Breast milk sharing

ToAoShesha · October 2013

Since polls are been taking over the board I wanted to add a few I have been thinking about.

Breast milk sharing/donating, what are your thoughts?

NicoleSB80 · October 2013

I haven't had to use And haven't made enough to donate but I would totally do both. I have a friend whose baby is 2 years old and she still pumps once a day to donate to the local hospital.

I would only do it though a hospital or similar place though, not eBay, Craigslist or the like.

pinottoparenthood · October 2013

NicoleSB80 said:

I haven't had to use And haven't made enough to donate but I would totally do both. I have a friend whose baby is 2 years old and she still pumps once a day to donate to the local hospital. I would only do it though a hospital or similar place though, not eBay, Craigslist or the like.

All of this. I think it's great that others would be so generous to share their milk with babies who need it. Unfortunately, I am way too busy just pumping enough for my little dude to have any extra, or I would donate. I think you need at least 500 oz or something like that to even donate.

ClandestineX · October 2013

I would donate it if I could, I would not use donated milk myself.

AAAHinkley · October 2013

My sister had a baby 5 weeks after me and she started going back to school in September. I, at one point, had a freezer full of milk and she forgot to pump some for her first day of class....she asked if I would be willing to give her a few bags of milk. I was totally ok with that!!

MrsHartman7 · October 2013

Depending on what I have stashed when LO weans completely, I would definitely donate. The thought of him having some one else's milk kind of weirds me out, and now that he is older I would not take donated milk. But hypothetically if he had been preemie and couldnt have formula and I couldnt make milk for him, I would accept it in a heartbeat.

ToAoShesha · October 2013

I have donated.. For those of you comfortable with private donation you an go through two FB groups: eats on feets and human milk 4 human babies.... There is no minimum amount or tests to be done.... It's between donor and recipient to ask questions. I love reading the stories and contacting families in need to donate

I am not sure I would use donor milk but I guess it would depend on the situation

bumpuser5078523 · October 2013

I selected would donate, but not use.
If it was an emergency I wouldn't mind nursing someone else's kid or having them nurse mine, but I'm not opposed to formula, so I don't see it happening. I wouldn't use donor milk just because I am fine feeding formula and I don't want to take the milk from someone who needs it.

ToAoShesha · October 2013

@cece2682.... Have you heard of wet nurse? It's an older term but still popular in some countries & cultures.
That's what they did before pumps & formula

ClandestineX · October 2013

cece2682 said:

I have heard the term. But since we DO have pumps and formula, why would people do this?

Some moms believe the bottle is the devil lol.

Either that or their child won't take a bottle. It isn't uncommon and I think a few April babies here have yet to take a bottle despite multiple attempts.

squatchiebaby · October 2013

I'm a member of a local nursing group on facebook that has some members who informally share milk. I personally wouldn't do it but there are many women who do. I just feel like I would have to know the donor really well before I was comfortable with it. There was a news piece earlier this month about this. Here's the link if anyone is interested.
https://m.waff.com/#!/newsDetail/23741398

ToAoShesha · October 2013

@bobosquared thatnk for sharing that article.... But that article has already been shredded for being created by a party with an agenda behind the message.... Later today (it's 5am here... Just feeding) I can post the dozen articles disproving the science behind that article if people would like.

nearly_klo · October 2013

I'd happily give or recieve. I don't produce enough to donate though.
I have no objection to formula, but i have heard of babies who really struggle on formula, so I'd totally take it in that case.
Equally, my 2 SIL's have both had babies this month, and I'd happily cross nurse or have them nurse my dd2.

squatchiebaby · October 2013

ToAoShesha said:
@bobosquared thatnk for sharing that article.... But that article has already been shredded for being created by a party with an agenda behind the message.... Later today (it's 5am here... Just feeding) I can post the dozen articles disproving the science behind that article if people would like.

But media never has an agenda! Haha! Yes, please post. I don't want to be the spreader of incorrect information.

La Olivia · October 2013

I put grosses me out. I have struggled with low supply pretty much since the beginning. We supplement with formula. I never really considered milk donation because I just don't feel like there is enough oversight of any of the groups that share milk to ensure proper collection/storage/transport for me to feel comfortable.

JSS1002 · October 2013

I would happily give surplus milk to anybody I knew needed it.

If I needed it, I would use it, but only from a milk bank. It isn't for me to use unscreened milk, even if it was from a trusted source. No judgment, just not a good idea in my mind.

ToAoShesha · October 2013

Hey ladies!!

Sorry it has taken me a little to respond but it is Sunday and I am enjoying family time. There were many more articles (none of course are perfect) talking about the imperfections of the original article. Not as much disproving science (bad word choice) but saying the article was bias as it was created by a company that would profit from the study. There were a few other I really wanted to share but I can't find them at this moment... I will keep looking and post if I can find them. I also included one study that found some AMAZING findings about breast milk

At the end of the day to each their own

We are all mommies trying to do what is best for our babies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EmtqgR1qXQ&app=desktop

https://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/10/discovered-a-natural-protein-in-breast-milk-that-fights-hiv/

https://m.wfmz.com/breast-milk-sold-donated-online-often-tainted-study-finds/-/15946050/22549372/-/ba15vu/-/index.html

https://ideas.time.com/2013/10/22/why-i-still-trust-online-breast-milk-sites-for-my-baby/

This one is milk sharing from a dads perception

https://www.readjdm.com/main/jdm/more/milksharing_is_awesome

bibliophileemily · October 2013

...I'd let someone else nurse my kid, and I'd happily nurse someone else's kid if he/she was hungry and the mother was unable to.
Why is it personal? It's just food. There's some element of bonding to it, sure, but 90% of it is getting the baby fed.
Not sure how to vote since I don't pump, but if someone desperately needed milk for her baby, as long as I'm producing it, they can have it. I'd use it too if necessary, although I'd probably sooner just ask someone to nurse my baby straight up than pump and do the bottle thing because I don't know if Sonya will take a bottle or not.

pinottoparenthood · October 2013

I believe I read an article about how a nursing mom found a baby that someone had thrown away (so awful) and saved its life by nursing it. I would do it in a heartbeat.

KrisM86 · October 2013

I chose SS, because I don't really have extra to donate, but would donate if I did. I've also never needed to use anyone else's breastmilk but also would if I needed to. Personally, I'd rather use donated breastmilk than formula, as long as I could be sure it was safe. Also, I'd be fine with my sisters, close friends, or cousins nursing my baby if he was hungry, they were able to, and I didn't have pumped milk available or he wouldn't take a bottle.

TnArichmond · October 2013

I have given some to a friend who had serious BFing problems in the beginning and I had a huge stash. We are close, so she wasn't worried about going through any testing or anything. Now, I am having supply problems, and she is not, and has offered to give some to me but I declined. She smokes, and I don't want to have any nicotine given to LO, especially since I don't even smoke. If absolutely necessary, I would probably just switch to all formula, since he is about 1/2 and 1/2 now anyway. But if I were to take BM, I would only go through an agency that tests first.

evertz · October 2013

I loaned my MIL some milk when she was babysitting DH's cousin's baby. It was an emergency parents are working late gma has to pick up kiddo from daycare type situation. They just came over and used some of my freezer stash. NBD.

However, I probably wouldn't donate to a bank or anything because I don't think I make enough extra to support that. I've got about a weeks worth in the freezer and use all of what I pump daily.

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