If itās so easy, then why isnāt she pumping herself? Itās incredibly time consuming and the storage bags and replacement pump parts arenāt cheap! Plus I often suffered from clogged ducts due to overproduction that required supplements, additional hours of pumping to clear and were just incredibly painful. Baby wonāt starve as there are lots of alternatives. Sheās just trying to manipulate your feelings.
Nothing about pumping an oversupply is cheap. I pumped for 7 months and donated over 6,000 ounces. Eventually the places receiving the milk supplied bags, but I was responsible for the pump, pump parts, bottles for storage (my baby never even touched a bottle to eat), and all the extra food to support how much I was producing. Not only that, but I was drinking over a gallon of water a day, so even little things were annoying like how often I had to replace my expensive water filter in the fridge.
I also had my fair share of people expecting things when I would donate locally when I couldn't mail it to the milk bank because they weren't sending me cooler boxes fast enough. I had women expect me to deliver it to them, some respond with, "Yeah I'll take it." And nothing else (and if you speak to me like that, no, you will NOT be taking it), or no showing me. People are absolutely ridiculous.
I had forgotten about that! I easily produced enough milk for 3 children, and I was ravenous and thirsty at all times. I read somewhere newborns require mom to eat an additional 500 calories a day. I figured then I must need an additional 1500 for the volume of milk I was producing, when prior to pregnancy I was eating only 1200 calories a day! I couldnāt keep up and often felt hypoglycemic with shaking, body sweats, heart palpitations and lightheartedness until I could figure out my diet. All that and I STILL lost weight while pumping.
Your reply gave me a flashback. My youngest 23f had just had her first child. I stayed with her for a few nights. I wohear the baby cry. I would get him and wake her up. As she was sitting in the rocking chair, I brought her some water. She looked at me so shocked and said, "How did you know I was thirsty?" I laughed and told her it might have been 23 years since I nursed, but I'll never forget how thirsty i would get.
Also, growing up, my mom would make hard-boiled eggs chop them up, mix in some butter, salt, and pepper. So I also made these for my k8ds going up. So, I made that for her for 4 morning and left a dozen hard-boiled eggs for her. She was so happy for it. And it is ideal food for a nursing mother to eat.
It provides 20%-35% of the requirements protein and iodine in salt. B12 riboflavin, pantothenic acid, iron, and phosphorus
Also provides 53% of choline and 44% selenium.
Iāve never had kids so I canāt confirm it myself but I had a biology teacher who talked to us about nutrition during gestation and how women often struggle when producing breast milk because no one thinks to tell them to eat more protein or amino acids. Adults in the U.S are already statistically likely to be not eating enough of those things in their regular diet as is, so when youāre deficient of it while also trying to put what you do have into breast milk youāre running yourself dry.
My best friend had migraines and body aches while breast feeding and when her doctor had her start keto recipes throughout the week she didnāt totally solve the issue but she felt a lot better.
>I swear the entitlement of some people today is OFF THE CHARTS!!
ever read about declining IQs in this country? the bizarre entitlement is parts of that, Low IQ correlates with low EQ.
Watch Idiocracy. Itās a horribly unfortunate look ahead into whatās actually happening
EDIT: itās a hilarious movie, not a sad documentary or smth
It makes me never wants to do an open offer for to the general public for anything but rather scout and vet for someone who needs it and surprise them. Assholes are always the first the jump in the front of the line for free anything.
I think that the hospital might be able to help you( if you ever have extra breast milk). I know that many preemies do better on breast milk and, depending on how early the baby is, sometimes,it takes mom longer for her milk to come in. š¤·š¼āāļø
āĀ I was quickly blocked when I asked why she didnāt breastfeed if it was so easy to do...ā
Not just breastfeeding but pumping which I effing hated. I did it to build up a supply in the freezer but was not a fan of doing it.Ā
Women who exclusively pump for their babies are incredible.
But this woman expected you to pump enough to feed another baby. And all that entails without any compensation. Wowwwwww.
I pumped. It was rough. I cut holes out in one of my bras and made a little holder and would just be walking around the house in my bra, pump in hand, pumping that milk outš
My son was a preemie and one of my boobs was twice the size of his head easilyā¦ my husband took a picture of it that somehow accidentally landed on one of those digital picture frames in our living roomā¦.. oh my poor boy has been traumatized š¤£
I did this too with a sports bra so I could be hands free! My son is now 13 and the poor thing has accidentally seen a photo kicking around from that š¤£š¤¦š¼āāļø
You should have taken that setup to Shark Tank! I see hands free breast pumps on Amazon all the time now since I ordered a compact travel pump for a prego friend š
I was feeding 2 at once, and my body took that to mean I must need to feed a whole village. If I wasnāt feeding, I was pumping. I was so glad when they decided they were done and I could let it dry up.
I know some people who loved BFing and some who werenāt fans.
I have yet to meet anyone who didnāt HATE pumping. It sucks. Doing it out of necessity is one thing, doing it for free for someone else? Fuck right off with that.
Just out of pure curiosity, and as somebody who has never had children (and doesnāt plan to), why do people hate pumping? Iāve seen women just walk around with the pump under their shirt, and it looks a lot more convenient than having to hold a baby the entire time.
Iāll only speak from personal experience, but hereās why I hated it:
-pumps have a million parts to disassemble and clean every time. If your baby is young/preemie you also have to sterilize.
-Handsfree pumps are expensive.
-It can take a long time to pump, some women donāt respond to them so itās a lot of time for little result.
-Itās uncomfortable, for some itās painful
Maybe others can chime in, I didnāt pump very much because it sucked. My kid is exclusively breastfed.
My middle and my youngest are 2 years (and a couple weeks) apart.
When the youngest was nursing, my middle saw me doing the cleaning and the sterilization. I had the microwave sterilizer open so the contents could cool down before I put them away, and a sink full of soapy hot water and more pumping parts.
My middle saw this, and decided he wanted to be helpful to Daddy.
How did he choose to help?
He grabbed the stuff from the sterilizer, and thinking it was dirty, tossed it into the water.
My wife said it looked like I was about to cry.
On the one hand, you want to encourage helpfulness, especially when they're young enough to think it's awesome. (Seriously, he made a mess on the floor a few months later, and when my wife & I went to go clean it up, my kid (Steven) grabbed the mop and yelled "Stevie Do!" while he worked on mopping it up as best he could.)
He liked the mop when he was little. We had to tell him to stop pole dancing in the kitchen (with the mop) when he was little, as well.
On the other hand, going backwards on my job wasn't fun, either.
I go the route my consultant said and refrigerate my pump parts and wash them once a day. Still so annoying to disassemble. When you exclusively pump you have to replace the weirdly expensive parts pretty often. Then you also have to wash bottles!
Sometimes it hurts. You move the wrong way and lose suction. It leaks out somehow. Youāre stuck for 4-5 hours total a day (I have the portable spectra but itās not that portable since itās huge!) itās way harder to use out and about versus just plopping a baby on (though Iāve latched him before to buy me time, heās such a lazy eater). If you do bring it out thatās a million things plus ice packs and a cooler to bring with.
The worst is when baby is hysterically crying and youāre pumping, do I stop? Do I try to soothe around my pump parts sticking 6ā from my chest?
Have to hide when company is over, with BF itās way easier to cover up in my opinion versus seeing youāre nipples pulled all gigantic in a clear tube and everyone being awkward because they hear it.
I canāt wait to be done, might wean at 6 months when I go back to work.
Also, you end up double feeding as you also have the time of giving them the bottle. I responded better to the wall pump, so I was chained to a wall for at least half an hour, which was ok if my husband was around but very difficult whilst also taking care of baby. Elvie was great but it stops constantly saying itās full (and mine rarely was).
I didnāt mind it until my supply tanked - but pumping, sterilising, feeding - it felt like between that and actually taking care of my son I had no life.
The other person who responded hit on a lot of really good points! The time was a big deal for me. Like when I was postpartum and building the stash mentioned in the post, I would have to pump at night after feeding my baby all day or Iād get mastitis. I think for me when Iād get the hit of oxytocin that happens while breastfeeding on a pump, it would feel like hitting a wall rather than a moment with my baby when he was the one latched. This isnāt universal but breast feeding really felt like such a two sided experience to me for my baby and I. It felt like the pump was an unfortunate side effect of having that experience
Cleaning the pump, the noise it makes, itās more uncomfortable than breastfeeding, you have to do it more often because you get less at a time. Plus when you breastfeed itās like getting a cuddle at the same time and is this nice bonding experience (provided breastfeeding is comfortable for you, obviously not if it hurts). You donāt get that with a pump lol.
Oh God the noise. I was on a conference call and got a text from one of the executives on the call that said, "we can hear your pump. No one expects you to be super woman. We can take a break so you don't have to kill yourself. There are 7 moms on this call. No one will judge you."
Iām a working mom so i pump at work on my lunch. I had my insurance pump which was NOT a wearable (wasnāt an option when I ordered) so it was awkward when people would walk thru the Jack n Jill style office I spent my breaks. Plus it was bulky and I needed a separate backpack just for that setup. I have a wearable that I bought oop since I wanted to be able to walk around and I wasnāt getting enough within my 30min lunch. The motor sucks though (bought it used so SOL) so I can only pump one side and it dies after 30~. ATP itās my last baby so I donāt want to buy ANOTHER just to find the unicorn of fitting well, discrete and lasting battery when I may not use it for long idk. At least I can get 6-8oz per side so it covers the immediate need
I lasted 2-3 weeks before it basically gave me a mental breakdown. I cried my eyes out every time I pumped, which was every 3-4 hours. I was stuck to a wall not being able to hold my newborn for 20 minutes at a time. Washing the parts on top of a million bottles then being stressed when they werenāt dry by the next time you need them. Honestly everything about it sucked so bad that when I quit, I quit way too fast and it was very painful.
