-
* ?Mothers who use a breast pump to express milk during the day and then bottle-feed it to their baby at night may be letting themselves in for a sleepless night.? (1)
* ?Cappuccino time! Breast milk expressed in the mornings should be given to babies at the same time of day so it doesn't disrupt their sleep.? (2)
* ?Breast-fed babies receive a different milk drink depending on the time of day - the natural equivalent of cappuccino in the morning and Horlicks at night, say scientists. Breast milk delivered in the morning gives infants a pick-me-up because it contains natural stimulants. But the night-time version will help babies sleep thanks to calming chemical compounds, a report claims. This means mums who express milk for feeding from a bottle should make sure it is given to baby at the same time it came from the breast - otherwise it could disrupt sleeping patterns. The report in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience might explain why some babies sleep or become active at odd times of day or night when working mothers express milk for use later in the day. They could be giving morning milk in the evening and vice versa.? (2)
* ?The composition of breast milk changes throughout the day and it is a ?mistake? for the mother to express the milk and store it for feeding the baby later, says a new study. The baby should be given milk at the time of day that it issues from the mother?s breast.? (3)

Let?s not forget that these types of comments will result in some mums reaching for the tin of formula, rather than feeding their baby expressed breastmilk that was expressed at the ?wrong? time of day.

So what was the study about, and what conclusions can be legitimately drawn from the study?

But first what did the study NOT look at? THE STUDY DID NOT LOOK AT ?DAY-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS THAT STIMULATE-ACTIVITY IN THE INFANT?. Therefore S?nchez should NOT have said ?It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time. You wouldn't give anyone a coffee at night, and the same is true of milk. It has DAY-SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS THAT STIMULATE-ACTIVITY IN THE INFANT, and other nighttime components that help the baby to rest.?

What was the study about? From a MEDIA RELEASE by the Extremadura University ?Scientists looked for three nucleotides in breast milk (adenosine, guanosine and uridine), which excite or relax the central nervous system, promoting restfulness and sleep, and observed how these varied throughout a 24-hour period. The milk, collected from 30 women living in Extremadura, was expressed over a 24-hour period, with six to eight daily samples. The highest nucleotide concentrations were found in the night-time samples (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.).? (3)
(THE WORD EXCITE IN THIS MEDIA RELEASE IS MISLEADING ? THEY ONLY LOOKED AT THE RELAXING nucleotides.)
?The combination between them decides whether a baby is restless or sleepy or normally active.? (2) (AGAIN MISLEADING. THE STUDY LOOKED AT THE CONCENTRATIONS OF THE NUCLEOTIDES OVER TIME, NOT AT WHETHER COMBINATIONS MADE A BABY RESTLESS OR ACTIVE, AND THE NECLEOTIDES THAT WERE BEING STUDIED WERE THOSE STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH SLEEP AND SEDATION ? NOT ACTIVITY.)

So what did the study really look at?

?The study looked at the concentrations of 5'UMP, 5'AMP and 5''GMP ? the three nucleotides most strongly associated with sleep and sedation ? in the breast milk of 30 healthy mothers who had been breast-feeding for at least 3 months. Samples of milk were collected before each feed over a 24-hour period, with between six and eight samples collected per mother. They found that concentrations of 5'AMP were highest at the beginning of the night, while levels of 5'GMP and 5'UMP increased as the night wore on. These sedatives were found at much lower concentrations in milk expressed during the day. Cristina S?nchez at the University of Extremadura SUGGESTS that 5'AMP in breast milk might be fuelling the release of the sleep-promoting neurotransmitter GABA, while 5'GMP is involved in the secretion of melatonin which helps regulate the natural body clock. 5'UMP is known to promote the amount of both REM and non-REM sleep.? (Published in Nutritional Neuroscience) (1)

And conclusions can be legitimately drawn?
?The chemical make-up of breast milk changes across a 24-hour period.?(2)
?Naturally occurring chemicals called nucleotides that have previously been linked to sleepiness? (remove the word ?only?) ?reach their highest concentrations in human breastmilk that is expressed at night.?(1)
?The nucleotide concentrations during the night were at their most sleep-inducing but less so during the day.?(2)

