You certainly can! It is much easier if you don;t need to 'relactate' - ie if you have a newborn whilst still BF Jazz, but it can certainly be done and does as a matter of regularity.
There are so many resources on how to go about it, support forums and success stories.
I will get some link together for you, I have a whole bunch here somewhere. Will bbs.
I wonder how the milk changes? I know that breastmilk is a complex product, however I would've thought the changes over time would be very subtle - is a toddler's nutritional needs from their milk really that different to a baby's? Yes, they are on solids and moving about a lot more, but they are having less milk feeds too, so I would've thought it'd balance out?
I (obviously) haven't done any reading on the subject, but I think if you can relactate then your milk will still be perfect for baby #2, whether you birthed him/her or not.
ETA: I also wanted to mention how cool it is to be thinking about this stuff... the whole two-mummy thing and the new range of choices/issues you need to be considering.
Leasha, when Thomas Beatie gave birth, his wife was able to lactate so she breastfed their babies because he had his breast tissue removed remember? So it is definitely possible but I imagine that it might need a bit more work at getting it all working well kwim? But I have no doubt that you'd be able to do it - you know you can lactate. I would say if you can get Shel to do it for those first few weeks while you were working on your own supply if you didn't happen to be feeding Jaz by then then you wouldn't even need to comp with formula. Or if Shel really didn't want to BF herself, do you think she would at least express for a while and you could breasfeed bubs using a supply line? That would also help your own milk to come in too.
I just want to come in & wish you guys luck with this. You are both awesome & I have no doubt you'll make it work one way or the other!
I think its more the iron levels drop after 6 months or something? Thats why the milk banks prefer it in the first 6 months?
I would imagine that one of the reasons that breastmilk changes from when you're feeding a new baby to a toddler is the number and frequency of feeds, also the amount of milk in each feed. So in a toddler, if you're only bfing a couple of times a day, your body is packing all of the antibodies and nutrients into only those bfs, and potentially the volume is a lot less than it was when you bf a baby. But if you built your supply up (by suckling a baby more often) it would quickly adapt to the new requirements. No, you won't have colostrum, and you won't have the hormone boost from giving birth, so you'll have to build your supply up in anticipation. But remember, a new baby doesn't have very much in terms of volume.
I think the reason breast milk banks don't accept mothers' milk from those who are bfing toddlers is logistical?, since they will accept milk from someone who has already been donating once their baby is a bit older. But the issue could be the concentration of antibodies, since that is increased when your toddler feeds less often.
I would think that your close proximity to the bub would cause your body to produce hormones and be in tune with the new bub so you would produce the milk needed... just like when a group of women are regularly in each others company and their cycles end up being the same (hope that made sense)
I have also read (on an ABA website I think) that in some countries where there is a lot of farming work that they pair up women who have babies about the same age and one woman will work one day while the will feed both babies and the next day they swap.
So I definitely agree it is doable, sorry I can only give you anadotal evidence...
I am intrigued to follow this. I have always wondered if it is possible. I have read of one BB member on here who has done this successfully with an adopted child.
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