Role call on ABFing moms

Hi Danielle, Welcome to the group, and congrats on your decision to bfeed! One thing to add - since you have a sensitive stomach I would add the Blessed Thistle and the Fenugreek - that's the role of the BT - to calm the stomach and it has mild milk making properties. It may help. I had a few days of feeling nauseated on the dom but it subsided quickly. In terms of storage - after you pump just put the whole horn and bottle into the fridge as one unit, then when you pump again take it out and use it. Saves lots of cleaning, etc. I would empty the whole thing into freezer bags at the end of the day and clean the pump then. Hope this helps! karyn

Karyn~ Thanks for the reply. I will certainly give the Fenugreek a try along with the BT. If it helps, it will be well worth it. The suggestion on the storage makes a lot of sense...thanks again~ Danielle

Hi all. Our baby is due October 7th. I do want to nurse but I am not big into taking any meds. We bought both the Medela SNS and the Lact-aid Deluxe to use w/formula. I think I am mainly looking for the bonding experience over actually lactating. I hope maybe just the constant "nursing" will induce lactation?! Do you think? Should I maybe pump as well? If I do induce milk production that would just be a bonus for me I think. Any suggestions or ideas/feedback would be great. Nicole

Hi Nicole, Congrats on your match! I have heard that just using the supplementor will cause some women to produce a bit of milk - and if the bonding is what you are after then this will work great! I would get really familiar with it before baby comes, as it is a bit awkward at first and can be frustrating when you have a crying baby to appease... Would you be ok with taking some herbs? Some women just use herbs to stimulate milk production. Let me know and I can forward you some info if that is of any interest to you. Good luck with everything! Karyn

Hi NicoleCongrats on your match! We brought home our baby son 3 weeks ago and I've been nursing him from the day after he was born. I used herbs, fenugreek and blessed thistle, in tea and supplement form. I ate and still eat lots of oatmeal. I did order the drug domperidone from a UK pharmacy (no prescription needed) and have taken it with no problems or side effects (it is a G.I. drug with a side effect of increasing prolactin).I also rented a hospital grade pump and began pumping a month before his due date. It worked! I began producing tiny drops of milk right before he was born. I am guessing that the pumping was the most instrumental part of the protocol. I do supplement him with formula as my supply isn't huge. But it has been such a blessing. I pray all goes well with your adoption plan and your efforts to nurse your baby. Melanie

I've just started investigating ABF. We have one son who we adopted internationally at 12 months and I have to admit I initially had some issues in boding with him. I just felt like I was babysitting someone else's child. (it's been 2 years and things are fine now) We're adopting domestically this time, and I'm hoping that ABF will help the bonding with our future daughter (due in May). I took a look at the protocol on lenore's site, but since I'm in my mid-40's I'm worried about going on bc. Is there any point to taking dom without bc? I'll at least do the herbs and oatmeal. How do I go about finding a breast pump? Sherri

Hi Sherry, Lots of moms have done the dom/herbs without the bc and done quite well. It seems as though the dom is the real key - some have done without it, but don't end up with much of a supply...keep in mind if it is breast cancer you are concerned about that women who breastfeed for prolonged periods have significantly reduced rates of that...so it sort of evens out I would think. I bought my pump on ebay and then just replaced the plastic parts that may have had residue on them - it is still working great. Otherwise - you can get new ones at Toys R Us or any baby shoppe that sells diapers etc. I think even Walmart, Target etc carry them. Just be aware of what kind you want - some are better than others for moms who are inducing lactation - most moms use the Medela pump in style or the Limerick (but it is very expensive...). As Lenore has a section for moms selling pumps too... Good luck and feel free to ask any questions! Karyn

Oops, I made a mistake in my earlier post and I can't figure out how to edit it. Baby is due in March, not May. Thanks for the info. My concern about bcp is the increased risk of blot clots and stroke in women over 40. I'm OK with having to use a Lact-Aid for supplimental feeding if I don't make enough milk, so I think I am going to try the dom/herbs.

Hi Sherri! Congratulations on your plan to adopt again. I pumped and used dom/herbs without BC and did get a supply of milk. I don't make enough to exclusively feed my new son, but at least it is some. What a blessings in terms of bonding and comforting him it has been. Another thought on pumps. You can rent the good hospital grade kind at a medical supply store. I did this for $50/month. Blessings to your family, Melanie

About the oatmeal, can it be any oatmeal? I haven't ever attempted making real oatmeal and I like the instant kind, does that work just as good as regular oatmeal?

Hello, You bet, any kind is fine. You can even eat oatmeal cookies, or cook with it (like add it to meatloaf etc). I think Four Friends has a section on recipes etc - eating a bowl of oatmeal every day gets pretty tiring!

I've been on Yasmin and domeridone for about a month now. Wooo, doggie, my breasts are SORE! :)

Hi! I am botha currently ABFing momma and a soon to be ABFing momma! My son is 3.5 years old and came hom at 7.5 months old. It took me (blessedly) 24 hours to get him to start nursing. I had a full supply and we are still going strong. I am also pumping and building a supply for the new baby and will be tandem breastfeeding as of the current plan. I don't know how long we will go for, but he isn't ready to stop yet. He loves his guh-guhs.

Hello, I started the regular Newman-Goldfarb protocol 2 weeks ago. We are not matched, have had a couple of near misses, and really have no idea when this is going to happen, though we have been waiting for almost 9 months and the average at our agency is 12-18 months, so I figure this is as good a time to start as any with drugs. Anyone go to La Leche League meetings on a regular basis? Have you found them to be a helpful resource? Good luck to all!

Hi, Everyone. My name is Kate and I am new to the Adoption forum. I originally joined because we have just started the process of adopting from Ethiopia and wanted info and connections to that community, but I am VERY excited to see the adoptive breastfeeding threads as well. I will try to keep this short, but I apologize if it does get long. I did attempt ABF with my son True (currently 19 m). At the time he was born we were not homestudied or signed with an agency, and were thinking we would start the adoption process sometime the following year. True is AA and was born with a neurological injury that made him a very difficult baby to place even though he did excellent the first few days of life (and continued to do well). My DH and I found out about this little guy from some friends and 2 weeks later we were able to bring him home as our son. I had done a little research on ABF before all of this and was really keen on trying it for our adoted children (it honestly brought huge amounts of healing to myself to know that even though I would probably never experience pregnancy my body could still nurture our children to some extent). Adopting a child who was special needs made this desire even greater. Well, in the mad whorl of paper work I started all the herbs I found to help with lactation and pumped on a very intense schedule. I also lined up a friend who was willing to stock my freezer with breastmilk for the next few months. The pumping produced a few drops of milk which made me very happy, but having breast milk to supplement with took a huge amount of pressure off of me to try and get a large supply of milk. I was able to ABF True for the first 2.5 months with a Lact-Aid supplementer, and I am so thankful for the bonding relationship we quickly established from this. However, he has a very weak suck and as his milk needs increased it was too fatiguing for both of us to continue. I was sad to give it up (and realize now with proper support we may have been able to go longer), but was very thankful to be able to give him breastmilk for a while longer. With this next adoption, I am going to be starting the protocol shortly. I also am excited to see that many of you have had successful nursing relationships started with an older infant. Thanks for taking the time to read my story. I am looking forward to getting to know you in the future. Kate