Dear Judy: I want to start breastfeeding again, well pumping my breast milk for my 2 kids Jacob 3 years old, Danielle 2 years old. Do you think this is a crazy idea? My doctor is not supporting me, she says that I was done a year ago, and I should leave it that way… I just want the best for my kids, they are very picky eaters and I think going back to feed them with breast milk will really help them. Do you have any suggestions? Lucy A.
Hi Lucy,
I’m sorry to hear that your doctor is not supporting you. I think that you are the mother and you know what is best for your kids – so if you think that pumping your breastmilk will be what is best for them right now, then that is what you should do. The good news is, re-lactating is much easier after you have already breastfed, so while it will be difficult to get your milk supply back, it will be easier than if you hadn’t already breastfed a baby.
The first thing you will want to do is to start pumping. You should pump every 2-3 hours around the clock for the next month or so. You’ll also want to change your diet so that you can incorporate foods that lead to good milk production. Here are some suggestions for you.
1) Drink Mother’s Milk Tea: This will help to increase your milk supply.
2) Eat Oatmeal: Not the instant kind, the kind you have to cook – it is called “Steel Cut Oats” and it is great at increasing milk supply.
3) Take Fenugreek: read more here to find out how much to take.
4) Read this article for great pumping tips.
5) Drink 1/2 beer per day – the hops in the beer actually serves to increase milk supply – so you don’t need a lot – but a little will go a long way.
6) There is a drug that is fantastic at increasing milk supply and most moms who relactate use it. It is called Domperidone. It is not FDA approved and can not be purchased in US, but if you are in Canada you are in luck. There are potential side effects so you should read up on them. Here is an article to point you in the right direction. You do need a prescription to take it. You can get one from your own OB/GYN or you can email Dr. Jack Newman, he will write you a prescription which you can use.
Have you re-lactated? What tips worked best for you? Please share your tips and tricks by leaving a comment on this post!
A family friend adopted a child and wanted the same bond that she experienced when she breastfed her older children that she gave birth to. She took fenugreek and pumped several times a day and was able to breastfeed her adopted baby. She was able to relactate even though it had been five or six years since she had breastfed a child.
The doctor strongly advised I not breastfeed and put me on ‘dry up’ and birth control pills while I was still in the hospital after my first was born. When he was three months old and had gained only one pound over his birth weight (he was allergic to every formula we tried) I told the doctor I wouldn’t be back. I got myself to a La Leche League leader who had relactated and she helped me. By five months of age, my son was exclusively breastfed, healthy and on his way to the “normal” range of criteria for his age.
Mostly, I just nursed A LOT. Fenugreek and dark beer helped. For weaning my son off the bottle, I used the Lact-Aid system http://www.lact-aid.com/rpt025.htm
It is worth the effort.
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Every time I read a post on relactation I think back to after the engorgement ended and my nipples quit hurting, some two months after giving up on breastfeeding my daughter, yeah, sore nipples lasted with that one, I wished I hadn’t given up so quickly. i wish I had known then that you *can* make the choice to do the HUGE amount of work to relactate.
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Since everybody else is apparently scared to state the obvious, this poor woman is grasping at a very flimsy straw if she’s trying to use this as a way to nourish picky eaters. I know that sounds harsh, but these kids are 2 and 3! The only reason for putting these kids back on breast milk is emotional. It won’t help them in any way at all. Picky eating won’t hurt these children. Just keep offering wholesome foods! Mother’s milk, at this age, is not a very good answer for this problem.
Go ahead and delete this if I’m just not PC enough for telling the truth, but this lady is trying to do something that makes NO sense. I’m a staunch bf’ing advocate and have spent a total of 6 years nursing my own. I’m still going with my last one, in fact. But when a child is weaned, putting him or her back on breastmilk can cause confusion and regression without adding any nutritional value at all.
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Thanks for your comment and your honest feelings. I always take the notion that “mom knows best” – sometimes as a mom you just “know” things that don’t make sense to anyone else. I don’t see any harm in giving her kids breastmilk – it’s no different than giving them a glass of any kind of milk. I believe she said she was planning to pump and give it to them in a cup, not have them try nursing again – so the kids won’t know the difference and she will be giving them something that mother humans give to baby and small child humans – rather than something that is made for a cow to give to its young. I appreciate your point of view, but I don’t share your opinion. Thank you for commenting – Judy
This mother relactated after premature weaning to strengthen the bond with her 9 month old baby . . . think it is a powerful story. http://breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com/2009/08/guest-post-sarah-on-relactating-for-her-son.html Mothers should trust their instincts and trust scientific evidence that breastfeeding is beneficial through toddlerhood, in fact the median age for breastfeeding world-wide is between 4-7 years for evolutionarily advantageous reasons. Comments about breastmilk lacking nutritional value for a 3 year-old are not evidence based. In fact, this post gave me an idea . . . maybe I should relactate and serve my milk in my kids’ cereal instead of cow’s milk or soymilk, both of which are known to be associated with risks!
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Dear Judy, thank you SO much for your support!
I will like to give you an update, I am following all your recomendations, I think things will work! I am so happy…
Thank you.
Lucy A.
The PP makes so sense, how is cows milk, almond milk, or any other milk better than mother’s milk? I came here looking for advice b/c I’d like to relactate to offer mother’s milk to my 20 month old. I would be pumping and giving it to her in a cup. She drinks (demands) so much cows milk and I don’t think its healthy for her.