Would you breast feed someone elses child? - Page 8

[Ms.Doula]

YES! Of course I would!

I would both Nurse someone's baby, and I would greatfully accept someone willing to nurse mine. I am secure in the sense that *I* am mother to my children, they KNOW who is their mother, and I don't think that someone feeding dd a few times will negativly affect our relationship! YES, BF is a form of bonding... but only ONE FORM OF BONDING. (and in *MY OPINION* one that is only SO Fragile in the early weeks) I would put needs of my child before the "security issues" I may have. (I am admitting It would be slightly uncomfortable all round)

I would trust/know the other mother (especially the one feeding MY babe) OR want to know about her lifestyle, nurtition and medical history first.

I have REALLY enjoyed all these stories. Especially the one a page back that choked me up!

[Sabrin]

Funny enough, a friend of mine (she just had her baby and I'm due in October) discussed this awhile back. We both have said "Absolutely!!"

I even quizzed my husband on what to do in the case of an ER...."yes dear, I know, take the baby to Charlotte..." Boy did I ever get the eye roll with that one!! :

SO, YES I would and yes I would let!!

[bouyant]

I wouldn't do it unless the childs life was in danger or something - unless absolutely necisary, like if a close friend died. My mom, however, used to trade off with another nursing mother when she wanted to go somewhere, without even thinking about it. I didn't know this untill she nonchalantly said something about me finding another nursing mom, so I could get out of the house more. I might not have been an exclusively mommy fed baby

[Mahaylea]

No I wouldn't like to feed someone elses baby or have my baby fed from someone elses body..

[DecemberSun]

I have really enjoyed reading this thread, although I haven't had the pleasure of catching up on every page... Wonderful to read everyone's diverse opinions!
Before I was a mama, I thought breastfeeding someone else's child was gross! But, as soon as I had my son and he absolutely refused every kind of bottle on the market, I realized that it might not be so bad for someone else to nurse him so I could have a moment's peace! My mom tried to have him latch on when he was utterly inconsilable while DH and I were at a wedding, but DS took 2 sucks and started crying again! He is so sweet, but overly attached to my boob, I'd say. LOL

My friends always say "Oh, you are so cute I'm going to take you home!" to my DS, and I always reply "Well, you'll bring him right back as soon as he's hungry unless you have milk in those boobs!" I think it would be great if one of my friends could nurse DS so DH and I could get away for awhile and not have to worry about whether or not DS will go crazy without access to the breast... But I don't have any lactating friends at the moment so that's out!

I'm so glad so many of you have positive feelings about nursing- I mean, when you have the milk why not share it, right?

[WithHannahsHeart]

This is aquestion I often ask myself. I know that if it were a sister or close friend, I definitely would if there was a real need or emergency. But, most of themamas I know are a little conservative about such things, and I would never volunteer unless it was a dire emergency kind of thing. Now, I will say I ahve often been tempted to nurse others' babies, particularly in the gym care facility I work at; we often get bf babies (more and more lately, woohoo; I can always tell by how they nuzzle on me and their poops, lol ). And it is always abundantly clear to me when they need to nurse, even if mom says she has just fed them, and I wish I could do it for her instead of having to bother her, though obviously I wouldn't.

[padomi]

Absolutely I would, and I wouldn't mind if someone else bf my dd. I think I'd make sure the mom was okay with it though, before I bf someone else's child.

[mommytokr]

Hmm I do not know probably would not let any one bf ds and would I I do not know

[beachrock]

I have nursed a friend's baby, and I would do it anytime, with the mama's permission, of course.

My friend got bad nursing advice from the nurses in the hospital and she didn't bf often enough. When her baby became jaundiced, the docs gave her all the terrifying worst-case info (brain damage, etc) if she didn't supplement with formula (her milk was not in). So I moved into their house for two days and nursed the baby. We ALWAYS had the baby nurse from mama first, and then she would latch on with me. It worked great, the baby gained weight and thrived, and her mama's milk came in 5 days after the birth.

A win-win situation, I would say.

[DecemberSun]

Awesome story, Deidre.
You are a dear friend, I'm sure.

[CapoeiraCristao]

Anyone Still Check This Thread??

I read every post in this thread today, and it helped me decided to register at MDC (so did all the MDC Xanga moms!!)

ANYway, Just in case anyone stlil checks this thread, you're stories are AWEsome. I was thinking about this the other day, and was sure that I was WAY out there on my own. I knew that it was an age-old thing, but in our "new and highly sophisticated (and ignorant) culture" there are a LOT of great age-old things that have been snubbed. Anyway, reading the thread was great. Here's my take:

A few posts back, sevenkids said:
I said yes, because, well, I've done it!
My SIL and I had our first 2 babies within weeks of each other. We lived in the same house. We often nursed each others babies so the other could go out to do shopping, spend an evening with DP, go to doctors appointments, etc.
My 2 youngest brothers and my first 2 are weeks apart too, so my mom and I nursed each others babies as well.
A close friend of mine got really sick and had to take medication that got into her breastmilk. The doctor suggested supplementing with formula and pumping her milk to throw away to keep up her supply, but her baby wasn't having any nasty formula. So I nursed her for the 10 days her mama was on meds.
Now, with hep B and HIV so prevelant in our society, I would have to be really sure about the woman who nursed my baby. That would be my only issue in this day and age......
While we were nursing each others babies, we just developed a special bond with each other and each others babies, it was actually kinda sweet!

