Breastfeeding - Birdsboro,PA

What a great idea, and what a satisfying thing to be able to do. My son was in nicu for a few days and we has donated breast milk for the first day. After that there was no more breast milk available. I had to give him what I could and supplement it with formula. There are milk bans around the world to make breast milk available to babies whose mother's can't breastfeed, but there aren't really enough.
You go girl!

I personally would not accept someone else's breast milk...almost to me like blood products...only if you absolutely need them...

I don't think I would accept a stranger's breastmilk for my baby but I absolutely would accept from and donate to the baby of a family member or close friend as long as they were OK with it.

Absolutely! Make sure your sister understands too that she probably will have plenty of milk when her son can nurse at the breast (she does need to keep pumping for now though to keep her breasts producing milk - hospital grade pumps are far superior to the store bought ones as well. Does she have a hospital pump? Her insurance will probably pay for her to rent one). Tell her though, some of the best milk producers can simply not pump well. Their breasts know the difference between a pump and a baby and will only release milk in abundance for the child.

NICU babies do far better on breastmilk than formula!

I would nurse another child in a heart beat and vice versa. It has been done for millions of years. A wet nurse in the 1600s was allowed to nurse up to 7 babies AT ONCE! The breasts will make what is demanded of them. Our boobies are AMAZING!

Hi!

Congrats to you and your sister with your wonderful new little bundles of joy! I think it is a wonderful idea to assist your sister with the breast milk! Such a great option for her and she can feel she is doing a great thing for her baby.

I am a breastfeeding mama of 4 (with my youngest still nursing at 10 months) and I have some have some thoughts for your sister. I have never been able to pump. I have successfully breastfed all my kids (and they were 2/12+ years when they weaned). I don't know if she has met with a lactation consultant, but I would highly recommend them - they are the reason I kept breastfeeding with my first when I was so ready to stop on many many occasions. One thing they can help her with is determining how much milk the baby is getting from her (they will weigh the baby before a feeding and then after). They can check if she is low on milk, talk with her on techniques to build it up (ie stay very hydrated, eat enough calories, drink Mother's Milk tea, take fenugreek, etc). And they can be such a great person in your corner when you feel like you are alone (even at 3am :D). Another thought for her too is to see when she breastfeeds, is the baby getting enough pees and poops in a day - if so, she just maybe a person that the pumps are not great for (but she maybe be able to manually express milk, which a LLL leader or a lactation consultant could assist with, if she needed help). She also may need a different kind of pump or breast shield to help with the expression (the lactation consultants can usually help determine which ones to try and often can assist with trying different ones).

It is so great you have extra milk! I did find that I also had extra with each of mine (in my mind I feel like because my kids are close in age, maybe my body "knew" that I had another young one that might need some :D) As your 2nd little one gets into more of a routine, and if you continue to pump for yourself/little one or your sister and get that into a routine, the milk should come down to a more comfortable level :D If you feel like there is still way way too much, you can put green cabbage leaves around the breast throughout the day which will help reduce the milk.

A couple of thoughts, which you may already know, if you start to feel lumps in your breast be sure to massage them - sometimes with a large supple it is easier to get blocked milk ducts. The other thought is that there is fore milk and hind milk - fore milk is the thinner milk, it is a lower fat milk, and the hind milk is the higher fat, usually thicker and yellower milk. If you have a very big supply, you would want to make sure your little one is getting both the fore and hind milk - both for growth reasons and to keep their tummy settled and fuller longer - it is often recommended if you have a large supply to nurse the baby on the same side twice before switching (can be up to 3 xs) to ensure that they are getting the fore and hind milk - and the same goes for the milk you are pumping - you would want to make sure the milk was getting both the fore and hind milk. I would greatly recommended chatting with a lactation consultant or the LLL leader if need be :D

I think what you are doing for family and her sister - Yay! for both of you! I wish you all the best!

Cheers!

L.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Your milk is FAR superior to formula for that baby. Especially since she was in the NICU.
Please tell your sister though, that pumping is never,ever, ever, ever, ever a good indication of supply! You simply respond better to a pump than she does. You may also feel engorgement more than she does. That's totally normal! You COULD actually both have the same amount of milk (or at the very least, the same ability to produce the same amount of milk) you just produce it differently or FEEL it differently or see the "evidence" differently. Very normal! (Just for example, I have been nursing for quite some time now. I know that my son is able to get plenty of milk out when he nurses. Yet I never get engorged at all (even if he goes all day w/o nursing), I NEVER, EVER leak (I never even did during the first 4 wks or so!) and if I try to pump, I'm lucky to get 1 DROP out! I just don't respond to a pump.)

