Giving my elder daughter my breast milk for my newborn

[hquek]

Mummies are right in that the BM will be tailored for the younger child’s needs. BUT…it’s still far more nutritious than formula. I read somewhere long time ago that it’s ok to do that (ie feed BM to older child).


And also fully agree that BM should not be the only source of nutrients for older kids - solids should be taking on this role already.

Take it as added booster - surely it’ll be such a crime to waste those precious drops of milk.

[toddles]

anastashia:

yea, my girl is now 21/2 yrs n my babe is 3mths plus. At first i didn't give my older child my milk cos i tot my milk now is catered for a newborn. Would it be too fatty n nutritious for my older one.


My daughter was breast fed, no formula, till i was preggy with my 2nd babe. Almost 20mths. She almost never fall sick before. after weaning, she fell sick more often.

recently met mothers who is breastfeeding newborn and gave her milk to her 3 years old daughter. Her PD actually encouraged that. So i decided since I've so much milk, i might as well give to my daughter too.

Now she's taking half BM and half formula.

Do u think if she just take my BM and no formula would be ok for her?

How about whatever BM you have, and fresh milk for the rest of the time, if it doesn't make up the 500ml recommended amt of daily milk intake?

Personally (and there was a long discussion on a related thread on FM), I believe that fresh milk is good enough (maybe even better) than FM for babies above 1yr old.

[cmm]

anastashia:

yea, my girl is now 21/2 yrs n my babe is 3mths plus. At first i didn't give my older child my milk cos i tot my milk now is catered for a newborn. Would it be too fatty n nutritious for my older one.

But remember that your older child is also more active than a 3mth old baby? So your gal should be able to burn off those extra calories easily...hehe

This article suggests that mature breastmilk may be higher in calories than newborn milk, though the results are not conclusive.

http://www.parentingscience.com/calories-in-breast-milk.html

anastashia:

Now she's taking half BM and half formula.

Do u think if she just take my BM and no formula would be ok for her?

This is what my older boy has been drinking (and still drinks) for the past 2 years. No problem at all. Personally, I find that formula milk has too much additives for my liking. Nothing beats fresh breastmilk, quality guaranteed :love:

[anastashia]

schellen:

Since you have a newborn, your body makes milk specifically for your newborn. What I mean is this: breastmilk is unlike formula in that it changes its composition as your baby grows to cater perfectly to your baby's needs. So you can still give your elder child the breastmilk except that it will not fit his/her needs exactly. For example, within the first year, babies need milk with a high fat content so if your elder child is much older, he/she may get \"extra fat\", though I don't know if this kind of \"fat\" is a good or bad thing.


Hmmm... maybe when my baby doesn't finish any EBM, I can discreetly mix it into her jie-jie's milk so as not to waste it.

That's what i've been doing now. if not wasted.

[schweppes]

What I used to do eons ago was to mix the expressed breastmilk (EBM) with a bit of milo or baby cereal and gave it to DD1 when she was a toddler. That way, the milo/ cereal \"masked\" the taste of the BM. As I was breastfeeding DD2 then, I felt that the white gold (that's what I call BM since it is so precious) was good for DD1 too. :lol:

[Little M]

I also do that last time when I was bfing DD. The excess would b given to DS. Nothing is wasted.

[anastashia]

schweppes:

What I used to do eons ago was to mix the expressed breastmilk (EBM) with a bit of milo or baby cereal and gave it to DD1 when she was a toddler. That way, the milo/ cereal \"masked\" the taste of the BM. As I was breastfeeding DD2 then, I felt that the white gold (that's what I call BM since it is so precious) was good for DD1 too. :lol:

maybe my milk is quite thick. my girl once wanted to puke when she drank the mixed EBM with Fresh milk. So i mixed with milo then she could drink it. Now i mixed EBM with formula. the vanila smell mask the EBM smell.

[tree nymph]

i did it too. i keep a little as ebm for rainy days, the rest give to elder ones.

[Andaiz]

Hee hee, anatasia, you remind me of my breastfeeding days (I still do partially to my DD3). Yes, by all means, feed your DD1 the BM. Being a mobile, active child, she'd burnt off the fat in no time, yet retaining more nutrients than formula milk!


Just to share my personal experience, for DD1 and DD2, I was actually tandem feeding till DD1 self-weaned at 2.5 years which meant she was BF during my pg and 6 months tandem feeding. After that, she still gets BM in a cup when she wants that. Never quite took to formula and we switched her to fresh milk at 3 without issues.

DD2 refuses to be BF as soon as we fell pg with DD3. Even now, DD3 would want to suckle at bedtime. She's coming 4 soon and I must say that even though she's a premie, she holds out very well against the virus that goes around the childcare. Breastmilk? I'd like to think so :love:

[anastashia]

yes i agree BM is much better than formula. when i was pg with DD2, the condition wasn’t very stable. so gynae asked me to start weaning off feeding my DD1. She was about 18-20 mths then when she also felt the taste kinda differ. Now whenever I giving DD2 BM she want to suckle too must doesn’t want to drink. So she’d only suckle for about 1 min. I miss those time when i could feed her for 15 mins… haiya…


When DD1 was on exclusive BM she almost never fall sick before. As she was quite fussy with food, my PD suggest she takes formula milk. Now i hv lots of BM, my PD also encourage me to give her my milk. I’m now mixing with formula to cover the BM taste. She wouldn’t want pure BM now. haha… ironical when she had drunk it for coming 2 years.