Is any of the above a problem to breast-feeding mothers?
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO
* It is NOT a mistake to feed a baby milk expressed at a different time of day. * It is OK to feed a baby in the evening milk that was expressed in the morning.
* The evening feeding to a baby of milk expressed in the morning WILL NOT make them stay awake, and will not act like giving them a cappuccino. (And if it did don?t you think that mums would have observed this type of problem before now?)
* The evening feeding to a baby of milk expressed in the morning will just have less sleep inducing nucleotides. This does not mean that the baby will not sleep. And there are other ways to get a baby to sleep apart from breastmilk.
* Baby?s fall asleep at all times of the day on breastmilk, not just in the evenings. Many mums have experienced this.
* Breastfeeding mothers should have even more confidence to put their night-waking baby to the breast.

(1) Evening breast milk means a good sleep - life - 02 October 2009 - New Scientist
(2) For baby, a breast-milk cappuccino: Morning feed gives infants a natural pick-me-up | Mail Online
(3) ‘Mistake to express breast milk to feed baby later’

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

An interesting article indeed. I am concerned with the question "compared to what?" Breastmilk, expressed at any time of the day or night - whether your baby is newborn, 6mnths, 12mnths or a toddler is far superior to the other option. I just worry that mothers will lose sight of this. There is already so much pressure for mothers to stop breastfeeding and start formula feeding mistakenly believing that formula will ensure a good night's sleep. I'd hate this to ad to this - remember there are no "sleepy nucleotides" in formula - though some are thickened with rice starch with sits heavily in the stomach, causing baby to be sluggish.

[Inanna]

I thought the same thing Barb...

Yep Breast Milk is miracle milk - it's amazing isn't it????

[sirenz]

hmm i express full time for my ds and I didn't notice anything different about him if he got morning milk at night etc... however i will keep it in mind for next time

[mbear]

Yes...it sure is a wonderful thang....

There is already so much pressure for mothers to stop breastfeeding and start formula feeding mistakenly believing that formula will ensure a good night's sleep

....3 different women in the last 2 days have told me this....if i wasnt so pro breastfeeding and actually enjoying the whole breastfeeding experience, i may have just started to believe them....very sad....

[sconeonamission]

wow that's awesome!

[Bathsheba]

selkcerf: was your post just pasted from another article or is that your writing? It was hard to read with all the ? marks.

Babies are designed to wake at night... if formula was artifically extending their natural sleeping patterns I'd be concerned... i've heard that sleeping too deep can be dangerous for babies.

Very interesting artical Melbel

[Fleur]

Babies are designed to wake at night... if formula was artifically extending their natural sleeping patterns I'd be concerned... i've heard that sleeping too deep can be dangerous for babies.

Absolutely! I would be very wary of anything added to formula to create an artificial sleep pattern... that just freaks me out.

I'm expressing fulltime for AR & haven't noticed anything different WRT her sleeping patterns to the other three.
She is in a fairly rough pattern, waking once early in the morning. I think that is much more to do with her than what or how she is fed. DD1 was FFed, DS1 was FFed from 8 weeks & DS2 was Bfed for 14 mths...so far AR is the best sleeper of the lot!

[Becs_bubs]

I'm still spinning out about the fact they found stem cells in breast milk....amazing. I always knew it was good stuff, but that's a pretty incredible fact!

[Gigi]

good article Melbel, well interesting anyhoo.

but like ECAPRIS alluded to, comments by the researchers that are judgemental of breastfeeding/pumping working mums, mmmm, i think that's a bit rough.

it's one thing to have the info, and make your own decisions based on that.

but i didn't like the researcher saying "it's a mistake to ......"

if i was a working (for money) mum, i think i'd be flat out finding time to express, and my main goal would just to be HAVE bm expressed for my baby, that in itself would be hard enough, without pressure about what tiem of day it was expressed.

bilby is nearly three, and is VERY keen on her morning feed. very keen on her evening feed too, won't go to sleep without it. so she must respond to the Cappucino and the Horlicks ha ha.