Fun fact for all the parents and future parents out there promoting and living out traditional, conservative American family values: human breast milk changes its composition over a 24-hour cycle!
What does that mean?
Day Milk: According to one study from the Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia, breast milk produced in the daytime has three times the amount of cortisol as night milk. Cortisol is a hormone that promotes alertness. The presence of important antibodies and white blood cells was also greater in the daytime.
Night Milk: Breast milk produced at night contains more melatonin, including a high point in melatonin levels at 3am. This melatonin helps the baby sleep!
This leads to a natural question for parents storing breast milk for future use… should we be separating the day and night milk in our fridge storage?
As the studies continue to come out showing the science of breast milk composition, it’s looking more and more like YES, it is worth it to, what the experts call “segregate breast milk.”
The benefits to your baby’s energy and sleep levels can be tremendous! We should all be embracing every opportunity to maximize care for our current and/or future babies.
To learn more about this, check out this article on the science of human breast milk by Exclusive Pumping!
