Why Breast Milk Sharing Is Booming Online

That is just disguisting! I FF my baby and he is just fine. I think Id rather feed my baby something I KNOW is sterile rather than get it from somewhere I have no idea about.
WOW

I would never ever give MY baby someone elses breast milk, that is utterlley disgusting!!!
I formula fed all 8 of my children and they are extremely healthy, smart and very well adjusted children. i have 3 sister in laws that breast fed their children and those babies were extremely scrawnny and always with a runny nose, not the healthiest looking children. they are somewhat anti social, and at ages well beyond nursing are extremely clingy to there mother. i honestly do admire the committment these nursing mothers make, but in that article, whoever says if you give your kids formula then you should not have children, you should yourself have your head examined and dont you dare judge us normal people when you are obviously the one who are nuts!

are you kidding me? It's the opposite, formula fed babies have higher incidents of allergies, long term problems growing up, etc. Breastfed babies are not fat because they do not eat tons of sugar and processed crap. do you know there is Insects in formula? Do your research!

I have to say I agree with you with breast babies being allergic to EVERYTHING for some reason. I did fal for the breast feeding thing when my kids wre born for about 10 mins.. My first child was breast fed for about 8 wks. she ended up in hospital with RSV... Now she has the WORSE seasonal allergies ever. My second child was breast fed for a few mth out of cost more then anything. She was a great baby til she turned 2 and then for some reason in the worse of winter every year my kid ends up at the hospital to help fight what ever is going on. I will say she is not allergic to anything as far as i know. The myth of breast milk is a cure all is Bull If you want your kid to get teh best of your milk the first 2 wks is where all the anit bodies are it is called (hope I spell it right ) Collistrum.
You are not a bad mom if you bottle your kid. If your not a happy boob mom you will ot have a happy boob kid. Geton the bottle and hale a fingr at all the morons out tehr tryn to put guilt on you. They don tknow your reason and it is really not there busines. Im living in New Zealand at the moment and the pressure they put on people here is crazy. My neighbor was in tears over her home chekc parent just nailing her to the wall because she pulled out the bottle. her baby would not feed.I heard all this cryng and yelling i went over gave that lady a bit of my Philly attitude and sent her packing.. Mom is happy still using the bottle today.. So I say each there own and bugger off you no life Do gooders

NewYork...you are so right! I bottle fed both of my girls and they sure don't lack smarts! I could get them on a schedule, where friends of mine were dying from the lack of sleep. These nursed babies (most, not all ) keep a mother up at all hours of the day and night...they are very demanding. My youngest daughter worked in a pre-school, and most of the workers hated to deal with nursed babies. They are soooo cranky, they want what they want and NOW!!!! Since there are 2 ways to feed a baby, I think which ever way you decide is the way to go...after all it is your business. But to tell a woman that because she bottle feeds her baby she shouldn't have children is just plain mean spirited. And by the way, what business is it of hers????

Claire-My child was formula fed & she is not by any means overweight neither does she like junk food, etc. I wasn't able to breast feed, so I wish people would get off their breast feeding high horse and stop judging other moms. To breast feed or not is a PERSONAL choice and not one open to ridicule or criticism by anyone. My daughter did not have even one cold or bout of sickness in her first year & 1/2. She is now nearly 3 and has only had 2 colds & croupe once (thanks to a playdate with a breast fed friend!) My friends who have breast fed ended up having children with constant colds, numerous viruses and more than a few allergies. It was their choice to breast feed and my choice not to. Do you eat any processed or packaged foods? They all contain insects! Any food that has been boxed or packaged is susceptible to insects. Do YOUR research Claire before you start judging other moms please.

NY I have no idea where you get your false information but just because you are against breast feeding you shouldn't make up lies! Breast fed babies do not have more allergies and if anything a women's breast milk has certain components in it that suppress allergies in infants and young children. As for breast milk making babies cranking that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard! And that someone who is not telling the truth is YOU!

I Breast both of my kids...my choic both are very healthy! My Granddaughter was born @ 29 weeks her my could not produce milk...my Grand was given milk from one of my daughter's friend for a few weeks and she's now a healthy 4 year old and very smart inface she's top of her class. :) She only weighed 2 lb & 2 oz everyone from parents staff and friends are so proud. Don't dismiss something just because it's not your thing!

