anyone adopted and nursed from birth?

[sunnymommy]

We may be adopting a baby this summer. (My 3 year old's birthmom is expecting and has asked us to take the baby.) My little guy will be 16 months old then so I should still have milk. If it happens, I would like to nurse the next baby immediately from birth. Anyone have suggestions from experience? I am not sure how that would work or what to expect. I know it is a long ways out and assuming a lot, but I can't help thinking through everything....

[newmommy13]

i have no experience but if i had milk i would definitely nurse that baby!

good luck!

[FindingMercy]

This is my plan for when we adopt. I'm taking herbs and pumping several times a day to up my supply and have freezer milk. I would start pumping at least once a day now if I were you.

[sunnymommy]

Originally Posted by FindingMercy This is my plan for when we adopt. I'm taking herbs and pumping several times a day to up my supply and have freezer milk. I would start pumping at least once a day now if I were you.

Help me understand. Are you currently nursing your youngest? Or are you trying to relactate? If you already are nursing, why are you pumping and taking the herbs? I am trying to figure out how this would work. Do I need to be making more milk for the baby beforehand? My milk won't increase on it's own once baby starts nursing, too?

I looked on asklenore but most all of it seems to be for people who want to establish a new milk supply for an adoption. I haven't found anything about if you already have milk what, if any, steps need to be taken. I will check out the adoption.com forum and see if there is anything there for this situation.

[misidawnrn]

Yes, I nursed DD from birth (well, about 2.5 days after birth because she was in the NICU) and I nursed until she was 33 months old. She just weaned last month. I would suggest http://asklenore.info/ It is where I got all of my info on nursing, protocols, etc. She developed the Newman Goldfarb protocol with Dr Jack Newman. He also has a website for nursing. I actually got to meat him last year at a conference. Good luck!

[Beth.]

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[misidawnrn]

If you already have milk, you will be fine just adding a baby. It should be the same as if your child goes through a growth spurt and nurses more. Within a few days, your milk will catch up. A newborn's stomach is only the size of a marble. By day 10 it is the size of a ping pong ball. Plenty of time for your milk to catch up to 2 babes! I didn't see that you had a 16 month old. If you notice him starting to wean off, you can start pumping every 3 hours before baby is born (might want to do that about 2 weeks before due date anyways). Good luck!

[FindingMercy]

Originally Posted by sunnymommy Help me understand. Are you currently nursing your youngest? Or are you trying to relactate? If you already are nursing, why are you pumping and taking the herbs? I am trying to figure out how this would work. Do I need to be making more milk for the baby beforehand? My milk won't increase on it's own once baby starts nursing, too? I looked on asklenore but most all of it seems to be for people who want to establish a new milk supply for an adoption. I haven't found anything about if you already have milk what, if any, steps need to be taken. I will check out the adoption.com forum and see if there is anything there for this situation.

As your toddler ages and nurses less your body will start to phase out milk-making tissue. Your body will not respond to added need the same wait did when you child was a young baby. It takes more convincing to get it to make more milk. I've been pumping every.

Originally Posted by misidawnrn If you already have milk, you will be fine just adding a baby. It should be the same as if your child goes through a growth spurt and nurses more. Within a few days, your milk will catch up. A newborn's stomach is only the size of a marble. By day 10 it is the size of a ping pong ball. Plenty of time for your milk to catch up to 2 babes! I didn't see that you had a 16 month old. If you notice him starting to wean off, you can start pumping every 3 hours before baby is born (might want to do that about 2 weeks before due date anyways). Good luck!

Not necessarily. In talking to other moms who have done this, you generally have to do a lot of pumping too because your body is not in the same mode as it is post-partum. It's a tricky game to add a new baby on without any hormonal changes to help.

[Double A]

My neighbor has done this with 2 babies...she took the domperidone, blessed thistle and fenugreek to help increase her supply.

[NSB]

Hi SunnyMommy,
Yes, I adopted and nursed from birth. There was a 3 year span from when I weaned my last child (a bio DD). If I had been more optimistic that it would go through (we've twice had adoptions fall through, once when the baby was home for 2 weeks) I would have done the above mentioned protocol by Dr. Jack Newman. But I just couldn't bring myself to prepare to lactate in preparation for a baby, and then have it fall through. Soooooo, I just bought a Lact-aid Supplemental Nursing system and got a prescription for Domperidone to fill at my discretion, and waited for baby. When baby boy came home on Day 3, he started crying and my youngest DD said "Aw Mom, give him Ma-Ma" so I did I nursed him exclusively (with the Lact-aid filled with formula) until about 4months, then did bottles and nursing. He is now 14 months old and crawls up on my knee, taps me on the shoulder (his sign for "I want bobbies") and lays down in my lap and lifts up my shirt! LOL Nursing a toddler has always been my favorite as I was worried less about making enough milk, blah, blah, blah. He has actually been my best nursing experience so far, as I let go of the supplementing with formula thing.

Well that was quite a ramble, PM me with any questions at all