It sounds like she could really bennefit from a great LLL Leader and/or IBCLC. Her baby could very much learn to nurse successfully at this point. VERY possible! In fact, at only 6 wks, the odds are enormously in her favor!

If you're in the Lehigh Valley area, I'd be more than happy to share some resources w/ you. I know that all of the LLL Leaders in this area are incredible & at least one has experience with a very small preemie.

Hope that helps some!!!

Yes, its best for the baby. in fact when i was nursing my daughter, i also nursed a friend's daughter for a few days because she was on some medication where she couldn't nurse for a few days. boy was i thirsty!!

I got breastmilk from friends for my son when I was hospitalized and couldn't be with him. I wish I could have had family closer by, that would have been even better. :)

Heck yeah! That sounds like a wonderful idea to me!

With it being your sister I don't see a problem with it. Personnaly, I've never produced enough to store up a bunch of extras. My kids always took pretty much everything I had. My sister is kinda like you - she always has so much extra... she has nursed 4 out of 5 of her kids & has donated her milk to a military hospital when she was on base w/ her x-hubby. They use to give the milk to preemies. But she had to go through test to be approved to be a donor.

If you are healthy & can't pass anything onto the babies w/ your milk & your sister is willing to feed her baby with it - I'd say go for it. It never hurts to give the gift of love or give a baby the extra stuff found in breastmilk.

Congratz on your baby and nursing. I hope that your sisters baby road of life gets easier & that her milk supply picks up... one thing that helped mine was oatmeal (anyway I could get it... instant flavored for breakfast & night snacks or cookies) it did actually increase my supply.

Take care!

I donated my extra breastmilk to a friend for 6 months. I pumped 1-2, 5-6oz bottles a day for her.

I think if you can give her the milk, you should.

If you keep pumping and keep feeding your baby like this, your supply will stay up.

All the best!
-D.

I would donate or accept especially for my sister! Especially for a preemie who will benefit from human milk even more. She also needs to get her baby to her breast round the clock and pump in between. I'm sure you are helping her but that would be my advice. No pacifiers, no bottles, no thumbsucking. Anytime the baby seems inclined to suck, nurse him! that should help her milk supply tremendously. The more she supplements, the less she'll make. Again, i'm sure she knows this but just in case she doesn't let her know.

I would not do this. She should speak to a lactation consultant. If she pumps more often, her supply will go up. If she starts giving the baby your milk the opposite will happen. Alos I know this is a touchy subject but certain things can be transferred via breastmilk. I believe if you purchase breastmilk from a certified place they test the milk. As a pharmacist, I would avoid this even though your heart is in the right place and it is such a nice thing to offer.

In this situation I would definately do it. It would help her feel better, and give the baby better nutrition.

However, she should be attening a breast feeding support group and seeing a laction consultant. There are lots of things they can do to help her get her milk in. My cousin had to have a tube taped to her shoulder which dripped milk into a breast shield thing for baby to suck it out of. It was a huge help to get her milk flowing and baby used to nursing. I also know someone who did this so that she could nurse an adopted baby, and her milk also came in. She definately should be aware of these other options!

Hi, A.:
Yes, this is a wonderful gift to give your sister.
My husband was breastfed by a surrogate mother when his mother
had malaria back in the old days.
Mothers in the commune in TN would breast feed each other's babies
while those mother's worked.

There is a system that a mother can connect to her breast that allows a baby to nurse the breast and get milk.

Did she ask her Dr. for a milk enhancing drug?

Go for it. What a kind thing to do for your siste.
All the Best. D.

Absolutely! There's nothing like breast milk. However; she shouldn't give up...because eventually she will get more milk flow. I didn't have much initially...just enough to satisfy the baby. I did learn not to give up.

I think you are making a wonderful, generous offer to your sister.

In the first instance, I would encourage your sister to see a lactation consultant (if she hasn't already done so) to see if she could improve her own milk supply and support her through the changes she might need to make.

