I think I saw a grandmother bf her grandchild today, genunine non judgy question

[Cathpot]

At playgroup today a I saw a lady in her late 50s possibly early 60s who I dont know but say hello to, bf the child I understood was her grandchild . So, is this possible or have I misunderstood the situation? I ask because years ago I remember a friend's mum who had bf 4 kids, saying that when she first held her grandchild she felt her milk let down. She was something of a drama queen so I always took it with a pinch of salt. I always thought that was interesting. Can you get your milk back years later by feeding even if you havent given birth recently?

I'm gobsmacked reading this!
I had x 3....was never able to produce milk(I always said they were for decoration rather than feeding...and they are massive!)and just don't know this feeling of "letting down"!!!! What does it mean?

not everyone can feel a letdown cutekids. it's basically when the milk sort of rushes forth, baby will suck suck suck quite fast and then the milk will come.
some people experience it as a mild tingling, for some women it can be quite painful

Some women never stop lactacting...unusual yes but possible. My IM tells stories of grandmothers relactating.

If men can lactate then why do we struggle with the concept of women relactating or feeding adoptive children?

When I was pregnant with Tink we teased Mum about her sympathetic pregnancy (she got pregnancy symptoms!) around the time Tink was born she started lactating and was producing more milk than me, I was rather jealous as I needed to express more than I was for Tink in the NNU!

Can men lactate?

Lauriefairycake, on the Kate Garraway programme about women cross-feeding she met someone how had breastfed their adopted child. You should try finding it, it's probably on youtube (ignore some of the 'we're bfers so must be crazy' bits).

I think it's possible to BF an adopted child but it's not a given. There's some stuff on it on kellymom.

my mum says she has heard lots of stories of grandmothers lactating. particularly in rural third world coutnries on maternal death after birth. apparetnly it is the childs cry couple withthe fact that it is usually the grandmother looking after the baby she has no other way of nourishing.

There's an African man who's wife died and his daughter wouldn't take a bottle. In desperation he put her to his own nipple and managed to sustain her as long as she needed.

It's not a one off story either. Men have everything we do, just less fat, so with the right stimulation/ supply & demand they're able to lactate just the same as women.

Woman round the corner, when her 10th child was born she easily looked 60.
I assume she actually isn't.

My Mum felt let down the first time she held her crying new born grandchild, approximately 30 years after stopping breastfeeding.

She was somewhat freaked by it TBH, and passed the baby straight over to the person in the room who was supposed to be lactating (viz: me)

Apparantly there is a drug (I think it might be used to treat certain types of male cancers?) that can cause men to lactate.

Oh I've just Wiki'd it.

Oh I was close - it's hormonal treatment treat used for treating prostate cancer.

Wow! I'm gobsmacked at the whole thread. To think I used to worry my milk would dry up if I didn't bf for a day or 2

It's amazing how resilient our milk is! In the early days it's more important for our supply to keep up the baby led feeding but as baby gets older our supply will be better able to adapt to having a day off.

at man feeding his daughter!!

Would find this very odd if she is the grandmother - particularly if her son in law was with her. That just feel creepy to me and not quite right tbh.

She's got to be the mother,surely? (she says hopefully...)