Breastmilk Color

If it was me I would start supplimenting his calories with formula. I started drying up when my son was six months old and thats what i ended up doing. As far as the bluish tint goes, remember everything you eat effects your milk, so it could be like drinking alot of grape juice? OR something to do with your intake.

Hi T.,

That happened to me occansionally. I found that if I kept pumping for several minutes after I "ran out", i'd get a second letdown that was mostly the fatty hindmilk - this usually added another 2-3 ounces to the harvest and occured at about the 21 or 22 minute mark during pumping. When I swirled the milk after it separated, the bluish foremilk became creamy again.

My son also went on strike at daycare - would refuse all bottles all day and then nurse me dry as soon as walked through the door. We switched to the Gerber Nuk nipples - that helped - and I also gave him a bottle of breastmilk occansionally starting about 6 months. I'd tuck the nipple down near my breast and that seemed ok with him. Before that, I was afraid he'd decide that he liked the bottle better and refuse to nurse, but no way - he knew a good thing when he had it.

Good luck! I hope this helps.

Totally normal. I pumped and stored for almost a year. :)

My milk is often blue in tint, particularly when my son was at that 6mo age. Your milk changes with your baby. Some weeks its thiner and some weeks its thicker. Mine's a little yellower now, but still get some thin blue days. I wouldn't be surprised if my nutrition had something to do with it either.
Last night my 8 mo old didn't take a bottle from the sitter all night (5pm+),even though he usually nurses right before bedtime, but nursed like a madman in the morning after he woke up. Its the same milk, but I guess he prefers it fresh. Maybe he misses his mommy. The more solids he consumes, the less milk he may take in.

It sounds like the forward milk is what you are seeing. If your baby isn't drinking much, he's not getting the hind milk, which is that thicker yellowish milk. If you are worried, pump for 20 minuets and see what you get when the milk stops comming from the breast. If you massage the milk forward as you pump, odds are that your milk is normal as a whole. Another thing that can change milk color is what you are eating. A new vitamin or antibiotic will change your milk as quickly as cutting out red meat would.

It's normal for your milk to appear blue... don't worry. As far as accepting from a bottle, if your son's hungry enough he'll figure out that the bottle is his option and he'll accept it. My son did the same thing for a while, but he's fine and he's one now. :o) good luck!

My milk went blue from an infection. It started out with a light tint that gradually became a lot stronger (ummm....we're talking it actually became bright turquoise!!!). 2 weeks later my milk was gone & nothing we could do would bring it back. Turns out that if I'd gone on antibiotics that first week everything probably would have been fine. It just didn't present like normal mastitis until the day before I dried up, and at that point it was too late.

This may NOT be what's going on with you. Human milk changes in it's composition as our little guys age...and that also affects the color/consistancy.

2 things that LEAP to mind if it's not an infection are:

- Did you just start on solid foods? (That will change the comp of your milk faster then about anything)
- Is working / bottle feeding new?

Also, if you just started working, you may notice your little one staying up more at night, and waking up more to be fed. Mine would change his eating/sleeping schedule every 3 months. I was in school with classes at different times...and after about two weeks into a new quarter *poof*. He changed his schedule to get more time/meals from mum. Babies are amazingly talented in getting what they want, if you give them half an opportunity. :)

My milk turned blue/green when I was really full or when I was weaning. It's the more watery milk that doesn't have much fat in it.

Keep pumping as much as you can -- you'll find that the more you get out, the thicker it will be.

T.,
This too happened to me. It usually depended on the time of day that I pumped. My doctor told me that it was the difference between the surface milk and the deep milk in my breast. I think my baby had a lull in the amount she was nursing right around 6 months too. Her ped said it too was normal and thought it could be teething related.
All is good in the world.

Have you considered increasing "good" fats in your diet? Omega 3's etc. I would also consider more vitamin rich fruits and veggies.

The other suggestions sent make sense too, but focus on diet is always very important.

My breastmilk color changed throughout the first year with my daughter from white to bluish, to beige color.

I am not sure why, maybe having to do with your vitamin levels, what you eat, etc.

Several of my friends babies started to take less milk, and didn't always want to breastfeed around 6 months (after they started eating more foods).

T.,

first of all congatulations for deciding to keep on breastfeeding.
Breastmilk can look bluish and since it changes composition to adjust to baby's needs, change in fat content (making it appear to seperate faster) is normal as well.

I would suggest that you try different nipples to get your son to drink more in daycare. I had luck with orthontic shapes nipples and when my daughter was younger she prefered latex to silicone (it is softer). I had good look with Gerber NUK latex nipples - and they fit on pretty much any regular size bottle (including Medela).

Since he is probably ready to start solids, he may just prefer eating more solids at daycare, and get his milk "straight from the source" at home. That what my daughter did.