Would you breast feed someone elses child? - Page 4

[lisamarie]

Charmarty~

I would also ask your friend. If I was in your friends position, I would feel very touched that someone cared so much to nurse my baby. Good luck and keep us posted!

Warmly~

Lisa

[Tanya_Khosh]

I dont think I would have a problem bf another babe but I think it would be emotionally hard for me to have my babe bf from another...

Its funny, kinda on the same note...just last week I was at a bf friends house and my son woke up hungry and was crying. I was moving as fast as I could to get my overalls unlatched, shirt up, etc. and my friend (in mid conversation) automaticly snatched up her bf daughter and started rapidly tearing at her own clothes to feed her girl before she realized hers was not hungry, mine was!:LOL

This is the same friend that almost fed anothers formula fed babe in the middle of the street w/o thinking because babe was crying

Gotta lover her!

Thinking on it, I would for sure feed her daughter...I would let her feed mine if for some strange reason I couldnt, my babe is 6 mo. and WONT take a bottle of EBM or anything else for that matter! So I really would not have much choice but I would feel hurt even though I know it is not rational.

[snailmama]

intresting twist to the poll...

Just 2 evenings ago we went to the park with my baby's father and his friend Rick & their daughter Gwen.
On the ride there she was screaming! I asked if he wanted to stop to get her some water because he FORGOT her formula! But, insted he gets her Dole juice, which is only 20% juice and gives her that! She screamed even more then.
She enjoyed the 20 minute walk, because the park was closing... my son fell asleep on the walk...
on the way home Gwen started screaming so loud! Her dad, Rick gave her an empty bottle and she was sucking on it! I was so sad! I couldn't believe he did that!
I poured the 4oz. of expressed breast milk that my son didn't finish into her bottle and she fed herself and fell asleep.
She is 9 months old.
Expressed Milk Saves the Day!
I exclusively pump and my son is 13 months old and won't feed himself a bottle yet!
Well,
I am happy she got some proper nutrition.
Yes,
I would breastfeed a hungry baby or give them expressed milk if they were formula fed and had no formula!

[lighting_goddess]

I would have loved if someone would have nursed my dd while I had to work, instead of giving her expressed milk, or formula, but not an option, I just think of the special bond that the caregiver would have with my little one and I think it would be great. A baby can never have too much love right?!!!!

[charmarty]

Of coarse I realize I have to ask her!Thanks for the lightbulb moment Newma.
I just dont know how!She is a client that I have had foe about 7 years.We do not see each other outside of haircuts every 6 weeks.We do get along great tho-Also she is not the AP type KWIM?
I talked about it with my dh tonight,and he said that if I offered to pump for her,and she hasnt given me the go ahead to do so,and with her leaving in 2 days hes guessing she isnt going to ask me to pump.
This subject is a biggie.It is very difficult to bring it up to someone who arent like minded like we are.

[rwikene]

My mom and her friend "switched" babies sometimes. My mom's friend's ds is 3 days older than me, so if one of them needed a break or was going to be gone, the other would nurse. This was a great benefit to me because her friend had large breasts, ate much healthier than my mom and had more milk....so needless to say I was one happy baby

Her son wasn't so lucky, my mom is very small chested...so he spent most of his time rooting around trying to find the nipple

I would bf another child in a hearbeat....I would feel betrayed if anyone else bf my dd....but in a pinch I would rather have hurt feelings than a hungry baby. I guess it would really depend on who it is....I would let a close friend do it, or even a cousin...so I don't know. If I was sick I would much rather my dd get breastmilk....duh

Rachel

BTW I have a very close relationship to that woman who nursed me....she says I am the daughter she never had (she has 3 boys), and I am very close with her sons still too....

[umbrella]

I think that wet-nursing is a GREAT idea in many circumstances. However, unless there was an emergency situation, I would not nurse another child without expressed permission.

I too have thought of the abandoned baby scenario, but my question has always been, once the authorites arrive, could I get into some kind of trouble for nursing a strange, abandoned baby?

As for my own child, if it was necessary, I would absolutely prefer her to have breastmilk over formula. But I would be livid if someone ever nursed her without my permission if there were other options available. There are so many things to take into consideration, and no other woman can make that kind of decision when it comes to my child.

[cinnimonorange]

-Yes I would breastfed another child. In fact my sister and I had our babies a week apart and we both breastfed. When the kids were about 7 mo old my sister became pregnant again and her milk started to dry up. I tried to nurse her daughter but she wanted nothing to do with it. I don't know if it was because she was too old and didn't want a foreign nipple or what. But I am sure that my son would nurse from just about anyone! After she wouldn't latch on I pumped milk for her and she drank it out of a bottle. I figure it dosn't matter how the child gets the breast milk as long as they are getting it.

[fraya]

I think it's great to hear these wonderful stories about women sharing their bounty with others. I have just started pumping for donation myself.

Although EBM definitely is way superior to formula or cow's milk, I just have to comment (off-topic) that my understanding is that there are some advantages to nursing directly from the breast over consuming EBM from a bottle. A couple ...

-- If a baby comes in contact with a germ, s/he sends that germ to the nursing mother the next time she breastfeeds. Within about 2 hours (the average time between nursings), the mother makes an antibody specifically for that germ and sends it back to the baby/child the next time s/he nurses. A child receiving EBM still receives numerous immunities, but this system doesn't work quite in that way for the child.