That was just AWEsome, because, that's what I want. Like idealy, I would love to find a small group of people (like Me and my husband, and 1 or 2 Really close couples - AP of course) and just, create a solid community. The idea of "family" has been heavily distorted and forgotten in this country, so I would Love to create a strong family for my kids. I'd be worried about leaving my kids with various people in my own family, because they dont understand AP, dont get where Im coming from. But to create this Unit of Mom, Dad, "Aunt(s)" and "Uncle(s)" would be priceless. We'd have a Village in which to raise our children. A real family unit. There is no bond like boobs.

Anyway... this post will probably never be read, seeing as how it's YEARS after the birth and life of the thread... but i just felt like typing it out anyway.

Alrighty. Thanks for the reading!!

[CapoeiraCristao]

...just testin somethin

[Sustainer]

Wow, this is one OLD thread! I think my VERY FIRST POST is on this thread!

Any way...

There is a Yahoo group for those of us here who are interested in starting an intentional community:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MDCMamaCommunities/


(BTW, there's a forum here just for testing things. It's called Testing 123)

[Evergreen]

Well, since I missed this thread the first time around, I will go ahead and answer now!
:LOL

I have breastfed someone else's baby, with permission when I was babysitting. The baby's latch was exactly the same as Dylan's and she nursed for about 40 minutes.

I would let someone else breastfeed Dylan if I had to leave her with a caregiver for any reason.

[sagewinna]

I had to leave my 9 month old dd when I was going through a divorce and had to go to court a few times. My friend, who had a baby a few months after mine, nursed her. I felt so much better knowing my baby would be nourished and comforted while I was gone. I nursed her son after that, only got to once. The idea of it was strange, but once he latched on it was just like nursing my babe.

The same friend had surgery on her broken leg when her twins were a few months old and I was pregnant with my littlest. I latched on of the babies on to see if she'd be agreeable to nursing from someone else. She flashed me a big ol' grin! We came to the hospital with 2 friends who were nursing mommies to give them milk...

I also expressed some milk for a friend who had a newborn who was slow to gain weight.

Would do any of it again in a heartbeat. My circle of friends has talked about what we would do in the case of need, and all of us would nurse or have our babies nurse from any of the others rather than use other forms of feeding.

[lioralourie]

Oh my gosh, I found this quite by accident but I am ALARMED that this discussion has gone on so long and nobody has thought about CMV. Cytomegalovirus is transported through breast milk. http://www.fsneo.org/JourClub/2-010.htm

If the birth mother did not give the baby antibodies in utero (that is, if the mother is CMV negative) and the baby contracts CMV through someone else's breastmilk, or saliva, etc, the result can be very serious. The strange thing is that most, but not all adults are CMV positive, having acquired CMV in toddlerhood or childhood with no problems.

However, if a pregnant woman gets her first exposure while baby is in utero, this is a real problem. Or, if a baby is born from a non-infected mom, and she gets infected later (and passes CMV through the milk) or the baby gets CMV too early in life some other way, this is also a really bad situation. There can be mental retardation and other major problems.

I would urge everyone to find out their CMV status, and the status of their nurslings' moms (or child's nurser's moms) and read up a little on CMV. http://www.wearsthebaby.com/articles/cmv.htm
All this being said, up until 1 week ago when I learned all this, I definitely would've nursed someone else's baby...

[CortLong]

Yes, and it would depend on who it was probably.

[hypatia]

I was just facing this dilemma a little while ago when I was holding SIL's crying three month old. I knew he was hungry and SIL probably wouldn't mind, but I felt bad just doing it without asking her. On the other hand, I also felt bad about holding this crying baby, having what would comfort him, and deliberately withholding that. I didn't nurse him, though.

[LovinMyKids]

I would if it were my sister's baby

[CapoeiraCristao]

Im not sure if I'd want to go for a Commune... I mean, it sounds cool and ive often thought of it, but I think I just want to form a "family" like, 2 or three like-minded couples... You know, just a small unit. ...sounds kinda communist but im not really trying to be. I just, when I grew up, it was just me, my mom, my dad, and my brother. Extended family was more of a theory than people I actually knew.... My parents were paranoid of all other people because they werent sure they had the same values... and it was just kinda lonely. I didnt have any sisters, only one brother, and we were all alone. So Id kinda like to have a little bit more of a family for my family.... you know? Cause my parents dont understand the whole concept of AP, and I'm sure I'll harass my brother to understand it, but we didnt really grow up close enough to where I'd feel comfortable like... living with or next door to him and his wife.... It's a bond that wasnt formed early enough to be relaxed.

Anyhoo... I dont really know any people that I'd share my family with right now, so who knows. Well, maybe my old friend Anna... we're pretty close. I dunno. We'll see!!