Hi, my name is Fiona i am 42 and after years of trying managed to conceive and now have a 7 month old. I am over 17 stone and have been overweight my whole life.

My question is can I have the Gastric Band operation and carry on breastfeeding my son? I know I should wait till I have finished nursing but wanted to breastfeed till he is 2. I don't know if I could move him on to formula solely as he will not take milk from a bottle or cup. I do not want to be a fat mummy either I am suffering alot with being overweight painful joints etc.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Fiona

I think that it would reduce your supply since you won't be able to eat as much. I may be wrong but if you want the band it might be best to wean him. I'd ask your pediatrician.

Thankyou for your reply. I have had him on solids since he was just over 5 months old. I know I should wait till he is 12 months old just wondered if anyone else has been in my position and still managed to breastfeed - even if I use formula as well.

Fiona

My primary concern would be milk quality/safety in the immediate postop period.

I nursed toddlers; they can go a few days without breast milk if they are getting other foods. So reestablishing nursing may not be an issue, once the anesthetics and pain meds are out of your supply.

However, you might find that your child uses your unavailability for a handful of days as an opportunity to spread his wings and move on, developmentally.

In that case, I'd say (and remember, I was a prolonged breastfeeder) that you'd done your job as a good mother---and taking the lead of your child is a good thing. (My aim was always child-led weaning, anyway.)

If you are not ready to face the possibility that, postop, you might encounter child-led weaning, I'd hold off on the surgery for a while.

As for meeting nutrient needs of a nursing baby while on the band---it would not concern me greatly, given that his diet is already supplemented. Supply also would not concern me hugely--the process is so supply-and-demand related that (especially early in the banding game, when restriction is minimal), I would assume that a plummet in supply was a foregone conclusion. I know I followed some very, very restrictive diets (with pedi blessing) post-pregnancy, with no ill effect on my supply. Everyone is different---but it's just not a given that it would be an issue.

Thankyou for your reply Betsy, yes my concern was also post operative feeding. I have been told not to feed between 2-5 days post operative. I would 'pump and dump' for those days and try to give him expressed milk during that period. It is a very emotive time.

Like you said he might want to move on himself from the breast. Over the last two days he is very unsettled at the breast (very interested in his surroundings which is a good thing) and not very interested in feeding. So perhaps he is taking the lead in his weaning. I have been trying to get him to take his milk from a free flow cup. But he is not keen although he takes Water readily from one. We will see perhaps he is moving on himself.

p.s. Well done with your weight loss

Thanks again for your reply

Fiona

Edited July 6, 201016 yr by Fee Fee

I'd wait if you really strongly want to continue until he is 2. Its a very short and precious part of your life and your relationship with your son.

But, you've dont a fantastic job so far and if you were to get things moving right now its probably going to take till he's over 12 months anyhow - at the very least you see a surgeon, get the insurance organised, do the pre op testing and then maybe even postpone the actual date for a month or two just to get over that line.

Like Betsy said, he's eating other foods and you can pump and discard the milk for a couple of days and you may not have any trouble at all re-establishing OR he may decide that's enough. Its nice to feed for a long time, but it really is child led and it really is VERY nice to have your freedom and your body back to yourself again too.

Thanks Jacqui,

Yes you are right it is a very precious time. