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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

The urge to bf other babies

30 replies

Booboostoo · 31/08/2011 12:08

Bear with me, this is a bit weird, but does anyone else feel like this?

I was at the supermarket the other day and heard a baby crying...breasts produced milk immediately and I had this mad urge to seek out the baby and feed it (don't worry I didn't terrify any poor mums by snatching their babies and force feeding them, I just carried on with my shopping). Then at the weekend I was bfing next to a lady with a baby I had just met, her baby started crying and I had the same reaction while she went to get a bottle (this is not a disparaging comment regarding ff, she can feed her baby whatever she likes, it was just odd that my breasts seemed desperate to get the other baby to latch on as well as DD).

I assume it's some kind of hormonal reaction to the crying but it is weird. Please tell me other people experience it as well!

OP posts:
Annpan88 · 31/08/2011 12:46

Can't say I have but everyones different. I bet I will now you've put that into my head!

WoTmania · 31/08/2011 12:55

Not quite but I definitely used to get a let down when other babies cried and I find it really difficult when holding a baby and they are grizzling as my initial instict is to nurse them.

organiccarrotcake · 31/08/2011 12:55

Yes, it's not uncommon.

My strongest urge was when I was in Africa earlier in the year and I was bottle feeding a seriously ill, underweight baby in an orphanage. I was absolutely desperate to nurse him. Fortunately I worked with them on the amount he was being given (they are usually housing older children, not fully milk-fed babies) and he finally started to grow. When I saw him he was about 7 Lbs at 5 months old :( :( He's a bouncing baby of nearly a year now.

I've heard other women saying the same thing although of course it's often seen as a taboo. I was a milk donor so in a sense I've fed lots of people's babies Grin.

pookamoo · 31/08/2011 12:59

My boobs used to go crazy in the supermarket when other people's babies cried. I think it happens to lots of women and it's perfectly normal.

It's definitely more your boobs telling you what to do than your brain, though!

If you have lots of milk, why don't you look into donating for a SCBU?

Original poster
Booboostoo · 31/08/2011 13:08

Glad I'm not the only one!! Although it does sound like I am a lot crazier than everyone else! Don't worry people I won't be force feeding any strange babies!

I would love to donate but I can't seem to pump a lot of milk although I have no problems with the baby suckling directly. It takes me two goes at different times of the day to get 2oz so I am usually struggling to get enough to leave the baby with OH for a couple of hours.

OP posts:
BaronessBomburst · 31/08/2011 18:28

No, what's really weird is when your pet cat gets a panic on about something and starts mewing and crying and your boobs start to go all tingly and leak. Blush
And for the record, no, I didn't feed the cat. Grin

BreastmilkDoesAFabLatte · 31/08/2011 19:58

I get this. About a year ago I was with a friend and her FF baby... she asked me to hold him whilse she popped to the loo, baby cried and I had really to restrain myself from offering him my boob. By the time my friend returned my top was soaked.

I'd love to become a wet nurse. Does it still exist in the UK? I doubt it...

HarrietJones · 31/08/2011 20:10

I was at work today and a a grizzly baby set me off. I felt that he needed mummy milk. Unfortunately he wouldn't get either.

RitaMorgan · 31/08/2011 20:12

I never got a letdown at the sound of another baby crying (or even at the sound of my baby crying really) but I do get an urge to bf upset babies!

I think it's just that my automatic response to any upset or whinging in ds was to boob him and it always worked, so it's almost a habit. When I've babysat a friend's baby and she was really fighting sleep, I just wanted to feed her instead of all the rocking a jiggling Grin

redandyellowandpinkandgreen · 31/08/2011 20:19

Yes! My friends think I'm insane. I don't get a letdown or anything but I just want to give them a cuddle and a feed. Out of my other mum friends I am the only one who feels like this, I think it freaks them out a bit. I feel sure I'd be quite happy for someone else to bf my baby too.

reddaisy · 31/08/2011 20:24

Yes I got this too! It is just a biological urge to soothe a child. I'm pretty sure it would be frowned upon if we acted on it Grin

pookamoo · 31/08/2011 20:40

harrietjones that sounds a bit sad Why wouldnt the baby get any food? Sad

Original poster
Booboostoo · 31/08/2011 20:43

I've never had the urge to feed the cat (thank God!) but I have had to tell the dog that the nipple is not a free for all!

OP posts:
AngelDog · 31/08/2011 20:54

I don't get letdown, but I do get the urge to offer bf. Even with a baby who's not upset, e.g. my newborn nephew.

naturalbaby · 31/08/2011 21:01

Grin at the dog eyeing up the nipple!
i remember a teacher at school telling us a story about how this happened to her (biology lesson) and i've never really had that feeling. i have a slow let down though and the only way it gets going is by feeding.

i watched a program a couple of years ago about feeding other people's babies and looked at my friend's babies wondering if i could feed them.

TruthSweet · 31/08/2011 21:10

I have had 3 DDs so have never bf a boy but was cuddling a friends baby boy when he started making a 'milky' noise and the thought 'I'd better give him a feed' ran through my head. I have never bf a boy so why would that run through my head??

I get the urge frequently though much to my discomfort as it is a quite compelling feeling. I have never acted on it though I hasten to add.

HarrietJones · 31/08/2011 21:30

I meant mummy or milk. Baby was in foster care.

HarrietJones · 31/08/2011 21:33

Not that the FC is no good. Just that baby should have (good)mummy.

shuckleberryfinn · 31/08/2011 21:35

I feel the same, even if they are BF and mam is right there. I just want to. Maybe it's cos she's my last. But yes, I get the urge to feed other babies too.

pookamoo · 31/08/2011 21:52

that is sad, Harriet Poor baby.

This article might interest some of you. Good for her, I say!

is the video.
MonkeyChicken · 31/08/2011 21:57

My boobs would like to feed the worlds and I often get a let down reflex from other people's babies. I got a strong let down reflex once when I saw baby ducklings!!!

Original poster
Booboostoo · 01/09/2011 07:17

That's a great link thanks pookamoo! Good for Selma and I wish they had interviewed the baby's mum as well for her perspective.

I don't see why bfing other babies is a class issue, we should be past such irrational prejudices. Incidentally my mum was bfed by a surrogate bfer because she was born during the war and my gran didn't have milk. Before ff it must have been a lot more common for women to share bf.

OP posts:
Tortoiseonthehalfshell · 01/09/2011 07:40

Yes, but it's always been a class issue - well, not always, but previous to formula being around, rich women farmed babies out to wet nurses. Breastfeeding seen as manual labour, and not exactly compatible with the complicated outfits worn as status symbols.

Cosmosis · 01/09/2011 09:24

I got a let down when we had our cat put down :(

organiccarrotcake · 01/09/2011 11:48

Gosh, cos :(

Don't forget, ladies, that if you have milk to offer, your local milk bank if you have one will usually be delighted to hear from you. www.ukamb.org

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