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Nutrition composition is always changing: Your breast milk changes during a feeding session and over time. The number of calories and nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and protein) in breast milk changes from week to week and throughout the day. The nutrient composition is also related to your lactation stage. For example, colostrum contains 10 times more beta-carotene than mature milk, as well as higher vitamin E and zinc levels for rapid skin and eye development. Mature milk is packed with vitamins and minerals for your baby’s growth and development.
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Natural Immunity from mothers: Breast milk contains a lot of antibodies, or immune molecules, that provides the baby with natural immunity to illnesses that the mother is immune to.
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Breast milk contains bacteria: Breast milk contains ‘good’ bacteria which are alive and help keeping your baby’s immune system ticking. Bacteria from your body transfer through your milk to help your baby establish their own gut flora and immune system. The precise microbial makeup changes every and season.
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Kissing your baby changes your breast milk: Kissing your baby is not just showing your little one you love them, it’s actually a way of communicating with your child. When you kiss your little one, you are also sampling the pathogens on their skin, which is then transferred to your lymphatic system to produce antibodies to help boost their immune system.
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Breast milk is made differently for boys vs. girls: Some interesting news in the ever-growing pool of knowledge about breast milk: it may have a different composition based on the sex of the child. Researchers have found that humans and other mammals produce milk that changes composition depending on the level of income and safety within the family, and this influences which sex is favored with higher fat content milk. Our bodies are wiser than we can fathom.
