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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

C4 - Other People's Breastmilk

141 replies

RedHead81 · 08/09/2008 00:43

Just saw an advert for this on telly - worth a look!

I'm quite interested actually... what do you think?

OP posts:
Original poster
RedHead81 · 09/09/2008 23:22

I thought most of it was portrayed in a positive light - with some very odd comments in there too mind you just to keep small minded people happy - it is C4 afterall!

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 09/09/2008 23:27

redhead - thanks, but I'm actually feeding my toddler too - she's nearly two and I've lost half a stone in a week as well! When I express I get half and half when it separates, half just milk (but not thin like low fat milk) and half solid thick cream. DH asked me whether I was from Jersey stock when he saw it in the freezer!

TinkerBellesMum · 09/09/2008 23:31

whomoved, you're making me feel very positive about tandeming in a few months time! I can't remember if you are on the pregnant/tandem thread.

Original poster
RedHead81 · 09/09/2008 23:32

whomovedmychocolate - LOL - i would have put some in his coffee!

OP posts:
Original poster
RedHead81 · 09/09/2008 23:34

I would have loved to have tandemmed (is that even a word?) but DS1 finished feeding at 15mths through pressure off (well everyone really) I wasn't ready and am def going to feed this LO til 2+

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 09/09/2008 23:36

Tinker - I haven't seen that thread. Tandem feeding (ie feeding two) is not a problem in any way, except my letdown is fast (for DD) and DS gets a lot of wind because of that. Oh and technically feeding them both together is a bloody nightmare with a newborn, who can't hold his head up. Because your boobs are not under your armpits (well unless they are really droopy or you were badly drawn by a six year old!)

whomovedmychocolate · 09/09/2008 23:38

Redhead - don't be surprised if your toddler returns to nursing - DD suddenly wanted to feed 8 times a day when I had DS. It settles down in a few days but a lot of toddlers revert when the new baby comes.

MrsBates · 09/09/2008 23:40

Sorry for being huffy Tinkerbellesmum. I'd better go to bed.

Original poster
RedHead81 · 09/09/2008 23:58

I don't think he'll want to go back to nursing - DS2 is 18wks now and although DS1 has asked questions, I have offered, but he says no! I would let him try, but he's not interested one bit!

OP posts:
TinkerBellesMum · 10/09/2008 01:05

I called it pregnant and nursing support thread (I think) but I did say it was open to anyone who is or has done it.

Tink has taken to feeding like a baby, on her back and her head everywhere(!) so that it's hard to latch her, I hope she's finished by the time the baby comes! She's also started biting (new rule, it goes away if Mummy has to keep saying "Be gentle") again and waking early (3-4 unless she is cosleeping) so she is completely wearing me out at the moment.

Don't worry MrsBates (can't see your name without wondering if I'm talking to my sister lol) I wasn't clear.

TinkerBellesMum · 10/09/2008 01:07

Red, I've heard of toddlers returning to nursing after quite an absense because of a younger nursling!

bundle · 10/09/2008 01:15

redhead

dd1 (8) and dd2(5) have both recently (no newborns here) expressed an interest in breastmilk...I remained lukewarm to say the least...

LittlePushka · 10/09/2008 01:18

tinkerbells mum... lactose intoleranceis a genuine medical reason for not being abl to bf. Please dont be too scepical.

TinkerBellesMum · 10/09/2008 01:25

I know, but you hear so many say it, you end up wondering if they really are medical reasons as in reality there shouldn't be so many "can't for medical reasons"s.

Lib76 · 10/09/2008 08:51

oh my god! that programme actully at times turned my stomach! the woman who said it was sexual shold have the police at her door!! how weird is that, imagine coming back home to find your babysitter feeding your baby!!

i am all for bf, think it's fab, but for me there are limits! and sitting in a room with your friend while your children go from one breast to the other is not a nice thing to watch ;-(

surely the point of bf is as was said in programme and bond between mother and baby, and also that they get all the anti-bodies and nutrients from the mother!!

for me it's odd, would appaul me to think my baby would feed from another woman.

timewaster · 10/09/2008 09:25

I wonder if the "bond between mother and baby idea" is more about the mother's feelings? What I mean is that you produce gooey love hormones when you breast feed don't you? I suppose it is nature's way of helping you to cope with the little screaming banshee and still find it in your heart to give them a cuddle and a feed even when you're knackered and they've bitten you.
But for the baby is it more "any breast in a storm"? Not trying to say that babies don't love their mamas, but we are just animals after all. We look for nourishment and comfort, but does it have to be mummy?
That might sound obvious sorry, but it just reminded me of when a cat tried to breast feed from me years ago and my mother said "a nipple is a nipple".

TinkerBellesMum · 10/09/2008 09:28

I agree timewaster. They said in the show that the baby still knows who it's mother is and will still revert to mummy when they're upset. I'm sure they get some bond with the wet nurse - I know of one country, I can't remember who told me to remember where they were from, where they have a birth mother and a milk mother, the milk mother is very important to them but they're not their mother IYSWIM.

whomovedmychocolate · 10/09/2008 09:29

timewaster - you may have a point actually. My friend's DD tries to latch onto me whenever I pick her up - simply because I smell of milk and I guess in an evolutionary sense babies are designed to root out milk wherever it's available. Also in the wild animals often adopt orphans (sometimes of other species) and nurse them.

Mind you I'd rather have my baby suckled by wolves than some of the women in that programme

timewaster · 10/09/2008 09:43

It might have been me who talked about the wetnurse TinkerBellesMum, although I'm sure other MNetters have discussed it! My dh is from a north african country and when I first went to the village to meet his family I spent time with his mum and dad and bros and sisters, and then he introduced me very reverently to his "2nd mum" who had nursed him when his own mother was ill. He is very respectful and loving towards her and considers her children to be his brothers and sisters also. (for example he was not allowed to consider marrying her daughters)
we take her lamb and dates whenever we go to the village (which hasn't been for some time I miss them so much) and I have a lovely photo of her with ds when he was 3 months old).

timewaster · 10/09/2008 09:48

Whomovedmychocolate - I read an article in Marie Clare () years ago about a tribe in northern India who wetnursed orphaned animals and they had a picture of a woman with a baby deer (a deerlet?) (can't remember the correct name, forgive me!!)
Apparantly because of their religious beliefs they are strict vegetarians and couldn't bear to see an animal suffer.
Takes it to a whole other level doesn't it

AnnVan · 10/09/2008 09:56

I don't have a problem with cross-feeding at all. After all, it used to be common practice. And wet-nurses were the only option for a baby whose mum had died.
I'm not too sure about the program though. I think a lot of these programs tend to focus on slightly weird people and make it into a freak show rather than showing bf as the natural way to feed a baby.
I'm still surprised by how funny people are about bf in the UK. Formula feeding seems to be so entrenched, especially among the older generation. SOmeon on MN said her PILs think bf is 'unnatural'

whomovedmychocolate · 10/09/2008 10:01

timewaster - when the deer falls off their laps I wonder if they shout 'doh'?

timewaster · 10/09/2008 10:03
Grin
Lib76 · 10/09/2008 10:15

AnnVan, how could anyone say bf is unnatural!? wet nursing though no matter how long it's been around to me is odd.

i also agree that these programmes pick the strangest people. As my DH said last night it's always women who are "frumpy hippies" that appear on these kind of shows, never a yummy mummy!! (oh im waiting for the back lash now saying that eh?!)

tiktok · 10/09/2008 10:21

Lib - ????

There were loads of yummy mummies on the programme! What about the two glamorous sisters sitting on the grass? The mum who expressed in advance of the birth of her surrogate daughters was smart and glossy. The rest of them just looked like pretty ordinary mums to me - nothing especially frumpy or hippyish at all.

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