How does breast milk change when a baby is sick?
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The prevailing research is that when a baby is ill, cues are produced in their saliva. The mother absorbs those cues via the breast and the body responds by producing more antibodies in the breast milk, helping the baby fight off the disease. Since the mother has the advantage of a more mature immune system, she has a greater “database” of antibodies to provide.
Its just one of several fascinating feedback mechanisms in breastfeeding.
I read years ago that the volume of fluid increases, too, when a baby is ill, making it more easy for the baby to nurse and up the fluids needed to heal better.
Also, when a premature baby arrives, his/her mother’s milk adjusts dramatically to allow baby to grow faster. More fat, more antibodies, more available nutrients.
We are evolved to make our offspring thrive.
When a baby is sick their immune system will signal to the mother’s body to produce more antibodies and immune-promoting proteins in her breast milk. These antibodies are secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and they increase in the breast milk to protect the baby from infection. The same antibodies increase in the baby’s saliva, so that’s the supposed cue.
First, it’s important to know that any antibodies that currently exist in a breastfeeding parent can be passed to baby via passive immunity. For example :If a nursing parent had a chickenpox vaccine (or had the chicken pox) at any point in their life, those antibodies will be present in the breast milk. As long as the baby has some breast milk in their system, they will have some protection from the chicken pox. Once a baby doesn’t actively have breast milk somewhere in their digestive system, the immunity is gone.
When it comes to illness, there’s another layer to consider. In short, breast milk can change when household members are sick, because if the breastfeeding parent is fighting off any virus, those antibodies can appear in the breast milk, just as all antibodies do. But it likely has virtually nothing to do with the baby being sick, except for the fact that the baby may have introduced the illness to their parent (and by extension, their parent’s immune system). Backwash theory is the theory that the baby’s saliva can change the antibodies present in breast milk, but there’s little actual scientific evidence to support it.
[This link](https://www.skepticalob.com/2015/09/mothers-and-babies-communicate-through-breastmilk-at-the-moment-thats-wishful-thinking.html) has information that is well beyond ELI5, but does explain a lot of the myths about breastfeeding.
The article [Everybody calm down about breastfeeding ](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/everybody-calm-down-about-breastfeeding/) doesn’t specifically address backwash theory, but does explain some of the myths about breast milk antibodies and why these studies are often so flawed. This one is a lot more layperson friendly.
[“We have proposed that oral infant pathogens may be transported into the breast via the retrograde ductal flow during the second half of milk ejection thereby stimulating a local response within the breast5, 8. Although this merits further investigation, the breast milk immune cell response to the infant’s infection highlights an underestimated component of the protective nature of breast milk.”](https://www.milkgenomics.org/?splash=protective-cells-in-breast-milk-for-the-infant-and-the-mother)
The saliva in their mouth comes in contact with your breasts. The breasts have nipples and little ridges which pick up the signal from the saliva. The body then responds to the signal and makes milk with antibodies. It’s wild! 🙂
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