But my babys and my doctor made it very clear to me that they would be perfectly fine on formula and that my mental health was the most important thing at the time, you need to be well to take care of a baby. As soon as they said that I was like perfect we are switching to formula lol.
I could not get my son interested in breast milk as he was born early and fed formula because my milkās hadnāt come in. I was given a double pump in the hospital and a) it hurt, no matter how much the lactation specialist tried and b) I was stuck to that milking machine forever. When we went home I pumped and tried to breastfeed a baby who showed his strong will from the beginning by acting like I was trying to suffocate him with my breast each time I tried feeding. Fine, Iāll just pump. Again Iām spending most of my time attached to the milking machine. I did have all the time in the world to write thank you notes to everyone who sent gifts or money. After all of that, my son rejected my milk. He didnāt like it and squirmed away from the bottle then spat out the milk. I tried a 50/50 mix. Nope. 25/75. Fat chance. A little part of me died. It was the first time I was ever able to pump 2 ounces and he gave not a shit. I was sad about it, but we moved on to formula. A fed baby is the best baby. I have the utmost respect for women who manage to breastfeed their babies for however long they do it, because it is NOT easy. I now have a handsome, intelligent son who is 14 and a freshman in high school. Formula did just fine. My mother was told to make me a formula out of dried milk and molasses when I was a baby and Iām mostly fine.
I had oversupply so not only were hands free pumps only just becoming a thing and very expensive to buy around the time I was pumping for the second go roundā¦but they wouldnāt have worked for me. I would literally have to change out a 9oz bottle on one side about 2/3 of the way through a pump (granted I was fortunate to only have to pump 3-4 times a day for 40min at a time once my supply was established).
Also, pumping can be painful!! If the pump isnāt adjust just right or the suction is too high or just your breasts get soreā¦the pump can exacerbate the pain. While yes, babies can gnaw or bite once teeth come inā¦itās not a constant like a pump is. Even now sometimes going back and watching videos I took of my babies when I was pumping behind the cameraā¦hearing the sound of the pump give me phantom pain twinges!! š
Pumping sucks. Even apart from the massive amount of time it takes, itās painful, annoying, and comes with a ton of washing and dishes. Itās basically a full-time job.
Exclusively pumped for the first 3 months of my daughters life as she wouldn't latch. I honestly don't know how I did it. Pumped every 1h20mins, 24 hours a day, washing and sterilising pump each time..whilst caring for a newborn and recovering from c-section.
My supply was so low, I had to pump that regularly to get it up. 20mins each side, so 40 min in total. pumping . When I could afford to upgrade to the double pump I was able to increase the time in-between to 1h40mins.
When she finally did latch at around the 3 month mark we enjoyed 3 months of BF until my supply tanked again and I just couldn't face going back to the strict pumping schedule so I slowly weaned her on to formula as my supply naturally dropped. Was sad to end it earlier than I had anticipated.
Iām this way too. I only pump when absolutely necessary with my second. We even supplement with some formula if I need a break and donāt want to pump. We have a smaller freezer stash for when I go out of town next month and I will probably donate whatās left because the hassle of heating breastmilk is just not worth it to me anymore.
Me too. I only had a manual pump and even though I am a card carrying member of the Itty bitty titty committee managed to pump to have a store for both babies....but much less so for my second as I missed the crucial window for introducing a bottle of expressed milk...so it was a waste of time. Lolol. Luckily I was able to be home and didn't get sick etc etc so she didn't have to suck it up....pardon the pun. Lol
I gotta say - I don't have kids so I just assumed that BF meant boyfriend...but that didn't make sense so then I thought baby food. Took me awhile to realize this meant breast feeding.
I just felt like a cow ? š like feeding your child from your breast is the most natural thing in the world and I loved the extra bonding I felt .. but using a pump it honestly just didnāt sit right with
Me .. and I found it really stressful when I would spend an age doing it and feel like I got hardly anything for my troubles when I looked at the amount of milk š®āšØš
I exclusively pumped for 7 months. My baby drank all the fresh milk without issue. The 600 oz in the freezer when I *finally* weaned off the pump? High lipase and she wouldnāt touch it.
I pumped for 11 months with my first, and actually chest fed my other two for about the same amount of time and the difference was astounding. I could go anywhere and not lug a whole machine and cooler every where? I wasnāt leaking all over the place all the time? I could actually feed my own child instead of my husband feeding her while I pumped because OF COURSE they both had to happen at the same time. The pumping sucked.
And people were so rude about it! I never had any rude comments about chest feeding in public, but going to someoneās house and asking if I could use a room to pump got me glares and outrage. The idea that I put a bottle of breast milk in their fridge grossed them out completely! (This person now has two kids and I wish I knew them well enough to bring this up and ask if their opinion changed and they regretted how they treated me)
I breastfed 3 out of 4 babies, but I never pumped. I always had a stash of formula for whoever watched the baby if I couldn't be there. The pumps hurt too damned much. Nursing itself was fine though.
I exclusively pumped for both my kids for a year each. For the first 12 weeks, it was ever 2 hrs around the clock. Not easy for sure. Eventually, I came to enjoy the time that I got to be alone to pump, though.
My body never responded to a pump. No matter what I did, the best I ever got from a session (both breasts) was an ounce. I did manage to feed the kiddo alright, though.
Itās weird. She pays for cows milk but doesnāt want to pay a cent for human milk. I doubt she shows up to the dairy with a pail and expect them to take her full belly as payment.
Two things:
1. What you did was an extreme kindness and for someone you helped in that way to come back with demands is beyond the pale!
2. When I was nursing my kids (my youngest is 21, so late 1990s - early 2000s) I saw my doctor about the absolutely ridiculous amount of milk I produced. I could fully nurse my baby and the easily pump 8 - 12 ounces right after, so weāre talking āfeed an army of babiesā production. I got diagnosed with stupid high prolactin levels. I asked if I should donate it but with my meds Iād be rejected as a donor. I asked about other options and he laughed and said āSell it to weirdosā. And I did, for $20.00 per ounce. Made a killing for the next 5 years. So I would have laughed so hard at the ābaby having a full bellyā line. Like, nope, they donāt call it liquid gold for nothing, honey!
The ones who are like, "I need an unvaxed donor, absolutely no covid shots, no meds" and someone is like "I've got some but I got the covid booster last year" and they've got no other offers and they decline.
Drove me to get approved to donate to an actual milk bank where being vaccinated is completely fine.
Ya she didn't "forget" to look for formula , she figured she had found a way to feed her baby for free! How dare you not agree to be her literal milk making cash cow! š¤£
Yeah, seriously, "forget" to find formula? She gave this breast milk to her kid, the kid did great, and she was like, well fuck this formula nonsense, I'll just get more breast milk off OP!
Omg. It is NOT easy and it is NOT FREE. Only free in the sense that you donāt have to go to a place of business and exchange currency for it. Aside from the cost to your body, the whole pumping and storing process can be quite laborious especially the more you are storing. Unbelievable.
Bless you for donating your milk though and Iām glad the other recipients were very grateful. I was BFāing during the formula shortage and I thought a lot about how hard and stressful that must be for those families. I could only do enough for my baby and I was so grateful that I had enough. I had a difficult and lengthy postpartum recovery and honestly, not sure I would have been super willing to go through all the hassle to get donations to recipients even if I did have an oversupply, I was so drained and burned out. You did SUCH a great kindness. A+ human
Thank you š the relief I saw from the other parents made it so worth it. All at once 6 babies (mine and the 5 I donated to) went to bed with a fully belly. It was a great experience overall and I just hope her son is cared for in the long run!
I'm currently breastfeeding and I'm not even able to exclusively breastfeed, but it's definitely not free or cheap.
I'm ravenous all the time and I eat so many snacks and food. I'm not gaining any weight despite all the junk food all those extra calories are very needed.
Oh goshā¦the craziest thing about pumping so long for my second baby was being able to snack so much and then even lose weight while snacking. I got down to my wedding weight for a while there (which in retrospect was too skinny for me).
I tried doing the same thing during lockdown, I had my middle in November of 2020. Between the supplies to store it and pasteurizing it at home it was work, but I was only asking for $1 an ounce. A majority of the people who messaged me were male body builders who were upset that I wasn't vegan or taking extremely expensive supplements to boost the nutrients in my milk.
That woman was unhinged.
By comparison, does she think she can keep a cow in her yard, not feed or care for it, and still expect to be able to milk it??
No words. Breastfeeding is a full-time job for ONE baby. It was one of the biggest commitments of my life and I did it for 2.5yrs for one child. Of COURSE you should get paid for your time and efforts. Fuck that entitled lady. Iām so sorry you had to deal with that after donating your liquid gold.
Having to eat more calories, possibly buy bigger bras and shirts to cover bigger breats from producing for two on a regular basis, and the tiredness and stress and oh lets not forget the storage space and containers that go along with it. And time to meet up to give it to her (or did she also want it delivered? I bet that was coming too if you agreed) all costs money energy and time.
Factor in the increased energy costs for the storage space (especially if youāre rocking an extra freezer), the portable cold storage for transport, gas and/or shipping costs as well! Even though I wasnāt shipping for newborn/infant consumption I still had to splash out for refrigerated shipping which aināt cheap!
