Expert: ruth kraft - 9/26/2010

Question
My daughter is 8 wks old. was nevr on the strict every 2 hr feeding schedule. she nurses every 3-4 hrs. three days ago my milk just suddenly disappeared. i have no clue what has caused it to leave or anything. i will fill up maybe twice a day. i bought a pump to see how much was coming in when it decided too. when i started pumping everything was ok but yesterday and today it hasbeen coming out a teal color. i've been afraid to feed it to her. it has a strange smell too. not a spioled smell but just different. what do i do?

Answer
At 8 weeks old, it is common for your breasts to not fill up like they used to. Your body is becoming accustomed to the perfect amount of milk for the baby. So that does not worry me. If the baby while nursing how she wants to , has enough wet and dirty diapers 6 wet a day and one dirty diaper every week or so, is alert and acting normal, then she is getting enough. The teal color is also normal. Like a light blue tinge to it, almost see through kind of consistancy, not yellow any longer. This is because the colostrum has left your milk. So the baby doesn't poop as much as before either. Perfectly normal and on track.  the strange smell might be lipaise in your milk. Here is a link that will tell you more about that. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/lipase-expressedmilk.html .

Still nothing to worry about :) You are doing great! Keep it up!
Ruth Kraft
www.honoringwomen.com