Actually, my brother sister and myself were fed a formula, and we are all very bright, made great grades and never, catch colds or have allergies However, my friend just breast fed her baby, and her baby has ear infections and is getting sick a lot....so who really knows.

Breast is best! Do you honestly think man can make a substitue for millions of years of evolution in under a hundred years? Everything about breastfeeding is ideal! Yeah there is a lot of pressure to breastfeed, because it is the right thing to do. Your medical insurance company even wants you to breastfeed because your baby is so much likely to grow to be a healthy adult.

If every mom chose to breastfeed for at least six months to a year or longer our nation as a whole would be so much healthier. The benefits rendered from breastfeeding would significanly reduce health care costs in this country. We would have fewer people with diabetes, many types of cancer, and less obesity. It has definately been proven that a baby feed exclusively from the breast for the first six months know when he/she is satisfied, compared to a baby feed from a bottle. This will most likely influence the way they eat for the rest of their life. Women who breastfeed have on average around a two inch smaller waist than women who have not. There are so many more benefits to mom and baby I could write about them for hours.

Both my kids were breastfeed and neither are sick. There are many reasons kids may be sick or have allergies: genetics, environment, daycare? Pretty much all my friends breastfeed for at least six months. None of them have sickly children.

I don't get why people think human milk sharing is so gross? The multitude of people in the US drink cows milk, that is from a cows tit! Have you ever visited a dairly? If you think about it, that is gross. Furthermore, we are the only mammals that choose to have a substitue for our own milk and routinely drink the milk of other mammals.

If you were a baby and had to a choice you would want to be breastfeed. I am a Labor and Delivery Nurse and I honestly feel bad for the babies that have mothers who chose to bottlefeed. Yes I understand there are women who cannot breastfeed, for whatever reason and bottlefeeding is better for those babies than not eating. However, if done correctly, the majority of women could breastfeed successfully if they chose to. Yes it is more time consuming, sleep depriving and at times harder then Le Leche League makes it sound, but it is worth the effort for your baby.

This writer obviously has not done any significant research on breastfeeding vs. bottlefeeding.

I breastfed my 3 children. Not a single allergy or ear infection among them.

THAT'S REALLY NOT TRUE AT ALL. MY 3 GROWN SONS WERE ALL BREASTFED AND WERE WONDERFUL BABIES, SLEEPERS AND ARE ALL HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS.

PERHAPS THESE WOMEN YOU REFER TO WERE EATING GASSY OR BITTER TASTING FOODS BEFORE THEY NURSED THEIR INFANTS -- THAT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH IT. WHAT YOU EAT -- UR BABIES EAT. AND YES, I KNOW PLENTY OF ENFAMIL AND SIMILAC BABIES THAT ARE ALL FINE TOO. BUT IF YOU HAD A SICK OR PREMATURE INFANT AND THEY RECOMMENDED BREAST MILK, WOULD YOU CONSIDER A DONATION FROM A CLOSE FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER THAT U TRUSTED? IT'S REALLY NOT REVOLTING AT ALL. YOUR COMMENTS ARE HARSH AND UNFOUNDED.

I breastfed 2 out of 3 of my kids. My oldest couldn't be breast feed, and she was the child with colic, was my smaller baby and was always sick with ear and throat infections. My middle child I breast fed is on honar roll and she doesn't have a weight problem like my oldest. My youngest was in the 99th percentile all the way up through his toddler years. My two youngest are the two heallthiest children. Plus ladies, you loose the baby weight when you brestfeed, you don't have mentral periods, or very light ones while your breastfeed, and get this it's easier and cheaper to breastfeed your child. No bottles to wash, no heating up bottles at midnight, and with special clothing you can feed your baby in public. This is the way we were ment to be fed, by human milk not cow milk.