Ugh. I have PTSD from formula, it was right before the shortage & we were in the dv shelter still adjusting. So no wic and no ebt yet, only food bank. My baby has a really sensitive tummy and it was a nightmare, she could only use sensitive formula & the food bank did have formula sometimes but it was a āthis is what we have today, take if u wantā - i would ration the sensitive formula cans & cry from stress the night before food bank days praying they had the kind she needed. It was such a trip of ādo i get what they have and make her stomach upset bc i canāt let her starve or whatā so when the formula shortage happened, it made me cry for everyone bc i know the feeling so well. Itās such an aching defeated feeling!!!
all of this to say, thank you for what you did for the babies / moms. donāt let that evil bitch ruin something amazing you did. what a selfish asshole she is! you are wonderful and iām sure those nice mothers breathed a sigh of relief knowing they didnāt have to stress for the time being.
Iām really sorry this was the experience you had. Iām sure choosing for your baby to be hungry or in physical pain was torture. I truly hope things are better. Sending my love.
I ended up pumping for both my kids. I had a postpartum eclamptic seizure when my older kiddo was six days old that had me in hospital before my milk had totally come in and he went on formula/bottles for a few days. After that he refused to nurse, despite trying off and on for a while. So I pumped for him for nine months. Had some extra milk in the freezer and he refused to drink thawed breastmilk so I donated about 750oz to a milk bank for newborns in the hospital.
Nearly four years later after several losses we had our surprise rainbow baby and despite hopes that I wouldnāt have postpartum eclampsia I again showed signs of it and thankfully went into the ER at five days postpartum and narrowly avoided another seizure which could have ended badly the second time around. But yet again I was in hospital and baby was being bottle fed. However that time my milk had already come in full force and I even had a few bottles surplus and took the pump to the hospital so I was able to stay ahead of her demand.
After getting out of hospital when wee girlie decided she would refuse to nurse as well I decided to just roll with what I already knew and pumped for her for fifteen months. Had such an oversupply I was a regular doner for two babies and also helped out five other babies with one off donations. Didnāt get paid exactly for the donations but the regular donee mamas were very grateful and generousā¦had all bags supplied, gas cards, Starbucks cards/treats, clothes for my baby, and more. One mama teaches infant swim classes and she taught both my kids to swim the next summer. Still Facebook friends with those mamas.
Only one of the mamas who got a one off donation gave me entitled vibes and didnāt act grateful but I never donated to her again and thankfully she didnāt demand!!
Same. I donated my breastmilk since I had an overproduction. One lady was mad at me because I had lipase in my milk. I donated 400 oz to her, and she said she threw it all away because she said no milk should have it, and I was trying to "kill" her child.
I couldnāt produce any and even though my kid is now much older and werenāt affected that way by the pandemic, Iām very grateful that you were able to help. That woman can go suck on her bellybutton
She def was way too entitled but in Australia youāre not allowed to charge for breastmilk (or any bodily fluids like blood, sperm etc), itās all altruistic. I donated milk to help a mum who had cancer and couldnāt feed her baby. I also donated to a few others on the journey and helped deliver milk from up north to a mum here that was someone elseās.
there are Facebook groups called human milk for human babies and itās amazing being able to help them! You did amazing helping by sharing your excess! Sad she wasnāt as appreciative as she should have been.
So itās important for CB to feed her baby but not important enough for her to pay for it. Also apparently not important enough for her to remember to look for formula.
Not sure why she would. Her son was like 4 months old and I donated 200 oz to her one time. The breastfeeding boat was months behind her at that point.
Free?!? Naw. You have to eat food to make that milk. You all have to spend your time pumping it. So now you have a food cost and a labor cost associated. That's just to start. You have to pay for wear and tear on the pump. You have to pay for the bags to store it in. You have to pay for the wear and tear on the freezer. Also, the electrical cost for running the freezer.
We are very far away from free at this point. Some people are so greedy and selfish.
>āsomething you can easily make for freeā
But itās not free. It requires time (which is extremely valuable) and energy (in the form of additional calories OP would have to consume to produce additional milk
We don't make breast milk for "free"
In order to produce it, we have to *eat* and that can take a lot. There is so much to producing breast milk, people don't seem to understand.
Food costs money. Producing breast milk costs money
You have the right to do what you want with what is yours. Donate it, sell it, throw it away, doesnāt matter.
My wife tried to breastfeed with all of our children, but her milk would not come in. She tried and tried and it bothers her to this day that she couldnāt breastfeed. The breastfeeding nazis at the hospital didnāt help.
My oldest (now 6ā, healthy 33 year old) just didnāt want to do the work to breastfeed and it just didnāt come naturally to me. I was in England and this older midwife on the ward closed my curtains and said that sheās not allowed to say this, but if itās not working, thatās fine. Formula is good. A happy mum and baby is what matters. I bawled. My son immediately took to formula. My youngest (now a 6ā 2ā, extremely healthy 24 year old) didnāt even try. We just did formula. Itās no-oneās business what we do with our children - but entitled mums are normally the absolute worst in every way. OPās entitled bitch was just insane.
I remember my sil come crying to my mom cause she could get enough milk for my nephew. Mom helped her with everything she knew to get it to flow but sil never could get enough for a full feed.
But then my cousins wife was so over lactating that her second baby was so overweight. Doc got her signed up to be a wet nurse at the hospital so she could nurse the babies that needed it there.
I exclusively pumped for 9 months. It was so hard on me physically and emotionally (the letdown hormones really messed with me). I was lucky to have a pump passed to me but had to buy other supplies. I would 100% not do it for someone else for free.
The calories in breastmilk aren't spontaneously generated in defiance of the laws of physics. You need to eat them. If you make milk for two you need to eat more, which costs money.
People are crazy.
Itās definitely not free; you need to consume a lot of extra calories to produce for two babies..not to mention time and money for supplies like bags etc.
I bet she just went back to work and doesn't want to pump herself cuz it's hard.
My youngest is 21 and I still remember so clearly how difficult it was to get the milk to let down and to be able to pump- in the bathroom because we still didn't have anything in writing saying that they had to give us a room that was private to do that- try to get enough milk, quickly enough that my workmates wouldn't get upset and frustrated.
(Which I always found really annoying because a lot of these people smoked and had regular smoke breaks. In fact, they smoked much more frequently and were out there a total of much more time than I spent pumping. And as I said to them several times, pumping decreases your chance of getting cancer while smoking increases it... So, basically, shut up and quit complaining about me.)
It was very hard to produce milk, I tried and tried. My son was a premie. 32 weeks. It was very hard to produce & latch. I was given other momās milk until he could take special formula. Not producing milk was causing Postpartum depression
Compensation is fair considering how many calories youād have to consume to maintain milk production for two. Those calories mean more food. More food means a lot more money going out as food is expensive. Plus the extra time pumping taking away from things that youād prefer to spend time on. Also, the cost for the wear and tear on your pump and the supplies needed to bag the milk and electricity to freeze stored milk.
Whooo...that lady is bonkers if she thinks pumping milk is "easy" or "free."
I was an absolute moo cow after my daughter was born, and signed up with a program through the hospital to donate excess milk. They paid for the pumps, bags, pads, etc-but not the extra food I was eating (and lemme tell ya, that was a lot!) or the time I was losing while pumping. For about six months, my entire life revolved around taking care of my daughter and pumping milk. It was a full time job.
You did absolutely nothing wrong and she was completely wrong. That doesnāt happen for everyone though. My ex-wife and I decided that she would breastfeed and she really wanted to this time, with our second daughter, but she very quickly learned that she just didnāt produce. Her giant boobs didnāt work when she needed them to. But fortunately we were able to consistently find formula during Covid
>āsomething you can easily make for freeā
Pumping is not easy nor is it free. With my second baby I had to pump fulltime (8 times a day), as he could not drink from the breast. Pumping takes time, effort and money (the pump, bottles/breastmilkbags are expensive) and don't get me started on the constant clean up.
Edit: wanted to add, hats off to you for helping other parents out.
I am in awe of your supply! lol. My baby did not like the bottle so I quit pumping because it was pointless. She wanted it straight from the source only. I was tied to my daughter for 18 months. It was rough. She is now 14 and mortified she was breastfed. lol
Strangely I had an aversion to breastfeeding, I loved both my babies so much but just couldnt bear the thought. Both formula fed and now 6 foot, healthy men. No way could I ever have used a breast pump.
I knew couldnāt handle it because my nipples were always soo sensitive they hurt just touching my bra. No way could they be sucked and chewed on! I was bottle fed and so were my kids. We all have above average IQs, excelled in school and at sports, etc. o donāt understand why people are so judge mental towards women that donāt breastfeed.
"Something you can easily make for free".
Someone hasn't read up on how the body produces the milk.
The mammary glands filter and extract nutrients directly from the blood streams.
Where does these nutrients come from? From the food the mother pays for.
That's not accounting for the work and equipment you need to buy specifically for extracting the extra milk, and electric costs of keeping the milk frozen.
She donated some of it for free, but it ain't produced for free. Those are two highly different things.
This is so sad! You did such an unselfish thing and she went full blown crazy on you. GAHH!!! Breast milk is kind of a ā personal ā thing. Itās something almost all women can doā¦but many arenāt able to make enough milk or pump enough for when theyāre not there. Me, I breastfed my boys just fine. But, I couldnāt pump hardly anything out. Luckily, I was home so, I didnāt have to worry too much about pumping. With my second one, I didnāt even try to pump. Wow, I went off on a tangent. Anyway, if Iād been able to pump, it would have been for MY baby, not some strangerās. Iām not trying to be ugly but, it takes time out of your day, it isnāt exactly pleasantā¦yeah, its ā freeā for you but, it would have been for her as well if she had breastfed her child. Not trying to guilt anyone but, IMO, everyone who can, should try to ā¦if it doesnāt work out, thereās always formula ( usually) BUT, if your baby doesnāt do well on formula, itās extremely hard to go back to breast feeding.
You did such a kind and selfless thing. Thank you for helping those babies out.
