April 24, 2007

Outsourcing Breast Milk.

Big Zed reacts to this article in Time on Wet Nursing and Cross nursing.

Now, I'm a fierce advocate of breast feeding but if for whatever reasons, I can't breast feed my baby, I will not, for one second hesitate in giving her formula. But there is absolutely no way I would let someone else breast feed my baby.

What are your thoughts?

16 comments:

Artnavy said...

i would NOT let anyone take away the most precious bit of bonding from me- if i could not have nursed my baby then she would have had formula

I woudl not volunteer to nurse another's baby either- ungenerous as it may seem

Crumbling Cookie said...

Hmm..my mother-in-law tells us that she occasionally nursed her sister-in-laws' baby who was 20 days younger than her own.
I don't think I could do it and I could never ever think about someone else nursing my daughter.

Bong Mom said...

Even my cousin sis nursed her daughter as well as her niece (who were same age) for some days

I would happily nurse some one elses baby if I am able, all babies are so sweet and innocent, anything to help any of them. Though not for long though

This is something the "Dhai Ma" used to do in India too

B o o said...

Sandeepa - I agree that I would nt mind nursing someone elses baby either. But I dont think I would let someone nurse my baby, may be someone in the family. But not sure! My question is why though?

Anonymous said...

Feeding the baby is the most important part of raising a child.And the mom as the primary caregiver bonds with the baby during the process.According to me,leaving this integral part of nurturing to someone else is such a sacrilege!

Sunita said...

Totally with you on this, if not me then its formula.

the mad momma said...

I would let someone else nurse my child if I could not and it were convenient to both her and me.

Once the WHO recommended 6 months are over, I might switch to formula.

I think its all abt circumstances. These kind of things happen in close knit communities etc where you can pop over and get ur baby fed and come back in ten minutes and the other mother goodnaturedly does it and then goes back to work. The child might learn to recognise that lady till 6 months or however long she feeds him, but sooner or later memories fade and you dont care.

I am frightfully posessive abt my son which is why i dont even leave him in anyone else's care. but having said that, i know that breast milk is best. i dont care if he builds a bond with someone else for a short period, if it means him getting the nutrition and immunity thanks to it.

adopted children build bonds with their parents no matter what stage of life they get them. and if putting my child's best interests lie in my putting my emotions on the backburner, so be it.

for instance, now my bean has eczema, and the doc has told me she must be solely breastfed for a year atleast to build immunity against it and asthma. if i were unable to breastfeed her today i would hunt for someone to express and give her or feed her. i would.

http://themadmomma.blogspot.com/2007/03/giving-just-little-bit-more.html

Sunita Venkatachalam said...

I put my comment over at Big Zed's thought I would add it here too..

Well if you put it that way, I guess it's unpalatable. But I wouldnt mind doing it for someone I know really well and if the baby really needed it (formula intolerant, preemie) etc. But that may be because I seem to be in the minority of people who totally enjoyed bf.
If for some reason I could not feed my child and I knew a lactating mother very well, I wouldnt mind it if she fed my child. There are risks of virus etc, but if the child cannot tolerate formula it's a risk I can digest.
Wet nursing for pay/money is totally unacceptable to me though, it reminds me too much of the black mothers in South Africa wet nursing the rich white mom's kids.

Kowsalya Subramanian said...

I haven't read that article so cannot comment on that. But for your question, I would be very happy to nurse another starving baby. As for my baby is concerned, if I have some very close relatives like cousins or my own sisters, I think I would be ok. My mother has mentioned many such instances where a baby was fed by another mother since its own mother died in pregnancy. But if its being commercialized then I think its bad.

Cee Kay said...

Been thinking about it long and hard. I might agree to giving my baby expressed milk from another mom or to express milk for someone else's baby. I wouldn't be comfortable nursing another baby or having my baby nurse at some other mom's breast. Dunno why but that is how I feel. And I do agree with the first commentor on the original post - the risk of infection if the other mom isn't keeping good hygiene, or if her baby is sick, is very high. I would weigh that risk against the need first.

B o o said...

I think if the circumstance requires, its ok if we know the woman. But whats with the Cross nursing? To build a community? That I cant understand!

Trishna said...

I dont think I have the heart to let someone else feed my baby. even when I was expressing,I didnt let anyone other than DH or mr feed her.
Selfish as it may sound,I guess I am just too possessive to share my baby with someone else..specially in this aspect!

Bong Mom said...

Boo
The need arises only if the mother is not able to feed breast milk for some reason
In my cousin's case I remember something like that was the case.

I think the motivation is that breast Milk is Good for the baby...

My mom says that in her childhood times,in some of their neighbours case who had several kids, often the mother was not healthy enough to feed her milk to the baby. In absence of formula or any other source of food, a lady who was capable of serving the purpose would feed the newborn

B o o said...

Sandeepa - Cross nursing according to that article is "You feed my child and I ll feed yours"! And thats what baffles me. Like I said I understand if the woman has problems.

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