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Hi,
Has anyone had experience, successful or otherwise, with breastfeeding a child beginning after infancy. We just adopted a 15 month-old girl and I'd like to give her the chance to BF.
I also have a 3 month-old son and have good supply so that is less of an issue. I'm thinking of trying to BF my daughter once a day as a way of bonding, but I'm unsure of whether a child that age who has never BF can learn to nurse without biting, etc.
She also has trouble sitting still for me to read her a story, for example, so I'm wondering whether we need to work on that first, before trying to nurse.
Thanks so much for any advice!
Joy
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15 month may be a bit old for B.feeding. Especially if she has never been b.fed and is not used to it.
You can bond with her in other ways.Hold her all day, carry her as much as possible, lot of skin to skin would be lovely ,Play in the tub together with bath toys, sing to her. I would recommend co-sleeping, now that she is past the age of SIDS.
Wish you all the best and congratulations on your being a mom all over again.
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I am breastfeeding my son adopted at 22 months. It was super easy. He watched his little sister nurse, and one day he wanted to as well. He did need a little training with a avant bottle to learn to open his mouth wide enough. There have been people who get 3 and 4 year olds to nurse. It is definitely not too late! It is so good for health and attachment. Please give it a try.
It DEFINITELY is not too late! Good for you for thinking of doing this. I have a friend with adopted twin girls - did not breastfeed them when they first came home at 9 months. When they were 18 months she gave birth, and after watching their brother nurse wanted to try it. She successfully got them to latch and they nursed longer than the bio baby!
It is SO wonderful for attachment and bonding - she is lucky to have you. I've been nursing our adopted son since 5 months and he is now just over two. There is a lot of societal pressure to stop - but I'll keep going until he is ready!
I would start with holding her skin-to-skin while giving bottles, then move on to co-bathing if you aren't already. Have her around as much as possible while the baby is nursing.
For more concrete info - try these two websites. The first one has a specific forum for teaching a toddler or older baby how to nurse (google Four Friends Adoptive Breastfeeding) and the other offers great advice too, and how to increase your supply if you need to in the future (google Ask Lenore). Good luck - PM me if you want to chat or have questions.
Karyn
Thanks zombie and Karyn for the encouragement. Yesterday was a tough day for me then I woke up and read your messages and it perked me up! I started pumping this morning as a first step. Slowly, slowly, and this just might work! Momto1-2, thanks for your reply also. I know what I'm trying to do isn't typical and I appreciated your other suggestions on bonding.Take care, Joy
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