Your body is an incredible thing, mama.
We all know by now that when it coms to tailor-made nutrition for your baby, nothing even comes close to breastmilk. It contains exactly the right nutrients for your baby to thrive and grow. It is always the correct temperature. It even responds to when your baby has a fever or an infection, changing to produce antibodies to send to your baby through your boobs.
But did you know some other cool facts about breastmilk? Not only does it change as your baby grows, meaning the milk your boobs produce for your infant is different to what they produce for your six-month-old, but it actually also changes throughout the day. Meaning, the milk you produce in the morning is different from the one your boobs make at night.
Yep, that's right.
Researchers have found that breastmilk pumped in the morning has significantly more cortisol in it than milk that's pumped at night. Cortisol is a hormone with a lot of responsibilities: It helps with metabolism, regulates blood sugar and supports memory. It also surges when we are stressed.
For all these reasons, cortisol is clearly a good hormone to have onboard during the day, and so it makes sense that mums have more of it during waking hours, and therefore pass more of it on to their babies via breastmilk.
Just take a look at this Facebook post by
Sarah Filimore, a birth doula, that just went viral:
In the evening time, your milk contains a higher level of melatonin, the hormone responsible for making us feel sleepy and tired at the end of the day. Another component of night-time breastmilk is tryptophan – also known to bring on that woozy and ready-for-bed feeling.
This all makes sense if your baby is drinking straight from your breast, of course, as you are trying to get your baby onto a rhythm where he or she is awake during the day and feeling tired come bedtime.
However, if you are giving your baby milk that you have pumped, this is where the situation can get a little complicated. Why? Because that bag of breastmilk that you pumped at 9am this morning might not be the ideal chioce to give a baby who is just about to go down for the night. This milk naturally contains a higher level of cortisol, and might give your baby a sudden burst of energy just when you want them to start feeling tired.
Meaning, if you are able to save melatonin-rich breastmilk for nighttime feedings, that's great. This may be particularly helpful information if you've been experiencing sleep struggles—it certainly can't hurt to try this approach and see if it helps!