Well, aren't you just woman of the year. Let us all pat you on the back. That being said, there is a ton of mis-information spouted to us by so called experts every day. One day this is good for you, a week later it is not. Babies on both sides can be sickly. My son was fed formula, and never had one ear infection, very few colds, and to this day (he's 15) has never had diarehha(sp?). He is an excellant student, and an all around good kid. The so called mommy experts can pretty much kiss my butt. If you were able to breast feed, great, if not, that's just the way it is. Does NOT make you a bad mother. There are plenty of bad mothers that breast feed.

Wow. So much (needless) animosity. I gotta add my two cents, though (without a single bit of ill will directed at anyone). First off, it is true that these "experts" are constantly switching gears. When my mom had me, the general concept was that all women were incapable of even giving birth without a man's (doctor's) intercession with general anesthesia, suction, probes and forceps turiing everything into a surgical operation. Formula feeding was the new and modern way to go, because (this was what my mom was taught) you then know precisely how much and what your baby is eating. This became well accepted as more moms joined the workforce (let's face it, wet nurses were/are not easy to find). Then we all experienced the "back to nature" movement. Going the complete opposite direction and meeting confrontation at every turn, it seemed. The idea that a woman was able to give birth on her own was perposterous in the medical community and how in the world would the doctors be able to control and measure the amount of food intake without formula being used. I've lived on both ends of this spectrum. 20 years ago, I was going to have a home birth and nurse my babies until they were weaned. But God had a different plan and I ended up having an emergency Csection 8 weeks before my due date. The baby stayed in NICU for nearly 6 wks and was extremely small for her gestational age. She was immediately sent to a much larger hospital over 300 miles away. I was kept where I was for nearly 2 weeks (we both nearly died). Breastfeeding seemed to be out of the picture for me. When I was allowed to finally bring her home, I was encouraged to try to breast feed and within 1 week my sickly underweight infant began packing on the ounces. The doctors were amazed at her quick recovery. Within 2 wks she would have nothing to do with formula again but her growth and health had taken such a dramatic positive turn. I'm not saying it was easy, but for her (and me) it was the best thing. Her peers that were sent home on formula didn't do nearly as well. I've had 5 more children since then and even enjoyed the blessing of an epidural on 2 of them. I nursed every one of them and although we've had our share of problems, they didn't seem to last as long or be as frequent as my friends who chose not to breast feed. I also noticed that even among my own children, some just seemed to be more inclined to catch whatever cold was going around while others could nearly roll in it and not get sick. Some have a more heavy build while others were more of a lean stock, so to speak. None of them have allergies, but then, neither do my husband or I, so that would lend to it. Bottom line, all moms are different (just because we become a mom doesn't mean we trade in our unique personalities and abilities for a baby) so it stands to reason that all babies are different. We should be grateful we live in a time when we are not "forced" to feed our babies one way or another. Just so long as we do indeed do the best we can and make the best judgement. As for using a milk bank, there are pros and cons. It does seem a bit weird, but if you think about it, it may not be as strange as some of the other things we have banks for (blood, organs, etc). I don't think I would use a milk bank, but would be more inclined to look within my own circle of friends and family for a bit of "lactating assistance".

i too tried in vain to breast feed our daughter..it was very depressing since my sister did both her children and had left overs galore in the freezer everytime.......i once drank in one day 6 32-ounce bottles of water.....cranberry juice......and still nothing...i was able to only get 2 ounces of breast milk...talk about being depressed...i wanted to try the viatmin, i forget the name, that helps produce milk but was scared what would be passed to our daughter...our daughter was breastfeed for enough for her to get the clostrium (sp?)..then i started pumping for 6 weeks...afterwards...i was done...it was way depressing.....i will tell you though that she has only had a little runny nose from daycare which wasnt bad...nothing to keep her up all night and my sister's one son had to have tubes in his ears because of the ear aches...so who knows....i know for sure that before it was such a HUGE damn deal....ALL of us were formula feed and i DO not consider myself less of a person!!!!!!

Lynn - I neither want nor do I need a pat on the back. I made decisions that I am extremely confident about. They weren't heroic in nature - they were simply natural.

Almost losing my daughter to complications caused by formula...well...no need to pat me on the back for that one, either. In fact, I'm quite ashamed that I went against Dr. Gordon's advice and caved to the pressure of misinformed NICU personnel.

Why did my post trigger such hostility, anyhow?