Home Forums Induced Lactation aka Adoptive Breastfeeding Medical Interventions to Induce Lactation/Increase Milk Supply did you do well with the lact-aid?

If you were recommending what I should buy for "just in case" -- would it be the lact-aid, or a good bottle?

Thanks!
Janeen

I didn't do well with the lactaid, but others really like it. If you can make it work, I would definitely use it. It is so much better having the baby at breast. But I would also have a bottle just in case (we used Born Free).

My situation was that I had no notice so I started pumping the day we were placed with our daughter. I had a hard time with the lactaid and latching at first so I just decided to pump and use a bottle for the first week. My supply increased quickly and by the second week I had about 1 oz per session. I then started bfing first and bottle and pumping after. That lasted for one more week and then I stopped supplementing and she was ebf. But I think my case is unusual in that my supply increased so quickly.

I have a lactaid and I will plan to try it when we adopt again if needed.
Jennifer

I had a lot of trouble with the Lact-aid. Much prefer the Medela SNS.

Has anyone tried doing the whole lact-aid thing in the hospital? With my bio daughter, I was insisting that she be breastfed only, and I was still fighting with a nurse who wanted to give her a bottle! I can't imagine what it would be like where I am not (yet) the custodial parent, didn't just give birth, have this weird contraption.... ????

Or, assuming I'm getting enough milk, anyone tried to just nurse the baby in the hospital? I'm just imagining a huge problem with the nurses....

I tried Medela first, which worked while Audrey wasn't 'drinking' from me, just keeping her to breast.

After a while I began to dread it, it would leak or Audrey would pull on the tube and yank it out. There are little slots on the bottom and the tube would often get caught there and the flow would stop, frustrating us both.

I recently bought an lact aid off of this site and it works really well. Only one breast at a time, no slots, and easy to use. I did continue to tape the tube on the breast to keep it in place. Someone hear mentioned using a band aid which works great!

I would think you have the BF thing down after your bio child, so using the lact -aid shouldn't be difficult. Be firm with those nurses! There is a lot more woman doing adoptive breast feeding now, so enlighten those who need to see how beautiful it is.

that's my take on it.

Linda

I am not trying to discourage, but I had nursed a bio child and I could not make the lactaid work. Maybe if I'd given it more time, I only tried it the first week, we were in a hotel room. She was still little. I know it works well for lots of people, just don't get too frustrated if you have problems with it at first.
Jennifer

using the lact-aid verses the medela... the lact-aid makes the baby work your breast. The medela will pour into your babies mouth. Try it and see.. do not put the tube on the medela in a slot to stop the flow.. it will just pour. There is no stimulation on the breasts. Not much anyways. The lact-aid.. they actually have to work the breast to get it. And if it does leak out the tube some.. it does not pour at all. I love the lact-aid. Yes ... it takes a little more time to prepare with it. But definetly worth it

I don't find that with the Medela at all. I use the regular SNS which is the one with 2 tubes. You can control how hard the baby has to suck several different ways. There are 3 sizes of tubing: small, medium, and large. Each set of tubing has two settings--one tube open or 2 tubes open. With 2 tubes open the baby doesn't have to suck as hard as it creates another vent for air to get in. And lastly, you can move the bottle up and down. Below the baby's mouth, the baby has to suck harder. Above the baby's mouth, the SNS helps the baby a little bit as gravity gives the liquid a little push.

You may have been holding the bottle above the tube ends and that is why it poured out. If you hold the tube ends slightly above the bottle you can see that the flow will stop. My baby has to suck hard for the liquid to go into her mouth because I have set it up that way. And she empties my breast at the same time. The lact-aid was so difficult to set up that with my son (first baby) I got so discouraged I quit.

I found the nurses in the hospital to be very supportive of me breastfeeding the baby.

Maybe they have changed the SNS because it used to pour out. It was definitely free flow.
I nursed two bio children before Beka and I had a little difficulty with the lact-aid until I started taping the tube. I didn't know you could feed the tube in after latching so never tried that. But after a couple days I was very comfortable with it.
I didn't try nursing in the hospital as the nurses were not supportive of adoption so I figured they wouldn't support breastfeeding. I waited until I had her with me at the hotel so she was 2 days old the first time we latched. I had done no preperation prior to birth at all. I was taking liquid herbs and using a lact-aid with that alone I produced a small amount of work. I went on the protocol later. But we used a lact-aid solely for about 8 months. I modified it to use with a bottle so I didn't always have to have bags. Just like anything else I got in a routine with it and it wasn't really a hassle at all. I loved having my daughter at the breast.

Thanks Lalle,... yes it did definetly pour! Olivia still nurses at night. But since I am on the protocol again I have no milk. I use the lact-aid at night and my invention with the bottle. I am saving what bags I have for the baby. We start insems with our new surrogate in 2 weeks. But I plan to stick to my lact-aid