08/03/2026
“If you want fattier breast milk, just eat more avocado.”
No.
“Drink whole milk.”
Nope.
“Eat more butter.”
Yeah, no.
One of the biggest myths in breastfeeding is that you can dramatically change the fat content of your milk by changing what you eat.
You can’t. Your body isn’t making a smoothie out of your lunch. The amount of fat in breast milk changes throughout a feeding, throughout the day, and from one pumping session to the next. The biggest factor isn’t whether you had salmon or ice cream yesterday, it’s how full the breast is and how long you’re going between feedings.
When the breast is very full, fat globules tend to stick to the milk-making cells, so the milk flowing out at first is relatively lower in fat. As the breast empties, more of those fat globules are pulled into the milk, increasing the fat concentration.
That’s why milk from a fuller breast often looks thinner than milk pumped after the breast has been emptied more. Babies cluster feed for this same reason. The more often they come back to breast, the lower the overall volume, but the higher the fat content. When they cluster feed at night, they’re getting a fattier milk to help them sleep and not p*e over night.
Can your diet affect breast milk? Absolutely. The types of fats you eat influence the types of fats in your milk, but not the amount in it. For example, eating more omega-3 fatty acids increases the omega-3 content of your milk. Your diet also affects some vitamins and micronutrients. But there is very little evidence that eating specific foods will magically make your milk significantly higher in total fat or calories.
So if someone tells you your baby needs “fattier milk,” the better question is: WHY?
Is baby transferring milk well? Is baby gaining weight well? Is milk supply adequate? Is there an oral motor issue? Are feedings effective? Is there an underlying medical concern?
Those questions matter far more than adding an extra avocado to your toast. And if your baby isn’t gaining weight on your breast milk the first step is to feed more milk to the baby or breastfeed more often. This naturally gives baby more milk and a higher fat content even in lower overall volumes.
Save this for the next time someone tells you to eat a stick of butter to make “creamier” breast milk. And if your baby isn’t gaining weight well on breast milk alone, work with a local IBCLC (or me in a virtual appointment!!!) to figure out why. Go to lalactation.com to book your appointment today.