But then in regard to milk donation....
I have just finished reading Ina May Gaskin's book on breastfeeding (if you haven't come across her she is probably the single most important midwife in the USA today - an inspiration). She devotes a chapter to the concept of sharing breastmilk. Apparently it is completely normal in other cultures and in bye-gone days of our own. When it comes to feeding babies the WHO recommends firstly your own breast milk; secondly, your own breastmilk fed from a bottle; thirdly, someone else's breast milk and, finally, as a last resort, formula. Ina May talks about how in her community, where she has lived since the 70's, it has been normal for women who know each other well and have strong relationships to help each other out in this respect e.g. helping feeding where the mothers own supply is not adequate, or at night if the mother is badly in need of some rest or during the day if work commitments get in the way.

I know it seems a bit icky when you come at it from our deeply ingrained cultural perspective. Sadly, in our culture, the whole acceptance of breastfeeding is miles from what it should be and i think our understanding and priorities have got way out of whack in regards to this. After my daughter was born two years ago and i started on my own journey of being a breastfeeding mum, i found myself trawling research journals looking at the current evidence on the benefits of breastfeeding. I was pretty convinced before i began but what i ended up reading made my hair stand on end and has made me even more passionate about it! The differences between feeding your child breastmilk and formula are profound and far-reaching. It is quite simply a gift you give your child for the rest of their life. To that end I would do anything to ensure that a child of mine was fed breastmilk (obviously, you need to make sure that the source it comes from has been screened for things like HIV etc)

I would donate and i would feel deeply privileged if someone felt able to donate to me in a time of need. I suppose this is at the forefront of my mind as i am currently 32 weeks pregnant with my second child and have just been diagnosed with placenta previa. Following a large bleed a week ago i am preparing myself for the potential of coping with a premature baby and the breastfeeding issues which may accompany that. You have an absolute gift to have such an amazing milk supply and even if your sister feels unable to accept this offer i think you should consider donating it to a milk bank.

Please let us know what you decide to do and all the very best to your own family.

I really hope you posting this question generates some much needed debate around this. Being a mum and all that entails is an enormous undertaken and i firmly believe that we were never meant to do this in isolation of our dearest female relations and our best girlfriends - be that physical, psychological or maybe even lactating support!

I'd like to "second" Abby T's post about pumping vs making milk.

If your sister isn't already meeting with a really good Lactation Consultant, the best gift you might give her is to spend some time finding a good one (the local LLL leaders might have recommendations) and making an appointment for her.

I would and I have! And I'd do it again with my next baby. I was blessed with an abundance of milk and because of that I've helped nourish 6 babies across the US. It's something I'm very proud of. Good for you for making that choice!

Keep in mind, your heavy supply is temporary! You will sync up with your baby and go through your extra milk stash. I had a freezer full of bags when my son was a couple months old, but slowly but surely as my body adjusted, he started nursing plus using up the stash and I ended up having a hard time keeping up with him. On a selfish note, I would keep the milk for your own baby, because you won't always be able to supply both babies. Not all babies can nurse, it's a fact of life. But if you decide to share, I think it's fine- historically people have had wet nurses nurse for them.

This is really hard your sisters child needs mothers milk and you could supply enough for 2 children but have you asked her how she would feel about it. If I had a sister who was willing to do that for me i thinks that I would be honered but not everyone is the same not sure if I would want a strangers milk but a sisiters deffinatly

Updated

This is really hard your sisters child needs mothers milk and you could supply enough for 2 children but have you asked her how she would feel about it. If I had a sister who was willing to do that for me i thinks that I would be honered but not everyone is the same not sure if I would want a strangers milk but a sisiters deffinatly

If it is your sister than I would see no problem there. I would be concerned if someone not close to me offered their milk. Also, I would tell her to have her baby nurse for five minutes on each side before the bottle. This will help stimulate her milk to start. As long as she is not completely dried up this should work for her. But tell her not to wait until the baby is screaming because they are hungry. She has to watch for cues or if the baby is on a schedule then start this like 15-20 minutes before the feeding.
I hope everything works out for your sister.

Absolutely - do it! If you're sister is comfortable with it, there is no reason for you not to. After all, milk banks provide breastmilk to babies that need it but who's mothers can't provide it - the only difference is, if you donate your milk to the milk banks, you just don't know who is getting it. Giving it to your sister's baby is a wonderful gift. It's a great idea!

Wonderful idea!!!! My cousins always seemed to have their babies all at the same time, so not only were they able to share breastmilk, they were able to actually nurse one another's babies! It was a wonderful way for each of them to get a break every now and then and go out, knowing their babies were in good hands and could continue to nurse. Shared breastfeeding has been done through the ages and is still widely done in many other cultures. Best wishes to you both and your very blessed babies!