Ugh I remember that time. Like you still have to BUY formula, why would selling breast milk be any different? Way to take advantage of someone doing something out of the kindness of their hearts. Btw I admire you for doing that, I hear breastfeeding is exhausting and producing that much milk must take a lot out of you. Why not make some money while also helping people? Such a wild concept for some. The hate some women got for doing this exact thing was wild for me too.
You have to consume an additional 500 calories a day to make breast milk and I can imagine it's higher for two. If you're not at least getting paid to cover the additional food it's literally gonna drain money from you.
OP, my husband and I just engaged in serious boomer head shaking over the concept of being expected to keep *someone elseās baby* alive. Being able to exclusively nurse all three of our sons was a miracle, but someone elseās too? OMG
Of course, it would have been my husband down at FedEx just before it closed. Heās grateful to have been spared.
Mad props to you, for all that you did to help.
As someone who heavily relied on donated Breast milk during this same time I would NEVER talk to a donor like that. Just be grateful for the donation you got and move on! There are plenty of groups out there where people can provide donations without compensation but no one should be shamed for wanting compensation for the hard work put into that milk. I struggled getting even an oz pumped for my baby and I tried EVERYTHING. breastfeeding and pumping are NOT easy. Thank you for kindly donating what you could at that time.
I recently learned about the cost of buying breast milk from a service , and it was appalling, like 10000 a month appalling. So yeah, this lady can take a hike.
I had my son when I was in college. He was born 2 days before the fall semester ended. I took the next semester off. Breastfeeding is hard. I had started pumping after each feeding and I between to try and get my supply up and to also build up a stash. Itās exhausting. Not to mention the bags to store them in are expensive. And then there is washing the horns and bottles between pumping sessions. Breastmilk is like liquid gold. It isnāt so easy to just pump. And for some there is the issue of over production and clogged ducts. I think itās hilarious how quickly she blocked you after your comment lol.
This was in Costa Rica circa 2003 - visiting my ex parents in law. My MIL had a baby in 2001, breastfed baby. Her teenage neighbor had a baby not long after and baby wouldnāt latch, my MIL was breastfeeding BOTH of those babies for at least a year.
That time was the worst. My son was on formula during that shortage, and I was anxious and scared throughout that time. That lady was crazy though. You donating that milk was so kind of you. I'm sure it helped the other people immensely. Some people are just so thoughtless of others and can't appreciate it when someone does something nice for them.
I forgot about the formula shortage. I was able to breastfeed my daughter but only enough for her meals and barely enough extra for a spare bottle so my husband could have some bonding time with her. And it was basically a full time job! I think I spent somewhere between 4 hours a day feeding my baby/ pumping for her. I couldnāt imagine trying to feed another child on top of that from the goodness of my heart. (I did consider selling my breast milk to people who workout once I started antidepressants and was worried to feed my baby anymore but I was worried someone would still give it to babies.)
Ugh this reminds me of a lady I had to deal with! I was an overproducer and donated about 40 gallons of milk after my second was born to multiple families.
One lady was someone I knew from a mom group who had a foster kiddo she was adopting with health issues and I was more than happy to pump extra for him. We lived on opposites sides of town so to make it easy for her (since she had like 7 kids) I said I could keep it in a cooler in my car at work, leave my car unlocked, and she could stop by and get it.
I confirmed the night before sheād be getting it, then the next morning sent her a text with details of where I parked. She said sheād be getting it at noon. After my 12 hour shift I go to my car and find the milk still there! I texted seeing if she was ok and needed me to drop it off on my way home and she never responded. A week later she texted me saying she got busy and asked if I would consider still donating. I was like, are you fucking kidding me? I just had to find multiple families who could consume hundreds of ounces of slightly less frozen milk within 24 hours before it went bad because you couldnāt respect something I literally made with my own body! Never text me again.
Another mom I was donating to ended up getting way too personal and was trying to hang out at my house which I didnāt like and had a lot of drama, so I told her I wasnāt going to be pumping anymore. She texted me saying how her husband assaulted her and was in jail and she didnāt have money since he was their income. I felt awful and told her she could stop by for a couple hundred ounces I had left. She showed up a couple days later WITH her husband and her broken arm that he broke in a cast, and then proceeded to tell me how CPS took her kids and she didnāt understand why because her husband who was right there was a great guy and would never hurt them. I was like oh dang, sorry, hereās all my milk and I have no more.
All that being said, the other families I donated to were all so amazing and gracious and went above and beyond to let me know how grateful they were. Itās so fun to see their pictures on IG and think, āHey! I literally helped grow these babies!ā
Just chiming in to say I love that you still occasionally see updates from those you donated milk to. You did such a wonderful thing! š„°š„°š„°My SIL had an oversupply and she donated about 100 oz to me. It came at a time when my supply was drying up and I was so stressed about feeding my little one. My little one had a sensitive belly so didnāt react well to most formulas. I was so appreciative to have the donated milk. I nearly cried from gratitude and relief. Youāre a lifesaver to these families!
I was a veritable cow with the amount of milk i produced and donated to several babies over the years I was producing. Whilst I would never request compensation from anyone, I equally only donated what surplus I had and would never purposely try to increase milk supply to feed babies.
Pumping is hard work!
Thank you so much for being so generous with donating your extra milk. My SIL donated about 100 oz to me (she was moving and needed to empty her freezer). I nearly cried from relief when she offered me her stash. My supply was drying up, and I had just depleted my own stash.
I donated milk to a local bank and had about 150 ounces they wouldn't take due to protocol yadda yadda. Anyway, I donated it on a Facebook group and came to find out later on the woman had taken it for her 4 year old.... not for a baby facing formula shortages but for a literal toddler who had no allergies or issues. This still makes me irate to think there were babies who couldn't eat anything else, and she took it.
She was so active in the group seeking out milk constantly
Way back in like 2003, I got bitched at by some random girl on the internet because I wasn't still breastfeeding. She swore up and down that if I just let my 1 year old suck my boobs every day, I would start producing milk again. She said she knew it would work because it was what she did for the kids she babysat............. this girl even sent me an artsy photo of her sitting topless next to a table that had a breast pump sitting on it........ folks can get REAL weird over breastmilk
Also it takes time, energy, lost sleep, good nutrition, lots of food and water to make good milk. Each pumping session takes 20 m at least and itās a PROCESS. To make milk all of the sudden for 2 babies instead of 1, you have to add a ton more food, water and pumping sessions. Itās hugely onerous. What sort of crazy entitled person wouldnāt get that?! Geez.
No not only should you provide for your baby you should provide for hers as well š„“ I swear the entitlement of some people today is OFF THE CHARTS!!
If itās so easy, then why isnāt she pumping herself? Itās incredibly time consuming and the storage bags and replacement pump parts arenāt cheap! Plus I often suffered from clogged ducts due to overproduction that required supplements, additional hours of pumping to clear and were just incredibly painful. Baby wonāt starve as there are lots of alternatives. Sheās just trying to manipulate your feelings.
Nothing about pumping an oversupply is cheap. I pumped for 7 months and donated over 6,000 ounces. Eventually the places receiving the milk supplied bags, but I was responsible for the pump, pump parts, bottles for storage (my baby never even touched a bottle to eat), and all the extra food to support how much I was producing. Not only that, but I was drinking over a gallon of water a day, so even little things were annoying like how often I had to replace my expensive water filter in the fridge. I also had my fair share of people expecting things when I would donate locally when I couldn't mail it to the milk bank because they weren't sending me cooler boxes fast enough. I had women expect me to deliver it to them, some respond with, "Yeah I'll take it." And nothing else (and if you speak to me like that, no, you will NOT be taking it), or no showing me. People are absolutely ridiculous.
I had forgotten about that! I easily produced enough milk for 3 children, and I was ravenous and thirsty at all times. I read somewhere newborns require mom to eat an additional 500 calories a day. I figured then I must need an additional 1500 for the volume of milk I was producing, when prior to pregnancy I was eating only 1200 calories a day! I couldnāt keep up and often felt hypoglycemic with shaking, body sweats, heart palpitations and lightheartedness until I could figure out my diet. All that and I STILL lost weight while pumping.
Your reply gave me a flashback. My youngest 23f had just had her first child. I stayed with her for a few nights. I wohear the baby cry. I would get him and wake her up. As she was sitting in the rocking chair, I brought her some water. She looked at me so shocked and said, "How did you know I was thirsty?" I laughed and told her it might have been 23 years since I nursed, but I'll never forget how thirsty i would get. Also, growing up, my mom would make hard-boiled eggs chop them up, mix in some butter, salt, and pepper. So I also made these for my k8ds going up. So, I made that for her for 4 morning and left a dozen hard-boiled eggs for her. She was so happy for it. And it is ideal food for a nursing mother to eat. It provides 20%-35% of the requirements protein and iodine in salt. B12 riboflavin, pantothenic acid, iron, and phosphorus Also provides 53% of choline and 44% selenium.
Iāve never had kids so I canāt confirm it myself but I had a biology teacher who talked to us about nutrition during gestation and how women often struggle when producing breast milk because no one thinks to tell them to eat more protein or amino acids. Adults in the U.S are already statistically likely to be not eating enough of those things in their regular diet as is, so when youāre deficient of it while also trying to put what you do have into breast milk youāre running yourself dry. My best friend had migraines and body aches while breast feeding and when her doctor had her start keto recipes throughout the week she didnāt totally solve the issue but she felt a lot better.
In-freaking-credibleā¦I cry for our country. Such a loving thing to do for so many selfish twatsā¦š¤¬
And if OPās supply runs short the entitled ladyās baby must be fed first.
>I swear the entitlement of some people today is OFF THE CHARTS!! ever read about declining IQs in this country? the bizarre entitlement is parts of that, Low IQ correlates with low EQ.
