someone elses milk?

[fussybutt]

I agree, if you know the mama and trust her lifestyle go for it. If her baby is only 5 months old you can be assured she had the important health screening tests during pregnancy to rule out underlying health conditions/ diseases that could be tranferred in milk.

I've donated lots to a friend who is having supply issues and EPing. Our babies are about 6 weeks apart. Since the amount he gets from other mama's is significant, I try to give fresh as much as possible since it is better than frozen. It sounds like you are only short a few ounces a day. I wouldn't be concerned about using fresh vs. frozen or younger babies milk vs. older babies milk. You could also just give a few extra ounces of the younger milk if your baby seems hungry after.

[COIrishMom]

I have donated quite a bit of milk via Eats on Feets and Human Milk for Human Babies, so I'm obviously a fan One of the babies I donate to is the same age as my baby, but the other is 6 months older. Both babies have thrived on the milk I've given them.

Breastmilk does change as the baby gets older. From what I've read, after 6 months, the milk starts to get a bit lower in fat. However, 1) I'm not sure it's enough to matter and 2) if your baby is getting a combo of food, water and breastmilk, I'm sure it would even out. In short, I wouldn't worry about it that much. If you want milk from a mom with a baby of a similar age, you can probably find it at Eats on Feets or HMHB (both have Facebook pages to facilitate milk exchanges). The Eats on Feets website also provide an excellent list of screening questions you can ask potential donors to be sure the milk is safe. However, if you are not comfortable getting breastmilk from a stranger and are comfortable with your cousins diet and lifestyle, it may be worth at least giving it a try!

On milk from milk banks - the other posters are correct that it is pasteurized (which destroys some of the beneficial properties of the milk) and very expensive (~$3.50 an oz, from what I've read).

Hope that helps!

[FindingMercy]

Don't worry too much about the age difference. I'm currently feeding my son whom we adopted with the milk supply my body made when his sister was born (biological) 2.5 years ago.

Obviously, matching age is ideal, but any age milk is still superior for your baby over formula.

[IsabelsMama]

@FindingMercy - did you freeze your milk for 2.5 yrs before giving it to your adopted child? I am really interested to know because I have inadequate breast tissue and therefore major milk supply issues when trying to keep up with the needs of a baby. I have used donated milk before for this reason. We lost a micropreemie 7 weeks ago and I pumped 140 ounces which I have frozen. I was thinking if I was not pregnant again 2-3 months from now I would need to donate it since they say to only deep freeze it for a year. However, if that timeline can be stretched, I would be very interested in keeping it longer, because having that milk store would help me SO much when struggling with milk supply for another baby someday!

[FindingMercy]

Originally Posted by IsabelsMama @FindingMercy - did you freeze your milk for 2.5 yrs before giving it to your adopted child? I am really interested to know because I have inadequate breast tissue and therefore major milk supply issues when trying to keep up with the needs of a baby. I have used donated milk before for this reason. We lost a micropreemie 7 weeks ago and I pumped 140 ounces which I have frozen. I was thinking if I was not pregnant again 2-3 months from now I would need to donate it since they say to only deep freeze it for a year. However, if that timeline can be stretched, I would be very interested in keeping it longer, because having that milk store would help me SO much when struggling with milk supply for another baby someday!

I started pumping nightly when my DD was less than a year old just to keep my supply above normal. I donated that milk right away. Then as we got to the point that we were a year out from potentially having a baby in our home, I started keeping it in the deep freeze. I then donated it as it got to be a couple months from expiring. I increased my pumping as my DD decreased her nursing so that I maintained a supply. I was able to exclusively breastfeed him for 6 months just with the supply I maintained. He now has some health problems and has to be on fortified milk in order to grow, so I'm thankful for the freezer stash I have left as I'm not able to pump very much now. It only keeps in a deep freeze for about a year, but I'm still thawing and using some milk that's 13 months old and just testing it for freshness. I also make sure he gets a combo of the milk I'm pumping fresh now with the freezer milk as frozen milk loses some of its nutrients and antibodies when frozen for so long. He's also getting some milk from a friend of mine who graciously donated her excess milk to me while she was pumping for her newborn baby in the NICU. That newborn milk is golden!