When I nursed, I could get 2 8 oz bottles pumped in about 10 minutes, twice a day. It would be a real shame to have those nutrients that the 6 week old is so desperately in need of to go to waste.

Breast is best, and I think that you should offer it so that she can give her little guy the great start that he needs!

I was just talking with my husband about this! Absolutely I would donate, and I would accept from someone else who I knew and trusted (or even from a milk bank with proper screening, etc). Years ago, it wasn't so uncommon for there to be wet nurses. I think our society has just gotten away from sharing/donating breast milk because of the luxury of formula. I think if breast milk, and all its nutrients & antibodies, are important to you and your sister, this is the way to go!! Good for you to be willing to offer some supplementation (because I'm sure she'd like to try to continue as well, on her own!).

I think it would be wonderful and very generous of you to share your breastmilk with her. This used to be a much more common practice but we have gotten away from the idea. Kudos to you for thinking of it!

Warmest wishes,
N.

For sure! The milk can be tested if there is concern. That is a wonderful selfless thing for you to do.
And, as others said, pumping is not always a great indicator of supply. I had an abundance with my first son, and my 2nd thrived while breastfeeding but I couldn't pump anywhere near the amount that I had the first time. Everyone's body reacts differently to the pump, but that doesn't mean we react the same to a baby.

I am all for it. i don't think there is anything wrong with it. As long as she is ok with it go for it. I gave my son some of my sisters breastmilk in a bottle. He would not take formula and I didn't think I was going to have enough breastmilk for him at daycare when he went there for a full day. He took the milk no problem. Don't feel like it is strange it is just milk. You would be helping her out in a huge way. That way you can help her for as long as possible. I say go for it

If it is family, Yes. But also have her work with a lactation consultant in the area. I bet with some help she can get her little one to exclusively be breast fed. How nice of you to think of her.

For the record, I was not able to breast feed because complications required some intense medications. My daughter and I both thrived with formula living. I would donate my milk in a heartbeat, but accepting it is very personal. I do agree that your sister may just need better answers than what she's gotten, but she is the only one who can say what happens next.
Bear in mind that there are programs for donating breast milk to the starving children of this world. That might be a nice idea if your sister doesn't need it. Good luck to the both of you!

I had a bunch of extra milk when I had my fourth baby. I donated it to the Mother's Milk Bank of North Texas. I don't see why it would be strange. Go to their website. It is full of information about the health benefits of breastmilk for sick babies. Good luck!

This is your sister...your own flesh and blood, correct? Give her some of your frozen milk. HOWEVER, she needs to keep pumping for her little guy. She also needs to increase her fluid intake a bit. Once he is actually able to start nursing from her, her milk production should increase for him. She needs to keep herself stimulated. Tell her not to stop pumping...and even try to pump more even when she thinks she doesn't need to. Breast milk comes in a "supply & demand" situation. The more her body "thinks" it has to produce, the more it should. I wish her the best of luck!

I would absolutely donate! There are milk bank that accept milk....though there are guidlines that need to be followed. I say since this is your sister you both would have to be comfortable with the situation. (Will she then become more upset over the fact that she can't produce the milk, but her sister can?)
I would first suggest that your sister try to increase her supply. Our bodies will produce what it needs....have her talk w/ her doc or a lactation consultant for more ideas. Feeding the baby on demand instead of on a schedule may help. There are also herbal teas/supplements that supposedly increase supply as well.
Wishing you the best. Regardless of the outcome I think the idea in itself is beautiful!

Yes I would donate and accept as well. What a truly kind thing to do.
I know your sister would appreciate this.
God Bless You

Yes, I would absolutely donate it if I had it to, and would also accept it if I needed it. If your sister is willing to accept it, I think it is a wonderful thing to do for your niece/ nephew. What a wonderful gift that be such a helpful thing for this little one. Good for you!

T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com

I think it would be wonderful to help your sister like that. Encourage her to keep pumping and offering the breast to her baby so that her milk supply can become established. It is so much better for her to supplement with breastmilk than with formula.

Share!!! It can be an amazing blessing to your sister. I am exclusively breastfeeding & had to return to work when my daughter was 3 mths old. I was not able to pump enough for daycare. My daughter has some health issues & doesn't tolerate formula. I was absolutely killing myself to keep up until I found a donor. My daughter mostly gets my milk but is supplemented with the donor milk daily. This has taken an immense amount of stress off of me & allowed me to work on getting my supply up. The stress can easily be counter productive. Also encourage your sister to work with a lactation consultant to get her production up. It isn't too late so don't give up.

