Re-lactation, Induced Lactation and Adoptive Nursing Tribe - Page 16

[osker]

Hi!
I didn't know we had a tribe! I have recently induced lactation for my daughter who was just born four days ago! We are a two-mom family, so my wife gave birth. I just wanted to share what happened this week. H's milk wasn't coming in and E was getting dehydrated and jaundiced. They started talking about formula supplementation and we told them that we wanted to use the milk that I made and had frozen to supplement instead. We were able to do that and E drank my milk while waiting for H's milk to come in! H has milk now and things are calming down with the jaundice. I feel so proud of myself and so glad that I was able to make breast milk for my daughter and that it was so helpful when she needed it. It has definitely made the entire long process worthwhile! I would definitely encourage anyone to induce lactation!!

[SundayCrepes]

Welcome Osker,

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter and your milk. I know how amazing it is to nurse a baby you did not birth. I am at the tail end of nursing my adoptive daughter. She had less than 2 ounces of formula before I could get to her. With my efforts and a little donor milk she has been exclusively breastfed for over 2 years. We will soon be out of domperidone and I don't know if I'll still make milk when it's gone. We'll see.

I don't have any experience with two lactating mom families. My gut says to let your wife do all the nursing for at least the first month so that her supply is well established. (Jaundice issues being different, of course.) A lot of important stuff is going on in her milk making process right now and you don't want to jeopardize that. She might never get back what she loses out on if she doesn't get to full supply. After that you could do some of the feedings for bonding/convenience purposes. I would have her pump any time you do that.

I have used milk that was in the downstairs freezer for up to 18 months with no problems. As your daughter gets older you could give her any milk or yours you still have in the freezer in a cup. Also, maybe between the two of you pumping you could donate to other babies at www.milkshare.com.

Congratulations again.

[hdeering]

I dont know if we're still active or not, but here's an update.
http://newmexicanlibrarian.blogspot.com/2011/03/tandem-nursing.html

[SundayCrepes]

My update is I stopped the domperidone a few weeks ago, just about the time my daughter turned 2.5. I make very little milk now but she still nurses throughout the day. At sleep time and at wake up time we use the supplementer. She calls it, "NightNight."

How blessed I feel to have this amazing relationship with my child that came to me via adoption.

[PatioGardener]

[sbrinton]

Hi there! Is this thread still active?

I could use some advice. We have adopted a baby girl from uganda. I was able to induce lactation and have been pumping and making all the milk she needs for about 2 months. I had breastfed my 3 biological kids and had wanted to try adoptive breastfeeding. Our little girl was not able to breastfeed, but she has thrived on breastmilk. In a couple weeks, however, I will have to return to Uganda without our baby girl to work on adopting the big sister.

This will mean the end of pumping and we'll need to find an alternative for our daughter, who will be about 8 months old when I return to uganda. She's small for her age, but growing quickly. I think she has a milk intolerance as she gets a rash and spits up a lot with cow milk formula.

What should we try? We have a stash of donor milk in the freezer that would last 2-3 weeks. We could keep looking for more donor milk.

I've thought about trying goats milk or soy formula. Thoughts? How much formula or milk do you think she needs to be drinking each day from about 8-12 months?

She's also eating solids and we're close to having her eat 3 meals a day plus some small snacks. I'm trying to include calorie and nutrient dense foods like avocado and sweet potato and will introduce meat, beans and eggs in the next few weeks. I may also let her start having a little diluted juice in a cup once a day.

[SundayCrepes]

Have you tried getting donor milk from www.milkshare.com? There's also a facebook group. They used to be called eats on feets, but I think they changed their name.

Why can't you pump in Uganda? Even if you have to pump and dump. At least you'll keep your supply up. Maybe they'll even have the facilities for you to freeze the milk you pump. I traveled with frozen breastmilk from Tucson to Puerto Rico (staying overnight half way there) for a total of a 36 hour trip. I used the limited amount of dry ice--4.4 pounds--and my milk stayed rock solid. Though I'm not sure how easy it is to get dry ice in Uganda (probably not easy, is my guess.)

So, I'd get donor milk and just go that route. 

[SundayCrepes]

Oh, regarding the juice. I wouldn't do it. Juice is mainly empty calories. Just stick with water and breastmilk.