How to get an 8month old to breastfeed

I wish I had seen your post earlier, too! If you are still interested, yes it is possible to get an older baby nursing! Some will take to the breast with patience and a few small tricks, but others will require a great deal of patience, and several bigger tricks! When I got my oldest daughter, Julia, in 1991, she was six months old. She was born with a serious birth defect and spent most of her life in the hospital, not getting her emotional needs met. I was still nursing my third son, who was 2, a couple times a day, and really wanted to get her nursing, too. Here is an article I wrote for New Beginnings, about it. [url=http://www.llli.org/NB/NBSepOct93p135.html]LLLI | Nursing Julia: My Supreme Challenge[/url] There is an error in the article which I have been asking them to correct, but still hasn't been. In the second paragraph I said, referring to nursing our first three children that they had not "all" gotten much milk. I was talking about the fact that, having very little information or support with our first two, I had only managed to nurse part time, for comfort. With our third, I had nursed full time, produced a significant amount of milk, and nursed him until he weaned himself, well beyond infancy. The editor took the "all" out of the statement. I worked so hard to produce milk for our third son that it really bothers me to have it changed to sound like I didn't, not to mention the fact that it is likely to be discouraging to anyone who reads it. Anyway, I was able to go on to help many other moms with older babies, which also taught me more! I think virtually any baby can be taught to accept the breast, with enough patience and creativity. I have also seen that the most challenging cases, like Julia's, tend to be those where the baby has the most to gain from being nurtured at the breast. I would love to hear what happens with the baby. Darillyn

Thank you . I have read your story . My Sons are 19 months and 9 months now . the younger is teething and bits. I have had the both from birth but the adoption will be final really soon so i have not tried nursing them . Not sure what the sw would say about it and did not ask . I have nursed my four bio children but it has been 13 yrs. i have stared to pump and take herbs but no milk yet . anything else you thing that would help .THANK YOU so much

I'd say you have your hands, and arms, full, with two little ones those ages! Are they bio siblings? How old is/are your grandchild/ren? I have a granddaughter who is about to turn three and another grandchild due in March. Have you considered domperidone? It's a big help, for many moms, especially while pumping. I didn't have access to it, back when I was nursing my kids. With the first three, no one had started using it, yet. I found out about it soon after they started using it, in Canada, but didn't have a way to get it. It is such a shame that it still isn't available in the USA. I don't know the best source for ordering it over the internet, at this point, but there are several moms here that are on it, so I am sure they can help you, if you want to try it.I hope the adoptions will be final, soon! I know what a relief it is to finally know that they are really yours and you aren't accountable to a sw. I hope you haven't had to work with a bad sw. With six adoptions, I have seen the best, the worst, and several in between!Darillyn

My oldest son and his wife have 6. 5 boys 9-31/2 yrs and a 4 month old girl . My oldest daughter is due in Dec. with her first . I would use it if I knew where to get it . And at first the sw was not very nice but now she seems to be on the side of the children and knows this is best for everyone .

Congratulations on all your grandchildren! My two have been accidents, coming when the parents have still been in high school. The timing hasn't been the best, but we wouldn't trade my granddaughter for anyone! Her parents have stayed together and worked very hard to make a good home for her. The new expectant parents are very young, but they have a lot of support, on my son's side. The girl's mother has been out and out nasty, but her father is supportive.Did you see the link that someone posted, for ordering domperidone? Noelani

Do I need a presc. for this ? And yes i forgot to answer you about the babys they are siblings .

I had to have a prescription. I ended up ordering from canadadrugsonline.com. I hope it's ok to post that. It was $100 for a three month supply (20 mg four times daily). I contacted the lactation dept in our local hospital to get recommended to an OB/GYN that was supportive of adoptive breastfeeding. She went over the protocol with me and wrote me the prescription.

Sarah, do you live in Canada, or somewhere else outside the USA? If not, is it that the place you ordered the domperidone accepted a prescription from an American provider? I have been out of the loop for a while and wondering if there have been new developments that I haven't heard about! The time I ordered domperidone, after my kids were all weaned, just to see what effect it would have on me, I didn't need any kind of prescription. I ordered it from a place in New Zealand. I guess it doesn't much matter, for ladies who can get prescriptions for it, but I know there are some whose doctors won't prescribe anything that is not available here in the USA.Noelani

Neolani, I live in the US. My doctor that prescribed the meds was very familiar with the protocols, had patients that had done them in the past, and was comfortable with dom. Had this not been the case, I'm sure she wouldn't have written the prescriptions. The online Canadian pharmacy needed and accepted the prescription from my doctor. Dom is available in the US (two pharmacies in our city have it). However only compounding pharmacies have it and it's extremely expensive, at least at the pharmacies in my area. It was not covered by my insurance if I got it at the local compounding pharmacy because it is not FDA approved. So it was much cheaper for me to get dom online.

Oh yes, I had forgotten that some pharmacies can make it up. In fact, I tried to find one around, about 19 years ago, but had no luck. I also heard that some that could do it would not, if it was for use in lactation. That is great that you found a doctor who knew about it all! The only doctor I have ever known who knew anything about it was the one I used to be married to, and he wouldn't have if it hadn't been for me.Darillyn (Noelani)