A.. Kudos to you for even thinking of doing this. My sister had an abundance of milk but for some reason can't pump it. While i was visiting her, i pumped some for her little man in order for him to have enough for daycare. We didn't even think twice about what we were doing. It just came naturally. I would like that if your sister wanted to breastfeed then she will be open to the idea. I know with my first, i wanted desparately to find someone whom would donate but couldn't find anyone. I think its a great idea. Also - sell her on the idea that she is saving SOOOO much money on not having to buy forumla. If she wants to pay you back - have her buy a dinner :-)

Best of Luck. I wish all family member would do this if they could.
J.

I was thrilled to have breastmilk donors for my son! (Same thing: premie, in nicu, would take 2days to get 1oz, etcm). However, my son would not drink/tolerate the others. I had 3 sources, from moms who had babies within weeks of my son, so the composition was right for his age. We couldn't fdigure out the reason and ended up going full formula and he did much better.

So just a warning if your mild doesn't work out. Totally wortha shot though!!!

Share! I also was like a dairy cow and had FOUR extra gallons of milk by the time my daughter was 6 months old. I donated three of them to a little girl with allergies whose mother was having supply issues. We also gave some to my formula-fed niece when she got constipated! There are very few harmful substances that are transmitted via breastmilk. It will give your niece a little boost. It is great that they are so close in age as breastmilk changes as your baby's needs change...it will be giving her little body just what she needs.

I absolutely would accept if I felt the mother had adequate nutrition as I myself am on an organic/whole foods diet most of the time. I also would donate. Breast is best. :)

Ask your sister to take fluids and also healthy nursing tea by secrets of tea. It will increase her breast milk without any side effect because the tea is totally herbal and preservative-free.

If I was unable to nurse my child and the person offering the milk was healthy, Yes!!
Breast is best ;)

Donating your breastmilk is very thoughtful - as long as you are both comfortable with it, why not? The fact that it is frozen, however, means that the there won't be any antibodies for the baby, so still the best option is for mom to increase her supply. I wasn't able to exlcusively breastfeed my baby for about a month and a half. I pumped a lot, took a lot of Fenugreek, changed my diet, etc...there is also Domperidone. If she is persistent (and has some time on her hands), it is totally possible to relactate.

This is something that you would have to work out with your sister. One of the things you guys need to think about is do you have the same philosophies about what it is ok to do while breastfeeding? For instance, is she ok with you having a drink and then pumping? What about medications? Drinking non-organic milk? Drinking milk at all? (Some babies can't tolerate milk the mom drinks... are you willing to cut out foods that your nephew can't tolerate?) Different moms have different levels of stress about these things, and you need to make sure you are on the same page. Secondly, I have to point out that family members are often less likely to disclose risky behavior or negative health statuses to other family members, which is why directly donating blood is not a good idea, and the same idea goes for breastmilk. While a totally remote possibility, what if your husband cheated on you, gave you Hep C or HIV, and you passed it on to her baby? You guys need to sit down an think about the risk/benefits of this situation. On the plus side, the fact that your babies are so close in age is a big positive for milk donation. Milk changes as babies get older, and may be part of the reason that the statistics for babies on donated milk in the NICU aren't as great as they could be. But your babies are both the same age, so that isn't a problem.

In short, I think it is up to you guys, but it is a big decision. You need to have an open and frank conversation about it. And I concur with the other moms, your sister needs to get to a LC as soon as possible. She should be pumping a lot more than 2 oz a day....

If I was in your sister's shoes, I would probably be very upset also. I really wanted to breastfeed and if it hadn't worked out I would have felt guilty also. But I think I would take your offered breastmilk. Babies in the NICU need it more than anyone, but so often don't get it because of situations exactly like your sister's. It is hard to keep your milk if you never actually nurse at first. I'm guessing you haven't approached your sister yet? If not, just be very tactful and reassure her that she did nothing wrong, this isn't her fault, and you just want to offer to help, but don't push it. If I was in your place, I would definitely want to help out, it's the most natural thing in the world to want to feed a baby. If she still has milk, she might still be able to get her supply up enough to exclusively breastfeed. And the fact that she is still working at it and giving him any is to be commended, I can't imagine how difficult it is. Good luck to both of you!

absolutely GREAT IDEA!! I believe she will be appreciate about your idea!
I am 100% agree with your opinion the reason she has not enough milk now. she will have enough soon.

Think I would feel differently about sharing breastmilk with a sister! Go for it!