My son is almost 2, never breastfeed, but lactating?

RNStudentMary · May 1, 2004

I have a dr's appt. next week and I will let you know what he says. Thanks for your concern.

Mary, did you talk to your doctor? Let us know what happens. :) Also, I am wondering exactly how much you are lactating? Are you leaking a lot of milk, are you feeling let-downs, are you just able to express a few drops out or ??? Are you now lactating more than you did after the birth (more than you did at any point)?
This is true but as a breastfeeding counselor I have never heard of it stimulating production. It's also not mentioned at all in any of my breastfeeding books or Medications and Mother's Milk. If it did I'd think women with low supply would be all over it! :) Have you ever heard of it stimulating actual production, &/or do you know where I could read more about this?
Out of curiousity I did ask on a lactation list I'm on, we'll see if anyone there has any more knowledge on it.

krissypoo · May 1, 2004

Does this mean that if I really wanted to I could re-stimulate lactation to breastfeed my son again now that he understands how to suck better and his overbite is protruding less?

I was wondering this myself....i gave up with my daughter at 2.5 months-( regret it all the time)- krissy

camay1221_RN · May 1, 2004

I found it in the PDR when I was pregnant with my last baby. I usually take Zoloft, but OB switched me to Prozac for the pregnancy, and being the RN I am, I pulled out the PDR and read up on it before I started taking it. I was surprised to see it. The girls I worked with told me to offer out my services as a wet nurse!:) I bottle fed all of my kids, so I can't say whether it helped my cause or not.

By the way, if you find out anything, could you let me know also? Always out to learn something new! Thanks!

Mary, did you talk to your doctor? Let us know what happens. :) Also, I am wondering exactly how much you are lactating? Are you leaking a lot of milk, are you feeling let-downs, are you just able to express a few drops out or ??? Are you now lactating more than you did after the birth (more than you did at any point)?
This is true but as a breastfeeding counselor I have never heard of it stimulating production. It's also not mentioned at all in any of my breastfeeding books or Medications and Mother's Milk. If it did I'd think women with low supply would be all over it! :) Have you ever heard of it stimulating actual production, &/or do you know where I could read more about this?
Out of curiousity I did ask on a lactation list I'm on, we'll see if anyone there has any more knowledge on it.

dansamy · May 2, 2004

Does this mean that if I really wanted to I could re-stimulate lactation to breastfeed my son again now that he understands how to suck better and his overbite is protruding less?

Yes. You would probably need to rent a hopital-grade breast pump for a month or two, but it can indeed be done. (Hell, if there was a milk bank in my area, I'd still be lactating! They pay a pretty penny for human milk.)

Energizer Bunny · May 2, 2004

Thank you for responding! I am going to have to see what my pediatrician thinks about his sucking ability now before I go spending any extra cash! I appreciate it!

Lisa C a Nurse2b · May 2, 2004

I know this sounds strange but when I had my first child I was going to have to leave him due to military service. Well, my mom said I'll breastfed him. All she did was use my breast pump twice a day and whenever she watched my son she would let him nurse even if he didn't get anything it helped calm him. A few weeks into it she had milk. It was strange at first to see her nurse my son but it helped in the long run.He is now 10.5 and he is very close to both of us. However he doesn't know we both nursed him!

Lisa

KaroSnowQueen, RN · May 2, 2004

About re-lactation:

My pastor's wife adopted a newborn baby girl, and her natural-born son was about 12 or so. She was able to re-lactate and breastfeed her adopted baby girl. For a while she used a little pouch with milk in it that strapped around her shoulder, and had a tiny tube leading down by her nipple so that while the baby nursed at the empty breast at the beginning, it still recieved nourishment, which stimulated it to suckle, stimulating the breast, etc. I believe she was able to nurse her for several months after her milk came back in. That baby is now 19 and a beautiful girl.

mitchsmom · May 2, 2004

there is a section of links here under "relactation & adoptive nursing" for more info:

http://www.geocities.com/breastfeedinglinks

below is a partial quote from this link:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/relactation.html

"if you're relactating, expect to take about the same amount of time that you've not been nursing to fully re-establish your supply (for example, if your baby has been weaned a month, expect it to take around a month to return to exclusive breastfeeding). if your baby is 4 months old or younger it will generally be easier to relactate. it will also be easier if your milk supply was well established (frequent and effective nursing and/or pumping) during the first 4-6 weeks postpartum. however, moms with older babies and moms who did not establish a good milk supply in the beginning weeks can also get good results - it may take more effort, though.

adoptive moms, even those who have never been pregnant, can generally get a partial milk supply (some mothers will be able to induce a full supply)...."

i will write back if i hear anything further about any ssri/supply relationship :)

Energizer Bunny · May 2, 2004

Thanks, mitchsmom....I breastfed Bryce from birth until about 3 1/2 months. He had a terrible overbite, wasn't getting the sucking, we had thrush, and I wasn't producing enough...he was trying to eat constantly and not being latched on right was killing me. I consulted with lactation consultants, nurses, midwives, everyone and we tried everything. I hate the fact that I quit so early, but now he is well established on the bottle, is 7 months old and we seriously can't afford the extra money to rent the hospital grade pump. *sigh* I sooo wish things had gone differently for us. I didn't have enough milk for my daugher either and quit around the same time, though I didn't try everything with her. I was all to willing to give it up at the time.

mitchsmom · May 2, 2004

Thanks, mitchsmom....I breastfed Bryce from birth until about 3 1/2 months. He had a terrible overbite, wasn't getting the sucking, we had thrush, and I wasn't producing enough...he was trying to eat constantly and not being latched on right was killing me. I consulted with lactation consultants, nurses, midwives, everyone and we tried everything. I hate the fact that I quit so early, but now he is well established on the bottle, is 7 months old and we seriously can't afford the extra money to rent the hospital grade pump. *sigh* I sooo wish things had gone differently for us. I didn't have enough milk for my daugher either and quit around the same time, though I didn't try everything with her. I was all to willing to give it up at the time.

Sounds like you did your best.. hey most people don't go 3.5 months period, much less while having all those issues! Some hospitals have pretty good initiation rates but the numbers drop a lot shortly after moms get home. You could always offer the breast and see if he'd latch on and offer it a lot if he does, and see if it goes anywhere without the pump if you wanted. He may not even latch after so long, especially if he never latched well in the first place... but you never know! On the other hand he could be more "teachable" at this age than he was then. It wouldn't hurt to try if you would like to.

dansamy · May 2, 2004

You could always offer the breast and see if he'd latch on and offer it a lot if he does, and see if it goes anywhere without the pump if you wanted.

I agree with this. The pump isn't an absolute necessity. It's helpful, but it's by no means a necessary evil. I used a pump with my 3 because they were all preemies. I had to pump at home while they were still hospitalized.