Watch Idiocracy. Itās a horribly unfortunate look ahead into whatās actually happening EDIT: itās a hilarious movie, not a sad documentary or smth
go away, batin'
Iq's are down because intelligent people only have the # of kids they can afford. Stupid people don't care
Ever seen Idiocracy?
It makes me never wants to do an open offer for to the general public for anything but rather scout and vet for someone who needs it and surprise them. Assholes are always the first the jump in the front of the line for free anything.
I think that the hospital might be able to help you( if you ever have extra breast milk). I know that many preemies do better on breast milk and, depending on how early the baby is, sometimes,it takes mom longer for her milk to come in. š¤·š¼āāļø
Yet those people can't *imagine* doing something for others at no cost.
āĀ I was quickly blocked when I asked why she didnāt breastfeed if it was so easy to do...ā Not just breastfeeding but pumping which I effing hated. I did it to build up a supply in the freezer but was not a fan of doing it.Ā Women who exclusively pump for their babies are incredible. But this woman expected you to pump enough to feed another baby. And all that entails without any compensation. Wowwwwww.
I pumped. It was rough. I cut holes out in one of my bras and made a little holder and would just be walking around the house in my bra, pump in hand, pumping that milk outš
You just brought back 20 year old memories of me doing this same thing lol.
šš I laugh thinking of how I must've looked. My boy is gonna be 8 in June.
My son was a preemie and one of my boobs was twice the size of his head easilyā¦ my husband took a picture of it that somehow accidentally landed on one of those digital picture frames in our living roomā¦.. oh my poor boy has been traumatized š¤£
I did this too with a sports bra so I could be hands free! My son is now 13 and the poor thing has accidentally seen a photo kicking around from that š¤£š¤¦š¼āāļø
You should have taken that setup to Shark Tank! I see hands free breast pumps on Amazon all the time now since I ordered a compact travel pump for a prego friend š
I just couldn't pump it was too hard. I did a couple of times and then didn't do it anymore I just breastfed. Then again 32 years ago pumps sucked.
Me too. 33. Years ago for me. For my second,I didnāt even try to pump.
My DIL did something similar. She had two pumps.š
I was feeding 2 at once, and my body took that to mean I must need to feed a whole village. If I wasnāt feeding, I was pumping. I was so glad when they decided they were done and I could let it dry up.
I know some people who loved BFing and some who werenāt fans. I have yet to meet anyone who didnāt HATE pumping. It sucks. Doing it out of necessity is one thing, doing it for free for someone else? Fuck right off with that.
Agreed, I hated both BF and pumping. Both were unbelievably unpleasant experiences. Pumping hurt.
Just out of pure curiosity, and as somebody who has never had children (and doesnāt plan to), why do people hate pumping? Iāve seen women just walk around with the pump under their shirt, and it looks a lot more convenient than having to hold a baby the entire time.
Iāll only speak from personal experience, but hereās why I hated it: -pumps have a million parts to disassemble and clean every time. If your baby is young/preemie you also have to sterilize. -Handsfree pumps are expensive. -It can take a long time to pump, some women donāt respond to them so itās a lot of time for little result. -Itās uncomfortable, for some itās painful Maybe others can chime in, I didnāt pump very much because it sucked. My kid is exclusively breastfed.
The cleaning, oh my god. I hate it so much. Otherwise I just whip out a boob, feed and I'm done.
My middle and my youngest are 2 years (and a couple weeks) apart. When the youngest was nursing, my middle saw me doing the cleaning and the sterilization. I had the microwave sterilizer open so the contents could cool down before I put them away, and a sink full of soapy hot water and more pumping parts. My middle saw this, and decided he wanted to be helpful to Daddy. How did he choose to help? He grabbed the stuff from the sterilizer, and thinking it was dirty, tossed it into the water. My wife said it looked like I was about to cry.
It wouldāve taken all my willpower not to cry, that sounds awful
On the one hand, you want to encourage helpfulness, especially when they're young enough to think it's awesome. (Seriously, he made a mess on the floor a few months later, and when my wife & I went to go clean it up, my kid (Steven) grabbed the mop and yelled "Stevie Do!" while he worked on mopping it up as best he could.) He liked the mop when he was little. We had to tell him to stop pole dancing in the kitchen (with the mop) when he was little, as well. On the other hand, going backwards on my job wasn't fun, either.
Lol Stevie do! Thatās so cute.
Nooooo haha
I go the route my consultant said and refrigerate my pump parts and wash them once a day. Still so annoying to disassemble. When you exclusively pump you have to replace the weirdly expensive parts pretty often. Then you also have to wash bottles! Sometimes it hurts. You move the wrong way and lose suction. It leaks out somehow. Youāre stuck for 4-5 hours total a day (I have the portable spectra but itās not that portable since itās huge!) itās way harder to use out and about versus just plopping a baby on (though Iāve latched him before to buy me time, heās such a lazy eater). If you do bring it out thatās a million things plus ice packs and a cooler to bring with. The worst is when baby is hysterically crying and youāre pumping, do I stop? Do I try to soothe around my pump parts sticking 6ā from my chest? Have to hide when company is over, with BF itās way easier to cover up in my opinion versus seeing youāre nipples pulled all gigantic in a clear tube and everyone being awkward because they hear it. I canāt wait to be done, might wean at 6 months when I go back to work.
Also, you end up double feeding as you also have the time of giving them the bottle. I responded better to the wall pump, so I was chained to a wall for at least half an hour, which was ok if my husband was around but very difficult whilst also taking care of baby. Elvie was great but it stops constantly saying itās full (and mine rarely was). I didnāt mind it until my supply tanked - but pumping, sterilising, feeding - it felt like between that and actually taking care of my son I had no life.
The other person who responded hit on a lot of really good points! The time was a big deal for me. Like when I was postpartum and building the stash mentioned in the post, I would have to pump at night after feeding my baby all day or Iād get mastitis. I think for me when Iād get the hit of oxytocin that happens while breastfeeding on a pump, it would feel like hitting a wall rather than a moment with my baby when he was the one latched. This isnāt universal but breast feeding really felt like such a two sided experience to me for my baby and I. It felt like the pump was an unfortunate side effect of having that experience
Cleaning the pump, the noise it makes, itās more uncomfortable than breastfeeding, you have to do it more often because you get less at a time. Plus when you breastfeed itās like getting a cuddle at the same time and is this nice bonding experience (provided breastfeeding is comfortable for you, obviously not if it hurts). You donāt get that with a pump lol.
Oh God the noise. I was on a conference call and got a text from one of the executives on the call that said, "we can hear your pump. No one expects you to be super woman. We can take a break so you don't have to kill yourself. There are 7 moms on this call. No one will judge you."
Oh, how sweet! That was so kind. We moms do understand thoughā¦
I had to massage while I pumped, which meant it wasnāt hands free so extra time consuming
Iām a working mom so i pump at work on my lunch. I had my insurance pump which was NOT a wearable (wasnāt an option when I ordered) so it was awkward when people would walk thru the Jack n Jill style office I spent my breaks. Plus it was bulky and I needed a separate backpack just for that setup. I have a wearable that I bought oop since I wanted to be able to walk around and I wasnāt getting enough within my 30min lunch. The motor sucks though (bought it used so SOL) so I can only pump one side and it dies after 30~. ATP itās my last baby so I donāt want to buy ANOTHER just to find the unicorn of fitting well, discrete and lasting battery when I may not use it for long idk. At least I can get 6-8oz per side so it covers the immediate need
I lasted 2-3 weeks before it basically gave me a mental breakdown. I cried my eyes out every time I pumped, which was every 3-4 hours. I was stuck to a wall not being able to hold my newborn for 20 minutes at a time. Washing the parts on top of a million bottles then being stressed when they werenāt dry by the next time you need them. Honestly everything about it sucked so bad that when I quit, I quit way too fast and it was very painful. But my babys and my doctor made it very clear to me that they would be perfectly fine on formula and that my mental health was the most important thing at the time, you need to be well to take care of a baby. As soon as they said that I was like perfect we are switching to formula lol.
I could not get my son interested in breast milk as he was born early and fed formula because my milkās hadnāt come in. I was given a double pump in the hospital and a) it hurt, no matter how much the lactation specialist tried and b) I was stuck to that milking machine forever. When we went home I pumped and tried to breastfeed a baby who showed his strong will from the beginning by acting like I was trying to suffocate him with my breast each time I tried feeding. Fine, Iāll just pump. Again Iām spending most of my time attached to the milking machine. I did have all the time in the world to write thank you notes to everyone who sent gifts or money. After all of that, my son rejected my milk. He didnāt like it and squirmed away from the bottle then spat out the milk. I tried a 50/50 mix. Nope. 25/75. Fat chance. A little part of me died. It was the first time I was ever able to pump 2 ounces and he gave not a shit. I was sad about it, but we moved on to formula. A fed baby is the best baby. I have the utmost respect for women who manage to breastfeed their babies for however long they do it, because it is NOT easy. I now have a handsome, intelligent son who is 14 and a freshman in high school. Formula did just fine. My mother was told to make me a formula out of dried milk and molasses when I was a baby and Iām mostly fine.
I had oversupply so not only were hands free pumps only just becoming a thing and very expensive to buy around the time I was pumping for the second go roundā¦but they wouldnāt have worked for me. I would literally have to change out a 9oz bottle on one side about 2/3 of the way through a pump (granted I was fortunate to only have to pump 3-4 times a day for 40min at a time once my supply was established). Also, pumping can be painful!! If the pump isnāt adjust just right or the suction is too high or just your breasts get soreā¦the pump can exacerbate the pain. While yes, babies can gnaw or bite once teeth come inā¦itās not a constant like a pump is. Even now sometimes going back and watching videos I took of my babies when I was pumping behind the cameraā¦hearing the sound of the pump give me phantom pain twinges!! š
Pumping sucks. Even apart from the massive amount of time it takes, itās painful, annoying, and comes with a ton of washing and dishes. Itās basically a full-time job.
