Breasting Feeding Adopted Infant

YOU ARE AWESOME for wanting to breastfeed your soon to be new addition! :)

I have seen it done by mothers who have had to use a surrogate. The reason I specify is that it allows time for the hormones to take effect and the baby is introduced to the mother's nipple nearly immediately. Nipple confusion is the issue that immediately comes to mind. (How old is the adopted child?) The "drugs" are more of a hormone booster, no more problematic than if you were using hormones for fertility treatments, and as long as there are no recreational drugs involve, you cannot argue the benefits of breastmilk over formula. Good on you for trying. Since you've done the breastfeeding gig before, I have confidence your body will remember how fairly quickly. Hopefully the adopted baby is agreeable. :-)

Google Martha Sears adoptive baby breastfeeding. I know from reading her breastfeeding book that she was able to breastfed an adopted child (maybe more than one).

Even if you had to use medication to start lactation it wouldn't be something that would need to be ongoing so don't worry about that. Once you start lactating and baby is nursing your body knows what to do. I would think one of the keys is to get your milk going ahead of time and to get baby to breast as soon as possible after birth.

Here's some other info that seems to have a lot on the subject:

http://breast-feeding.adoption.com/

Good luck and congratulations on the new baby!

I don't have any advice, I just had to respond. I didn't know this was even possible. How healthy would your milk supply be if it is being forced by drugs (I'm assuming the drugs would be excreted in the milk supply). Would a forced milk supply have the same health benefits as natural milk production (immunity properties, nutrients, etc)?

I don't have any advice, just wanted to wish you luck :) Congrats on adopting, what a beautiful thing to do! I hope you get to feed your little one, just how you want to.

When I was considering it, I found tons of helpful information at www.asklenore.com.

Good luck and congrats on your adoption!

I met a woman at a La Leche League meeting that was breastfeeding her adopted son. I asked a lot of questions because I was fascinated! She was very patient with me, answering every question. Here's what I learned:

~ She took something (hormones?) for (quite some time - can't remember how long) before the baby was delivered
~ She pumped MANY TIMES DAILY for a long time (weeks? months?) beforehand to get her body to produce milk
~ First there was nothing, then she was only getting maybe few drops at a pumping, pumping at least 30 minutes each time
~ She worked up to getting about an ounce or 1-1/2 ounces A DAY TOTAL with all pumpings before baby got there
~ Once she got the baby, she would have him nurse as long as possible since the body responds better to nursing than a pump, while supplimenting with formula to ensure he got enough nutrition
~ She was determined to nurse her baby!
~ At six months, the baby was almost completely breastfed, taking only 6-8 ounces of formula a day!!

I suggest trying to reach someone through La Leche League or a lactation consultant in your area. I hope you are able to do this - it will take much patience and determination. Many Blessings to you and your new little one!!

I breastfed my adopted daughter. I had previously breastfed my birth daughter. You don't need hormones. You need lots and lots of patience and determination. First thing you should do is contact your local La Leche League. They can set you up with a lactation specialist at a hospital who can help you. I went in a couple times for a consultation, and then for some help. I did end up producing milk, but not very much. But it was something.

I had never considered it, but when I was holding my daughter and she cried, it almost felt to me like I had milk letdown, just like when I breastfed. I told a nurse friend of mine (I didn't share with anybody else because I thought maybe I was crazy!) and she set me up with the lactation specialist. Good luck with everything! I think you can do it!

My birth daughter was 9 so I don't think that age between kids makes any difference. I also had no prep time because I had my adopted daughter before I started thinking about this.

I would see if you can find a lactation consultant in your area that has specifically dealt with the situation. I know there are medications to increase milk supply and that it is possible to breastfeed an adopted infant. I wonder if it might be easier since you've BF'd your bio child - your body would perhaps "rememeber" what it needs to do? I'll e-mail my former lactation consultant to see what she knows. Good luck!

