Even though most mamas innately know when their babe is coming down with something, new research is demonstrating how that inherent wisdom operates at the biological level.. via backwash!
Yes, you read that right. When babe is suckling at the breast their tongue movements create a vacuum that pulls milk from the ducts and into the mouth. Suckling also produces something called “retrograde duct flow,” that pulls fluids in the opposite direction - saliva flows from baby’s mouth, through the nipple and into mammary gland receptors. The saliva contains important information about babe’s health status and the mammary glands respond to illnesses by producing specially curated milk that contains increased immune factors to help baby fight off infection! Backwash can literally change your milk’s composition!
If only the backwash associated with sharing a drink with a toddler could be so beautiful.