How does the concept of a wet nurse work? If continuously given a newborn while nursing a 2YO, does she continue to produce milk until there isn’t another baby?

Question

I also know that a nursing woman’s body can adapt the milk to provide for what the baby needs, but how does that work when the newborn needs a ton of stuff and the 2 year old needs something specific?

(I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction lately)

In: Biology

Answer 1

Yes, it’s possible. If you talk with nursing mothers, though, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Milk can “dry up” for a variety of reasons. And you need to be persistent and nurse multiple times every day to keep that from happening. But in some women, the milk just dries up, anyway. Some women don’t produce enough milk while others produce lots.