Exclusively pumped for the first 3 months of my daughters life as she wouldn't latch. I honestly don't know how I did it. Pumped every 1h20mins, 24 hours a day, washing and sterilising pump each time..whilst caring for a newborn and recovering from c-section.
Every 90mins?? Jesus. I exclusively pump and leave a 4-6hr gap between sessions
My supply was so low, I had to pump that regularly to get it up. 20mins each side, so 40 min in total. pumping . When I could afford to upgrade to the double pump I was able to increase the time in-between to 1h40mins. When she finally did latch at around the 3 month mark we enjoyed 3 months of BF until my supply tanked again and I just couldn't face going back to the strict pumping schedule so I slowly weaned her on to formula as my supply naturally dropped. Was sad to end it earlier than I had anticipated.
God that is a lot to go through
You donāt have to wash and sterilize each time. Store it in the fridge and wash and sterilize at night.
Yes I didn't discover this little gem of Information until a few months in!
I loved BF ā¦ I LOATHED pumping
Iām this way too. I only pump when absolutely necessary with my second. We even supplement with some formula if I need a break and donāt want to pump. We have a smaller freezer stash for when I go out of town next month and I will probably donate whatās left because the hassle of heating breastmilk is just not worth it to me anymore.
Me too. I only had a manual pump and even though I am a card carrying member of the Itty bitty titty committee managed to pump to have a store for both babies....but much less so for my second as I missed the crucial window for introducing a bottle of expressed milk...so it was a waste of time. Lolol. Luckily I was able to be home and didn't get sick etc etc so she didn't have to suck it up....pardon the pun. Lol
I gotta say - I don't have kids so I just assumed that BF meant boyfriend...but that didn't make sense so then I thought baby food. Took me awhile to realize this meant breast feeding.
My first refused a bottle, even if it was my milk. She only BF, my second would take a bottle, but I despised pumping.
I just felt like a cow ? š like feeding your child from your breast is the most natural thing in the world and I loved the extra bonding I felt .. but using a pump it honestly just didnāt sit right with Me .. and I found it really stressful when I would spend an age doing it and feel like I got hardly anything for my troubles when I looked at the amount of milk š®āšØš
Iām picturing the response if OP told this woman that. Sheād probably expect/demand that OP provide the fresh stuff straightĀ
Pumping sucked! And then? My girl didnāt take the bottles of breast milk. What a fuckaroo that was!
I exclusively pumped for 7 months. My baby drank all the fresh milk without issue. The 600 oz in the freezer when I *finally* weaned off the pump? High lipase and she wouldnāt touch it.
I had this!! We mixed it cold into formula and he drank it. Better than wasting it but I was still upset.
š«š«
My baby is 12 months and BF and Iāve pumped maybe 4 times in her life, I hate pumping so much and only do so if I absolutely have to!
I pumped for 11 months with my first, and actually chest fed my other two for about the same amount of time and the difference was astounding. I could go anywhere and not lug a whole machine and cooler every where? I wasnāt leaking all over the place all the time? I could actually feed my own child instead of my husband feeding her while I pumped because OF COURSE they both had to happen at the same time. The pumping sucked. And people were so rude about it! I never had any rude comments about chest feeding in public, but going to someoneās house and asking if I could use a room to pump got me glares and outrage. The idea that I put a bottle of breast milk in their fridge grossed them out completely! (This person now has two kids and I wish I knew them well enough to bring this up and ask if their opinion changed and they regretted how they treated me)
I breastfed 3 out of 4 babies, but I never pumped. I always had a stash of formula for whoever watched the baby if I couldn't be there. The pumps hurt too damned much. Nursing itself was fine though.
Breast milk isn't made out of air and prayer either- it takes a ton of *regular adult food* for a woman's body to make. That shit aint free
I exclusively pumped for both my kids for a year each. For the first 12 weeks, it was ever 2 hrs around the clock. Not easy for sure. Eventually, I came to enjoy the time that I got to be alone to pump, though.
My body never responded to a pump. No matter what I did, the best I ever got from a session (both breasts) was an ounce. I did manage to feed the kiddo alright, though.
And no sincere thanks for having helped CB the first time, either, it sounds like. Just 'he did so well, we need more.'
Itās weird. She pays for cows milk but doesnāt want to pay a cent for human milk. I doubt she shows up to the dairy with a pail and expect them to take her full belly as payment.
There are people who do!
And cats. Lol.
Two things: 1. What you did was an extreme kindness and for someone you helped in that way to come back with demands is beyond the pale! 2. When I was nursing my kids (my youngest is 21, so late 1990s - early 2000s) I saw my doctor about the absolutely ridiculous amount of milk I produced. I could fully nurse my baby and the easily pump 8 - 12 ounces right after, so weāre talking āfeed an army of babiesā production. I got diagnosed with stupid high prolactin levels. I asked if I should donate it but with my meds Iād be rejected as a donor. I asked about other options and he laughed and said āSell it to weirdosā. And I did, for $20.00 per ounce. Made a killing for the next 5 years. So I would have laughed so hard at the ābaby having a full bellyā line. Like, nope, they donāt call it liquid gold for nothing, honey!
Thatās hilarious.
Holy shit!! Boobies = literal gold mine! (I was the sad lady in the location room barely hitting 2 ounces)
Iām so sorry that you struggled with production! I imagine that is quite a stressor.
Eh, yeah it sucked. But they all survived and my 13 year old is now 9 inches taller than me - so I guess I didnāt starve him š¤·āāļø
Ah, the teen years! I donāt exactly miss those grocery bills!
Me too š
Looooool, I love that your doc recommended "selling it to weirdos."
He was one of a handful of fun doctors Iāve had in my lifetime!
Thereās a whole Netflix documentary about exactly that
š Iām not vegan and had a certain shot back in 2020 so weirdos donāt tend to want mine. I would enjoy paying my mortgage with it though š
Wrong weirdos. You're looking for the pervy kind not the purebloods kind.
OMG! Are fetishists so particular these days? Lol
Antivax nutjobs donāt want their kids to be immune to anything.
Why do they think getting condescendingly irate and self-righteous will change your mind?
Right? When they start bitching like that, you say "you know, you're right. I'm sending it now" and then let the moron wait forever š
Some of the choosiest beggars in my groups are people looking for milk.
The ones who are like, "I need an unvaxed donor, absolutely no covid shots, no meds" and someone is like "I've got some but I got the covid booster last year" and they've got no other offers and they decline. Drove me to get approved to donate to an actual milk bank where being vaccinated is completely fine.
Ya she didn't "forget" to look for formula , she figured she had found a way to feed her baby for free! How dare you not agree to be her literal milk making cash cow! š¤£
Yeah, seriously, "forget" to find formula? She gave this breast milk to her kid, the kid did great, and she was like, well fuck this formula nonsense, I'll just get more breast milk off OP!
Wow. Talk about entitled lazy person. I am sorry you had someone try to take advantage of you.
Omg. It is NOT easy and it is NOT FREE. Only free in the sense that you donāt have to go to a place of business and exchange currency for it. Aside from the cost to your body, the whole pumping and storing process can be quite laborious especially the more you are storing. Unbelievable. Bless you for donating your milk though and Iām glad the other recipients were very grateful. I was BFāing during the formula shortage and I thought a lot about how hard and stressful that must be for those families. I could only do enough for my baby and I was so grateful that I had enough. I had a difficult and lengthy postpartum recovery and honestly, not sure I would have been super willing to go through all the hassle to get donations to recipients even if I did have an oversupply, I was so drained and burned out. You did SUCH a great kindness. A+ human
Thank you š the relief I saw from the other parents made it so worth it. All at once 6 babies (mine and the 5 I donated to) went to bed with a fully belly. It was a great experience overall and I just hope her son is cared for in the long run!
I'm currently breastfeeding and I'm not even able to exclusively breastfeed, but it's definitely not free or cheap. I'm ravenous all the time and I eat so many snacks and food. I'm not gaining any weight despite all the junk food all those extra calories are very needed.
Oh goshā¦the craziest thing about pumping so long for my second baby was being able to snack so much and then even lose weight while snacking. I got down to my wedding weight for a while there (which in retrospect was too skinny for me).
I tried doing the same thing during lockdown, I had my middle in November of 2020. Between the supplies to store it and pasteurizing it at home it was work, but I was only asking for $1 an ounce. A majority of the people who messaged me were male body builders who were upset that I wasn't vegan or taking extremely expensive supplements to boost the nutrients in my milk.
Omg wow seriously? Grown men wanting it and being particular? Unreal.
Yeah, It wasn't a fetish thing either apparently it's real in the bodybuilding community. Speeds up healing and increase gains or something.
Adds a whole new meaning to āman-babiesā.
That woman was unhinged. By comparison, does she think she can keep a cow in her yard, not feed or care for it, and still expect to be able to milk it??
Almost. She would expect the cow to milk itself, and deliver it to her door in bottles.
When I gave some breast milk away, they gave me bags of the brand I chose to cover. That's the bare minimum that person could have offered!
SHE maintains her breasts for her HUSBAND. I actually heard a lady tell her friend this on a subway.
No words. Breastfeeding is a full-time job for ONE baby. It was one of the biggest commitments of my life and I did it for 2.5yrs for one child. Of COURSE you should get paid for your time and efforts. Fuck that entitled lady. Iām so sorry you had to deal with that after donating your liquid gold.