-- People who are nursed have fewer orthodontic problems because the mouth and jaw develop differently when nursing at the breast vs. from a bottle.

Of course, the list of the advantages of EBM over non-breastmilk is enormous. I just thought I'd mention that direct nursing does have a few advantages even over EBM, from what I understand.

[KakuChan]

One other benefit to the babies I don't think anybody has mentioned is the increase in immunologic benefit for babies. When babies are passed from mama to mama in the village, they are receiving the full antibody protection from each of them. Imagine how much stronger their immune systems could be if they nursed from lots of different moms!

One of my best friend's daughter asks me to nurse her all the time (she is so loving to me, and such an adventurer), but so far, my son has not been down with thte idea (they're both 2.5 yo). But we have agreed that we wouldn't hesitate to nurse each other's kids in an emergency.

[fraya]

Yes, somebody mentioned a book called the Red Tent, I believe, which talked about the commonality of community-wide nursing. And that was exactly what I thought (and posted in response) -- what a great way to spread immunity. It's really fascinating.

A friend of mine was explaining that prior to formula, vaccines for things like pertussis weren't necessary because breastfed babies received the immunity from their mamas. And if they nursed long enough, by the time they were finished nursing, they were old enough to handle the pertussis (if they got it) easily, like a bad cold. And then the females would have the immunity to pass along to their children. Wow! But then with the introduction of formula, babies weren't getting that immunity from their mamas, so they were susceptible to it at young ages when it can be life-threatening. So they developed the vaccine.

[flminivanmama]

another benefit to nursing over bottle feeding is visual development...

I would do it and I would love it if someone else could do it for me if there was (g-d forbid) a need.

[echodonn]

just call me a wet nurse! WHen my baby looks at me with those wonderful loving and trusting eyes I will regret the day weening comes into my vocabulary. My niece at 5 months loves for me to nurse her when I babysit because I think I have more milk than her mama because Ana doesn't eat solids yet. I think it's wonderful how easily consoled a child is if they nurse the suckling is so rhythmic. It reminds me of breathing patterns you can use to ease pain.

[ebaby]

Wow! I love this board. My ds had trouble when he was new and we couldn't figure eachother out. So, my sister visiting ffrom another state nursed him, I cried because she made it look so easy, but that let me sleep, and helped show me what would work better for the itty bitty one. He did great and will still nurse from her when we go visiting. The last trip her ds nursed from me. (looked at me 'funny', did it anyway)

thanks for all the input & honesty.
K: momma to ebaby

[mellie-bellie]

A friend of mine nursed my ds when he was 2 days old. He had jaundice and my homebirth midwife urged me to use formula for a lil bit until the jaundice went away. I was TOTALLY against that idea so I had my friend come over and nurse my lil guy a few times. I've also nursed another baby too. My sis' newborn back in June. My sis was having a lot of trouble w/ getting her lil one to nurse, so I tried to get her to latch onto me and she nursed like a champ (still have no clue why the baby wouldn't stay latched to her mom for very long cuz she nursed from me for 30 mins).

I see no problem w/ nursing some other person's baby or vice versa. We're all humans, I'd prefer that a baby gets human milk over cow's milk.

[Ruth]

I agree.

It makes more more incensed when I see a baby having artificial milk (with who knows what in it) than to think about a mom nursing a baby who isn't hers.

[momnloveit]

i once nursed my sister's dd. i was at my mom's when she was tending her. i could tell she missed her mom, so i asked her if she wanted a num-num. she came right over for a snack. she gave me kisses and hugs until her mom got there! the stuff is so great and i have so much id give it to anyone!

[MammaV]

I'd also nurse someone else's baby. The concept of the wetnurse is thousands of years old. In some cultures, grandmothers will lactate and nurse their grandchildren. What a wonderful gift we can give other children. I think that if all parties are in agreement, wetnursing is great. After I had dd, I had complications and needed surgery. I wasn't able to nurse my newborn for 5 hours! I kept asking if there was a milk bank or donated colostrom. I was devistated to find out that there wasn't. The LC was no help and told me to supplement with formula. I refused at first, but by the next day my dd had lost 10% of her weight and I had the Ped, my nurses and the LC bullying me with formula. I caved. I didn't know anyone in LLL and wasn't even given the option to call a LLL leader. I'm sure she would have known someone willing to share with my DD. I'd gladly nurse someone's baby.

[ignit]

I saw a woman leaving the supermarket with a TINY baby maybe two weeks old, a case of pre-mixed bottles of formula, and a case of Slim-Fast cans. I wanted to take that baby away from her, take it home and nurse it. We live in a fairly small town and that baby will probably be in my son's class in school - I wish she could have the same start in life my son has.

[Meiri]

In a heartbeat.

I'd prefer if the baby was someone we knew, but a baby in need is a baby in need to me.{Though I suppose if it was a foundling situation I would pump until tests came back that the baby had nothing communicable and dangerous.} Back when DS finally completed weaning, I'd still get a letdown feeling when news stories about babies would come on.

One of our good friends was willing for me to nurse her little boy, rather than use any of the precious and hard-won ebm stash, but the need never arose when I was helping her out by watching him.