Did You Know that Kangaroos Tandem Nurse Their Babies?

My kids and I watched a cool documentary today about red kangaroos.  I would like to share it with you!  

An unborn kangaroo's baby - a joey - gestates for just 34 days and then after birth makes its way to the mother's pouch.  Once it arrives, it attaches to one of her nipples and suckles constantly for more than two months straight!  At that same time, the mother kangaroo could also have an older joey that is fully developed and does not need to stay in her pouch 24/7.  However, this joey may still nurse and has its own nipple inside the pouch.  Each nipple - the one for the newborn joey and the one for the older joey - provide different types of milk!  If you would like to read more about this fascinating topic, go to this website.

Although humans are different than kangaroos, human milk does change over time as the baby nurses.  The first milk is colostrum which is high in protein, immunities, and beta carotene.  Colostrum is low in water, fat and volume.  Then over the next three weeks or so breast milk increases in fat, carbohydrate and calories.  Breast milk gets fattier as a nursing session goes on, and the volume of milk is greater at night.

After a premature birth, breast milk stays higher in protein for a month compared to the amount found after a full term birth. 

As the baby gets older, the mother's milk changes.  After about 18 months, breast milk has less carbohydrates.  At age two, breast milk tends to have more protein and fat.  If the toddler increases how much he or she nurses, the amount of protein and fat actually decrease!  Also, breast milk has 60% more calories per ounce when the child is two or older compared to when the child was 12 months old.  As the child nurses less often as he or she gets older, breast milk has a greater concentration of immunities, too. Sometimes moms are told by well meaning friends or even healthcare providers that breast milk at age one or two is not beneficial anymore.  However, as you can see, breast milk at any age has value!

I hope you have found this as fascinating as I do!

(1) Breast Milk Changes During Prolonged Lactation