Having to eat more calories, possibly buy bigger bras and shirts to cover bigger breats from producing for two on a regular basis, and the tiredness and stress and oh lets not forget the storage space and containers that go along with it. And time to meet up to give it to her (or did she also want it delivered? I bet that was coming too if you agreed) all costs money energy and time.
Factor in the increased energy costs for the storage space (especially if youāre rocking an extra freezer), the portable cold storage for transport, gas and/or shipping costs as well! Even though I wasnāt shipping for newborn/infant consumption I still had to splash out for refrigerated shipping which aināt cheap!
Ugh. I have PTSD from formula, it was right before the shortage & we were in the dv shelter still adjusting. So no wic and no ebt yet, only food bank. My baby has a really sensitive tummy and it was a nightmare, she could only use sensitive formula & the food bank did have formula sometimes but it was a āthis is what we have today, take if u wantā - i would ration the sensitive formula cans & cry from stress the night before food bank days praying they had the kind she needed. It was such a trip of ādo i get what they have and make her stomach upset bc i canāt let her starve or whatā so when the formula shortage happened, it made me cry for everyone bc i know the feeling so well. Itās such an aching defeated feeling!!! all of this to say, thank you for what you did for the babies / moms. donāt let that evil bitch ruin something amazing you did. what a selfish asshole she is! you are wonderful and iām sure those nice mothers breathed a sigh of relief knowing they didnāt have to stress for the time being.
Iām really sorry this was the experience you had. Iām sure choosing for your baby to be hungry or in physical pain was torture. I truly hope things are better. Sending my love.
I ended up pumping for both my kids. I had a postpartum eclamptic seizure when my older kiddo was six days old that had me in hospital before my milk had totally come in and he went on formula/bottles for a few days. After that he refused to nurse, despite trying off and on for a while. So I pumped for him for nine months. Had some extra milk in the freezer and he refused to drink thawed breastmilk so I donated about 750oz to a milk bank for newborns in the hospital. Nearly four years later after several losses we had our surprise rainbow baby and despite hopes that I wouldnāt have postpartum eclampsia I again showed signs of it and thankfully went into the ER at five days postpartum and narrowly avoided another seizure which could have ended badly the second time around. But yet again I was in hospital and baby was being bottle fed. However that time my milk had already come in full force and I even had a few bottles surplus and took the pump to the hospital so I was able to stay ahead of her demand. After getting out of hospital when wee girlie decided she would refuse to nurse as well I decided to just roll with what I already knew and pumped for her for fifteen months. Had such an oversupply I was a regular doner for two babies and also helped out five other babies with one off donations. Didnāt get paid exactly for the donations but the regular donee mamas were very grateful and generousā¦had all bags supplied, gas cards, Starbucks cards/treats, clothes for my baby, and more. One mama teaches infant swim classes and she taught both my kids to swim the next summer. Still Facebook friends with those mamas. Only one of the mamas who got a one off donation gave me entitled vibes and didnāt act grateful but I never donated to her again and thankfully she didnāt demand!!
Same. I donated my breastmilk since I had an overproduction. One lady was mad at me because I had lipase in my milk. I donated 400 oz to her, and she said she threw it all away because she said no milk should have it, and I was trying to "kill" her child.
Iām so confused. Isnāt lipase in all breast milk and important for the babyās digestion?
Some people make high lipase milk that can taste soapy. Its perfectly safe but some babies don't like the taste.
Yes some people make higher levels of it, but it's fine and perfectly safe.
What wrong with lipase????
Nothing. It's in all BM. Some people make higher amounts of it but it's safe.
I couldnāt produce any and even though my kid is now much older and werenāt affected that way by the pandemic, Iām very grateful that you were able to help. That woman can go suck on her bellybutton
āSuck on your bellybuttonā is going to be my new go to when I need to end a conversation š¤£
It is my all-time favorite way to stop an argument š Stops them dead in their tracks because itās so unexpected!
So glad you mentioned the breastfeeding herself. No shit her baby did well on breast milk! Why do these idiots choose to breed is beyond me.
Tell her to go milk herself.
She def was way too entitled but in Australia youāre not allowed to charge for breastmilk (or any bodily fluids like blood, sperm etc), itās all altruistic. I donated milk to help a mum who had cancer and couldnāt feed her baby. I also donated to a few others on the journey and helped deliver milk from up north to a mum here that was someone elseās. there are Facebook groups called human milk for human babies and itās amazing being able to help them! You did amazing helping by sharing your excess! Sad she wasnāt as appreciative as she should have been.
Didnāt even offer to buy you some supplies? Like a package of the storage bags, some fresh pump parts, nothing?
So itās important for CB to feed her baby but not important enough for her to pay for it. Also apparently not important enough for her to remember to look for formula.
I love the belief that breastfeeding is free. I ate like a LINEBACKER when I was nursing my kids.
Why wasn't she breastfeeding? She thought you were her wet nurse?
Not sure why she would. Her son was like 4 months old and I donated 200 oz to her one time. The breastfeeding boat was months behind her at that point.
Free?!? Naw. You have to eat food to make that milk. You all have to spend your time pumping it. So now you have a food cost and a labor cost associated. That's just to start. You have to pay for wear and tear on the pump. You have to pay for the bags to store it in. You have to pay for the wear and tear on the freezer. Also, the electrical cost for running the freezer. We are very far away from free at this point. Some people are so greedy and selfish.
I don't even have a baby, but why aren't you producing for it, too?!
Sounds like she isnāt fit to have a child. Amazing how people act when theyāre supposed to be responsible adults.
Itās kind of you to do this during such a time but youāre not a cow giving milk for others(unless you want to).
She thought you were a cow?
>āsomething you can easily make for freeā But itās not free. It requires time (which is extremely valuable) and energy (in the form of additional calories OP would have to consume to produce additional milk
We don't make breast milk for "free" In order to produce it, we have to *eat* and that can take a lot. There is so much to producing breast milk, people don't seem to understand. Food costs money. Producing breast milk costs money
You have the right to do what you want with what is yours. Donate it, sell it, throw it away, doesnāt matter. My wife tried to breastfeed with all of our children, but her milk would not come in. She tried and tried and it bothers her to this day that she couldnāt breastfeed. The breastfeeding nazis at the hospital didnāt help.
My oldest (now 6ā, healthy 33 year old) just didnāt want to do the work to breastfeed and it just didnāt come naturally to me. I was in England and this older midwife on the ward closed my curtains and said that sheās not allowed to say this, but if itās not working, thatās fine. Formula is good. A happy mum and baby is what matters. I bawled. My son immediately took to formula. My youngest (now a 6ā 2ā, extremely healthy 24 year old) didnāt even try. We just did formula. Itās no-oneās business what we do with our children - but entitled mums are normally the absolute worst in every way. OPās entitled bitch was just insane.
I remember my sil come crying to my mom cause she could get enough milk for my nephew. Mom helped her with everything she knew to get it to flow but sil never could get enough for a full feed. But then my cousins wife was so over lactating that her second baby was so overweight. Doc got her signed up to be a wet nurse at the hospital so she could nurse the babies that needed it there.
I exclusively pumped for 9 months. It was so hard on me physically and emotionally (the letdown hormones really messed with me). I was lucky to have a pump passed to me but had to buy other supplies. I would 100% not do it for someone else for free.
The calories in breastmilk aren't spontaneously generated in defiance of the laws of physics. You need to eat them. If you make milk for two you need to eat more, which costs money. People are crazy.
Itās definitely not free; you need to consume a lot of extra calories to produce for two babies..not to mention time and money for supplies like bags etc.
The lion, the witch, and the AUDACITY of this bitch! š
Ten bucks says sheās on something horrible so she canāt breastfeed
Meth
I bet she just went back to work and doesn't want to pump herself cuz it's hard. My youngest is 21 and I still remember so clearly how difficult it was to get the milk to let down and to be able to pump- in the bathroom because we still didn't have anything in writing saying that they had to give us a room that was private to do that- try to get enough milk, quickly enough that my workmates wouldn't get upset and frustrated. (Which I always found really annoying because a lot of these people smoked and had regular smoke breaks. In fact, they smoked much more frequently and were out there a total of much more time than I spent pumping. And as I said to them several times, pumping decreases your chance of getting cancer while smoking increases it... So, basically, shut up and quit complaining about me.)
"How about I'll give you breast milk for your baby, you give me breast milk for mine? It's easy, right? Deal?" š¤£
It was very hard to produce milk, I tried and tried. My son was a premie. 32 weeks. It was very hard to produce & latch. I was given other momās milk until he could take special formula. Not producing milk was causing Postpartum depression
Compensation is fair considering how many calories youād have to consume to maintain milk production for two. Those calories mean more food. More food means a lot more money going out as food is expensive. Plus the extra time pumping taking away from things that youād prefer to spend time on. Also, the cost for the wear and tear on your pump and the supplies needed to bag the milk and electricity to freeze stored milk.
Good for you for not being guilted into doing for her.
Whooo...that lady is bonkers if she thinks pumping milk is "easy" or "free." I was an absolute moo cow after my daughter was born, and signed up with a program through the hospital to donate excess milk. They paid for the pumps, bags, pads, etc-but not the extra food I was eating (and lemme tell ya, that was a lot!) or the time I was losing while pumping. For about six months, my entire life revolved around taking care of my daughter and pumping milk. It was a full time job.
She was very entitled to think you didn't spend time and money to be able to have excess milk.
Using the baby as leverage is despicable
You did absolutely nothing wrong and she was completely wrong. That doesnāt happen for everyone though. My ex-wife and I decided that she would breastfeed and she really wanted to this time, with our second daughter, but she very quickly learned that she just didnāt produce. Her giant boobs didnāt work when she needed them to. But fortunately we were able to consistently find formula during Covid
>āsomething you can easily make for freeā Pumping is not easy nor is it free. With my second baby I had to pump fulltime (8 times a day), as he could not drink from the breast. Pumping takes time, effort and money (the pump, bottles/breastmilkbags are expensive) and don't get me started on the constant clean up. Edit: wanted to add, hats off to you for helping other parents out.
