Mother rats chronically exposed to underfed pups (obtained daily from nonlactating mothers) show increased milk production which is associated with increased consumption of food and water. The purpose of the present study was 2-fold: to examine whether the magnitude of maternal PRL discharge is related to the nutritional state of the pups and to differentiate between the role of the mother and that of the pups themselves in the regulation of milk intake. PRL release in response to reunion with pups (preceded by 4-h separation from pups) was measured between days 12 and 14 postpartum; each mother was tested twice, once with hungry pups (deprived of food for 24 h) and once with satiated (normally fed) pups. The magnitude of PRL discharge elicited by hungry pups in lactating as well as in thelectomized rats was twice as large as the discharge elicited by satiated pups. For each type of stimulus pups, the magnitude of PRL release was smallest in thelectomized rats, largest in rats that had nursed normally fed pups before testing, and intermediate in rats that had nursed underfed pups. The frequency of milk ejection was considerably reduced in mothers that were chronically exposed to underfed pups compared with mothers that had nursed normally fed pups. Regardless of the mother's previous history, and independent of the milk ejection frequency or maternal food and water intake, hungry pups ingested more milk than did satiated pups over the same suckling period even when both types of pups were suckled simultaneously by the same female. Milk ingestion in satiated pups was not enhanced by the vigorous sucking exerted by hungry littermates. It is suggested that hungry pups are able to meet their increased nutritional demands both directly, by withdrawing a larger portion of the milk available in the mammary glands, and indirectly, by enhancing maternal PRL secretion which in turn may promote maternal consummatory behavior and milk production.