Can't say that I can give much help but I have two adopted sons that where placed with us as infants. I did some research on the subject and was very interested in trying it but became uninterested after finding that it's not a very easy task to achieve. I also never could really talk with someone that had successfully done it. Some produced some milk but not enough and had to supplement with formula. I felt for me it was too taxing after a LONG wait of trying for years to conceive and wanted to just enjoy being a new mom. You could probably contact http://www.llli.org/ (Le Leche League) for some current information.
I wish you the best and hope you effort is successful if you chose to try this.
Best Regards,
C.

your new baby will thank you! i know it is possible and i wish you all the luck in the world! you rock!

The book "The Nursing Mother's Companion" by Kathleen Huggins, RN, has a section on breastfeeding adopted children. She includes the "Newman-Goldfarb" protocols that give you a schedule/plan for using birth control to simulate pregnancy and then drugs to stimulate milk production to help get your body to think it needs to produce milk. She does point out that it can be a lot of work and you might not see results, but they have worked for a number of women. The www.asklenore.info website also explains the protocols.

I'd think that since you have already breastfed a child your body would be more likely to respond positively to your attempts to do the same for this one, so if I were in your shoes I would definitely go for it.

In response to the PP's question about how healthy would a milk supply forced by drugs be: The drugs in question are ones that are regularly used by lactating women - birth control (which you actually would only use well before you were lactating, since you wouldn't want to risk the decrease in milk supply that bc can cause!) and then domperidone, which plenty of women with a low milk supply use to boost production for infants they carried themselves.

Good luck to you - you are awesome for even considering it and I really hope it will work out for you!

Greetings J's mom, I have 4 birth children and have raised many foster children. Manyof the newborns came from the hospital to me. I nursed everyone of them, as well as gave a bottle so the adoptive mother would be able to take over when they went to their new family.
It was easy enough fo me after having fed my 4, and was a wet nurse during other times. I would pump milk, I would "force milk" to come by constantly squeezing fluid from my breasts. I would suggest that you stay away from all caffine drinks, and drink whole milk and lots of water. I also kept a heating pad and warm wash clots on my breasts to stimulate the milk flow.
It won't be comfortable nor easy but I found it rewarding and knew it helped the really ill little ones to have a better start.
I wish you well and encourage you never to give up and congratulations on the adoption. I believe that it takes a brave woman to give her child up so that a loving mother can raise the child to adult hood.

A couple of questions then I can respond appropiate.
1) How old is your Biological child today (Need to know how many years between lacting)?
2) How long did you breastfeed him for and were you able to produce enough milk to sustain his needs?
3) Was it an issue with your son or with your production/equipment that seemed to be your problem before?
4) Did you have hormone or medical issues that effect your hormones and therefore problems with nursing, premature delivery and IF ANY problems with pregnancy now?
5) How old will this baby be when he joins your family in physical form?
6) Is the Carrier still pregnant with baby (giving you some months of prep)?
Of cource you can message me the answers to these things, but I am willing to give you advice, but can not because each of those above situations effect what you would need to do... As you can see there are a lot of different combinations to consider. Congrats and good luck with your new baby.... A double gift to each other making gifts time 4....

Updated

A couple of questions then I can respond appropiate.
1) How old is your Biological child today (Need to know how many years between lacting)?
2) How long did you breastfeed him for and were you able to produce enough milk to sustain his needs?
3) Was it an issue with your son or with your production/equipment that seemed to be your problem before?
4) Did you have hormone or medical issues that effect your hormones and therefore problems with nursing, premature delivery and IF ANY problems with pregnancy now?
5) How old will this baby be when he joins your family in physical form?
6) Is the Carrier still pregnant with baby (giving you some months of prep)?
Of cource you can message me the answers to these things, but I am willing to give you advice, but can not because each of those above situations effect what you would need to do... As you can see there are a lot of different combinations to consider. Congrats and good luck with your new baby.... A double gift to each other making gifts time 4....