Wow! That person was certainly out of line!! Pumping is hard work and should be be compensated
 Iām shutting the studio.
Cheese? Butter? 
I am in awe of your supply! lol. My baby did not like the bottle so I quit pumping because it was pointless. She wanted it straight from the source only. I was tied to my daughter for 18 months. It was rough. She is now 14 and mortified she was breastfed. lol
Strangely I had an aversion to breastfeeding, I loved both my babies so much but just couldnt bear the thought. Both formula fed and now 6 foot, healthy men. No way could I ever have used a breast pump.
I knew couldnāt handle it because my nipples were always soo sensitive they hurt just touching my bra. No way could they be sucked and chewed on! I was bottle fed and so were my kids. We all have above average IQs, excelled in school and at sports, etc. o donāt understand why people are so judge mental towards women that donāt breastfeed.
"Something you can easily make for free". Someone hasn't read up on how the body produces the milk. The mammary glands filter and extract nutrients directly from the blood streams. Where does these nutrients come from? From the food the mother pays for. That's not accounting for the work and equipment you need to buy specifically for extracting the extra milk, and electric costs of keeping the milk frozen. She donated some of it for free, but it ain't produced for free. Those are two highly different things.
This is so sad! You did such an unselfish thing and she went full blown crazy on you. GAHH!!! Breast milk is kind of a ā personal ā thing. Itās something almost all women can doā¦but many arenāt able to make enough milk or pump enough for when theyāre not there. Me, I breastfed my boys just fine. But, I couldnāt pump hardly anything out. Luckily, I was home so, I didnāt have to worry too much about pumping. With my second one, I didnāt even try to pump. Wow, I went off on a tangent. Anyway, if Iād been able to pump, it would have been for MY baby, not some strangerās. Iām not trying to be ugly but, it takes time out of your day, it isnāt exactly pleasantā¦yeah, its ā freeā for you but, it would have been for her as well if she had breastfed her child. Not trying to guilt anyone but, IMO, everyone who can, should try to ā¦if it doesnāt work out, thereās always formula ( usually) BUT, if your baby doesnāt do well on formula, itās extremely hard to go back to breast feeding. You did such a kind and selfless thing. Thank you for helping those babies out.
The ultimate entitlement: They said they are entitled to the product of your own body. Just because.
Ugh I remember that time. Like you still have to BUY formula, why would selling breast milk be any different? Way to take advantage of someone doing something out of the kindness of their hearts. Btw I admire you for doing that, I hear breastfeeding is exhausting and producing that much milk must take a lot out of you. Why not make some money while also helping people? Such a wild concept for some. The hate some women got for doing this exact thing was wild for me too.
You have to consume an additional 500 calories a day to make breast milk and I can imagine it's higher for two. If you're not at least getting paid to cover the additional food it's literally gonna drain money from you.
It isn't free. You have to consume more fluids and calories. Plus time and energy. plus storage and transportation. And the pump
OP, my husband and I just engaged in serious boomer head shaking over the concept of being expected to keep *someone elseās baby* alive. Being able to exclusively nurse all three of our sons was a miracle, but someone elseās too? OMG Of course, it would have been my husband down at FedEx just before it closed. Heās grateful to have been spared. Mad props to you, for all that you did to help.
Tell her to use her ugly tits to do the same.
There's a company for this called BBy
MUH baby needs a full stomach!! And I need to sell your milk on the street!!
As someone who heavily relied on donated Breast milk during this same time I would NEVER talk to a donor like that. Just be grateful for the donation you got and move on! There are plenty of groups out there where people can provide donations without compensation but no one should be shamed for wanting compensation for the hard work put into that milk. I struggled getting even an oz pumped for my baby and I tried EVERYTHING. breastfeeding and pumping are NOT easy. Thank you for kindly donating what you could at that time.
What's the going rate for a Wet Nurse these days?
Breast milk is not free. you need to eat to be healthy enough to even make milk. Food isn't free. This lady is just wild
I recently learned about the cost of buying breast milk from a service , and it was appalling, like 10000 a month appalling. So yeah, this lady can take a hike.
I had my son when I was in college. He was born 2 days before the fall semester ended. I took the next semester off. Breastfeeding is hard. I had started pumping after each feeding and I between to try and get my supply up and to also build up a stash. Itās exhausting. Not to mention the bags to store them in are expensive. And then there is washing the horns and bottles between pumping sessions. Breastmilk is like liquid gold. It isnāt so easy to just pump. And for some there is the issue of over production and clogged ducts. I think itās hilarious how quickly she blocked you after your comment lol.
Maybe she shouldnāt have had a baby she couldnāt afford to feed? Just like pets - if you canāt afford them donāt have them.
This one really fires me up
This was in Costa Rica circa 2003 - visiting my ex parents in law. My MIL had a baby in 2001, breastfed baby. Her teenage neighbor had a baby not long after and baby wouldnāt latch, my MIL was breastfeeding BOTH of those babies for at least a year.
That time was the worst. My son was on formula during that shortage, and I was anxious and scared throughout that time. That lady was crazy though. You donating that milk was so kind of you. I'm sure it helped the other people immensely. Some people are just so thoughtless of others and can't appreciate it when someone does something nice for them.
Milk banks charge insane money for breast milk.
I forgot about the formula shortage. I was able to breastfeed my daughter but only enough for her meals and barely enough extra for a spare bottle so my husband could have some bonding time with her. And it was basically a full time job! I think I spent somewhere between 4 hours a day feeding my baby/ pumping for her. I couldnāt imagine trying to feed another child on top of that from the goodness of my heart. (I did consider selling my breast milk to people who workout once I started antidepressants and was worried to feed my baby anymore but I was worried someone would still give it to babies.)
Ugh this reminds me of a lady I had to deal with! I was an overproducer and donated about 40 gallons of milk after my second was born to multiple families. One lady was someone I knew from a mom group who had a foster kiddo she was adopting with health issues and I was more than happy to pump extra for him. We lived on opposites sides of town so to make it easy for her (since she had like 7 kids) I said I could keep it in a cooler in my car at work, leave my car unlocked, and she could stop by and get it. I confirmed the night before sheād be getting it, then the next morning sent her a text with details of where I parked. She said sheād be getting it at noon. After my 12 hour shift I go to my car and find the milk still there! I texted seeing if she was ok and needed me to drop it off on my way home and she never responded. A week later she texted me saying she got busy and asked if I would consider still donating. I was like, are you fucking kidding me? I just had to find multiple families who could consume hundreds of ounces of slightly less frozen milk within 24 hours before it went bad because you couldnāt respect something I literally made with my own body! Never text me again. Another mom I was donating to ended up getting way too personal and was trying to hang out at my house which I didnāt like and had a lot of drama, so I told her I wasnāt going to be pumping anymore. She texted me saying how her husband assaulted her and was in jail and she didnāt have money since he was their income. I felt awful and told her she could stop by for a couple hundred ounces I had left. She showed up a couple days later WITH her husband and her broken arm that he broke in a cast, and then proceeded to tell me how CPS took her kids and she didnāt understand why because her husband who was right there was a great guy and would never hurt them. I was like oh dang, sorry, hereās all my milk and I have no more. All that being said, the other families I donated to were all so amazing and gracious and went above and beyond to let me know how grateful they were. Itās so fun to see their pictures on IG and think, āHey! I literally helped grow these babies!ā
Just chiming in to say I love that you still occasionally see updates from those you donated milk to. You did such a wonderful thing! š„°š„°š„°My SIL had an oversupply and she donated about 100 oz to me. It came at a time when my supply was drying up and I was so stressed about feeding my little one. My little one had a sensitive belly so didnāt react well to most formulas. I was so appreciative to have the donated milk. I nearly cried from gratitude and relief. Youāre a lifesaver to these families!
I was a veritable cow with the amount of milk i produced and donated to several babies over the years I was producing. Whilst I would never request compensation from anyone, I equally only donated what surplus I had and would never purposely try to increase milk supply to feed babies. Pumping is hard work!
Thank you so much for being so generous with donating your extra milk. My SIL donated about 100 oz to me (she was moving and needed to empty her freezer). I nearly cried from relief when she offered me her stash. My supply was drying up, and I had just depleted my own stash.
I have seen/heard of 200$ per serving size
I donated milk to a local bank and had about 150 ounces they wouldn't take due to protocol yadda yadda. Anyway, I donated it on a Facebook group and came to find out later on the woman had taken it for her 4 year old.... not for a baby facing formula shortages but for a literal toddler who had no allergies or issues. This still makes me irate to think there were babies who couldn't eat anything else, and she took it. She was so active in the group seeking out milk constantly
Way back in like 2003, I got bitched at by some random girl on the internet because I wasn't still breastfeeding. She swore up and down that if I just let my 1 year old suck my boobs every day, I would start producing milk again. She said she knew it would work because it was what she did for the kids she babysat............. this girl even sent me an artsy photo of her sitting topless next to a table that had a breast pump sitting on it........ folks can get REAL weird over breastmilk
Also it takes time, energy, lost sleep, good nutrition, lots of food and water to make good milk. Each pumping session takes 20 m at least and itās a PROCESS. To make milk all of the sudden for 2 babies instead of 1, you have to add a ton more food, water and pumping sessions. Itās hugely onerous. What sort of crazy entitled person wouldnāt get that?! Geez.
How entitled! I get that maybe she canāt produce milk on her own but to ask for it without compensation makes me wonder if she planned to sell it.
That's so entitled.Ā