In this post I want to explain to you about the sucking and swallowing pattern of a typical feed. Understanding your baby’s suck / swallow pattern can be helpful in assessing the effectiveness of the feed. It can be harder to feel or observe in the first few days but will become more obvious after your milk has come in and larger volumes of milk are available. Transitional milk usually comes in around days 3-5 and will gradually change to mature milk.
At the beginning of the feed your baby is more likely to take short, quick sucks. This quick sucking stimulates the release of oxytocin which triggers your let down reflex which helps your milk start to flow. These initial sucks can feel quite intense and in some cases uncomfortable, but any discomfort should be gone in less than one minute.
During this time your baby receives very little milk. Only when your let down has occurred does your milk start to flow. This is important to remember if you chose to introduce a bottle whilst still feeding from your breast. This is because we want bottle feeding to mimic breast feeding as closely as possible so when we are bottle feeding we don’t want to immediately provide your baby with milk. More information on this is in my post on paced bottle feeding and in my online breastfeeding course.
After this first minute of strong, quick sucks a longer, slower rhythm of suckling and swallowing then occurs. This is active feeding with about 1 to 2 sucks to a swallow. Your baby will take small pauses during this time to allow for breath through their nose. This is when the highest volume of milk is transferred to your baby.
As the feed progresses these pauses can become more frequent and longer. Allow your baby to take these short breaks but encourage them to wake if they are falling asleep or the pauses are becoming extended.
Towards the end of a feed the sucking becomes softer and the baby’s mouth may quiver or flutter at your breast. This helps move the heavier, fat rich milk down your breast. There will still be some swallowing at this time. Do not end the feed when your baby’s mouth is quivering at your breast. To do this robs your baby of the more fat dense milk that they receive later in the feed. This quivering or fluttering is not comfort sucking. Allow your baby to feed in this way until they choose to finish spontaneously.
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Seeing what your baby's feed looks like
At the beginning we have the short, quick sucks that occur for less than a minutes
We then have the longer, slower, more rhythmical sucks with swallows and occasional pauses. This occurs for the length of the feed which is normally anywhere from 5 to 40 minutes long.
And at the end we have the fluttery sucking with only very occasional swallows. Remember not to end the feed at this time but wait until your baby finishes spontaneously.
Active feeding and the quality of it is more important than just time spent at your breasts.
This image is also useful when trying to visualise the milk that your baby is getting during the feed.
You can see the suck swallow pattern across the bottom and the purple in the body of the image represents your breastmilk.
At the beginning you can see your baby is receiving milk in larger quantities. As the feed progresses the volume reduces but the fat content gets higher. You can see this with the darker purple spots representing the more fat rich milk.
Having an understanding of your baby’s sucking and swallowing patterns can help you in understanding your baby’s behaviors and can help to identify ways in which you can improve the quality of the feeding your baby is doing at your breast.
I hope this is helpful but as always if you need support then please do reach out to me.
