Would you feed your baby someone else's BM?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it on a regular basis... like have someone else pump and then bottle feed the EBM. Too much trouble, given that formula is an acceptable alternative. But in a situation where I don't have formula or clean water to mix it with, sure, I'd let another woman nurse my baby. I would also offer to feed someone else's hungry baby if I were the one lactating. It never came up, but it wouldn't have bothered me either way.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely I would without hesitation.

I probably would not let my baby drink directly from someone else's tap--there's an intimacy issue with breastfeeding, IMO. But breastmilk out of a bottle? I'd choose it before formula any day.

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that it is so acceptable to drink milk from cows, but not to share BM from someone you know?

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Breast milk can transmit HIV.

You better know this woman very well before accepting the offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a close relative who was breastfed (directly) by his aunt on occasion when his mother was really tired. We all found it a bit weird, but who are we to judge? I know people donate BM, but not much about who uses it. Worth looking into, I think.

Are you hispanic?

I am and my aunt watches many of the cousins during the day when everyone's working. It is completely normal to breast feed your infant niece or nephew when mom is not there. I do not think this is gross or abnormal. I actually think its quite healthy. We are a large and close family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a close relative who was breastfed (directly) by his aunt on occasion when his mother was really tired. We all found it a bit weird, but who are we to judge? I know people donate BM, but not much about who uses it. Worth looking into, I think.

Are you hispanic?

I am and my aunt watches many of the cousins during the day when everyone's working. It is completely normal to breast feed your infant niece or nephew when mom is not there. I do not think this is gross or abnormal. I actually think its quite healthy. We are a large and close family.

Not hispanic (not the quoted PP, either), but it seems to me that breastmilk as common property was the norm until BF fell out of favor altogether in the late 1940s and 50s. I know that my grandparents, all around, were breastfed as infants by various aunts and cousins and even neighbors. In any gathering, someone was sure to be lactating, and hey, it's better than listening to a hungry baby cry! But when breastfeeding had its popular resurgence in the 70s, this is one aspect that didn't survive. Probably because of the increased emphasis on the emotional aspect? And now, of course, the HIV issue.

[Anonymous]

I definitely would if there was some reason I couldn't nurse my baby. In fact, there have been occassions when my sisters and my cousin have nursed my babies.

It's bizarre to me that people are not concerned about the "bodily fluids" coming out of holes in cows or goats bodies, but if it comes out of another human it is gross. That is nothing but cultural perception -- absolutely nothing to do with the reality of it. Typical cows are FULL of disease and drugs.

And most breastmilk is the same. Same componants, same antibodies, same nutritional value. When people talk about breastmilk being "tailored" to a mother's own child, it is only in extremely subtle ways. Human milk is fundamentally the same from one woman to the next. Many NICU's in the country have milk banks to use for the preemies whose own mothers cannot supply breastmilk. They do this of course because of the superiority of breastmilk, which makes a difference for the smallest and weakest babies.

[Anonymous]

I think I read an article about a year back about mothers actually selling their BM to other mothers who couldn't produce but wanted to BF-does anyone remember anything about this(maybe it was on TV)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that it is so acceptable to drink milk from cows, but not to share BM from someone you know?

Because you never see the cow the milk is coming from.......

Just too creepy for me.

[Anonymous]

yuck- NO WAY

[Anonymous]

Women donate their frozen milk all of the time.

I agree I would want to know more about the person who is it coming from.

[Anonymous]

A mom on an online forum where I live sent out a request for breast milk a few days ago. Nobody batted an eye.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that it is so acceptable to drink milk from cows, but not to share BM from someone you know?

Because you never see the cow the milk is coming from.......

Just too creepy for me.

I guess you did not visit Cox Farm this year. I suggest you stay away. It might be too much reality for you I don't think you could handle it.

[Anonymous]

I drink milk that has been pasteurized and is subject to FDA guidelines. Breast milk has no safeguards.

Would I let my baby have someone else's breast milk in an emergency? Yes. If the baby was starving and that's all that's available, fine. But no way when American baby formula is excellent.

I believe that breast milk is best. However, formula is a pretty wonderful substitute. I don't buy for a second that breast milk is so much better (or, put another way, that formula is so much worse, or somehow dangerous) that my baby needs someone else's breast milk over formula. It's this mentality that contributes to the enormous stress and guilt that moms who have trouble nursing experience -- and in my opinion, that guilt and stress are FAR more dangerous to mom and baby than a can of Similac is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A mom on an online forum where I live sent out a request for breast milk a few days ago. Nobody batted an eye.

I have a ton of BM in my freezer that I won't use. I pump more in a day than my baby needs (she only drinks 1 bottle, I nurse her the rest of the time). Let me know if she is still interested and I can give her some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drink milk that has been pasteurized and is subject to FDA guidelines. Breast milk has no safeguards.

I drink raw milk. I am a part of a cow share and that's how I can legally drink raw milk. It is not disgusting or unsafe. Personally pasturized milk allows for very sloppy husbandry. Did you know that the FDA "guidelines" allow for puss from lactating cows (who have mastitis infections) to be left in the milk? You are still drinking puss, but its been pasturized. Yummy! The US has the highest upper limit in comparison to developed nations for puss allowance in our drinking milk.

I am sure a mom who has a severe mastitis infection who is lactating puss along with her milk is not breast feeding ANYONE until that is taken care of, but not our dairy cows, they keep pumping away!