Breastfeeding Facts I Can't Keep to Myself

There are a few women dear to me who are pregnant, and since I am not about to talk at them for hours about what I know, here's everything I know about breastfeeding. I'm sure there's more, but these include some of the most common misconceptions. And even though my philosophy on advice giving has changed to waiting until advice is asked for, I felt compelled to write it all down for when I am asked.

• Babies are born programed to do one thing: eat. If they are not eating well, or fussing at the breast, then something can be fixed or adjusted, and they CAN breastfeed successfully in most cases.
• Full breasts make high-sugar, bluish milk. Less full breasts make high-fat, creamy milk. 
• A mom's supply is established in the first few months of breastfeeding. In order to establish a good supply, it is best to nurse and nurse and nurse at every cue and then in between those first few months.
• Saying a mom's milk "hasn't come in yet" is confusing and not accurate. The first milk, which is ready during the 3rd trimester, is called colostrum, and is the exact milk the baby needs. The colostrum gradually changes to thinner milk that is in larger volume.
• Studies have shown that proper weight gain in infants is correlated with volume of milk consumed, not the fattiness.
• Lactating breasts are never empty; the fattier milk that a less-full breast makes is continuously produced.
• What is in your bloodstream is in your milk. If caffeine is in your bloodstream, trace amounts of caffeine will be in your milk until your body as a whole processes it out. This means that pumping and dumping does not remove the affected milk, and allow "clean" milk to refill the breast. Pumping and dumping can preserve your supply if you need to be on a medicine that passes into breastmilk and will negatively affect your baby.
• Regardless of maternal diet, breastmilk remains constant (except in certain, very small cases). Vegans and junk-foodies alike make "good" breastmilk.
• It is important to eat well because your body prioritizes milk production, and will deplete your vitamin reserves to make milk. If you eat poorly, you will sacrifice yourself, not your baby's health.
• Breastfed babies (of all ages past the first few days) on average drink 25 ounces a day (with a range of 19-30 ounces). The composition changes as the baby ages, but the volume does not.
• Plan to leave about an ounce for each hour you will need to be away from your baby. If you are gone for 8 hours, leave 8 or 9 ounces. Doing this will preserve the breastfeeding relationship by allowing the baby to demand that your body makes more when you are together. In other words, to preserve your supply, it is important for baby to demand more from the breast and not from the bottle.
• It is impossible to overfeed a baby at the breast; it is possible to overfeed a baby with a bottle.
• Nursing at night doesn't cause tooth decay; formula and other liquids at night can.
• The most common causes of fussing at the breast or refusing to latch are:
• Mom has a fast letdown. 
• Mom has an oversupply (usually feels like engorgement).
• Baby is mad about having tried new nipples (aka nipple confusion).
• Baby is not hungry.
• Baby does not like the speed of the flow of milk: too slow, too fast, etc.
• Baby is teething and it hurts to latch.
• Baby is having an undefined nursing strike.
• The least common causes of fussing at the breast are:
• Baby is allergic to something Mom ate.
• Mom doesn't have enough milk.
• Babies don't wean naturally before toddlerhood. Most times a baby seems to wean, it's just a nursing strike or another temporary problem.
• I have milk stored in the freezer! I know breastmilk changes in composition as the baby ages, so is it okay to give my 6-month-old milk that was expressed when he was 3-months old? Of course! Even though breastmilk does change, it doesn't change so dramatically as to become useless, and not even less than good. Think of it this way: Formula stays the same THE WHOLE TIME, so "younger" breastmilk will always be a better option than substituting with formula.
• If a baby will only calm at night by nursing, nurse. If a baby will only fall asleep by nursing, nurse.
• Breastfeeding on demand 
• Protects Mom's supply. When babies go through growth spurts, they will spend more time nursing, which will cue mom to produce more milk. It's supply and demand, so if a baby is supplemented with something other than pumped milk, then Mom's body is not given the chance to increase the supply to meet the baby's demand.
• Soothes baby, and not just feeds. 
• Means you don't need to budget for formula.
• Gives baby sleepy-hormone-laced, fatty milk at night, and sugary, thirst-quenching, energizing milk in the morning.
• Releases calming hormones in Mom.
• Passes on immunities, both from Mom's vaccinations and current assaults on the immune system. 
• Know your goals, and clarify them with a lactation consultant (IBCLC is best). Do you want to breastfeed for a year? Two years? Do you want to exclusively pump? Pump and breastfeed? There are ways to be successful regardless of what plan you choose.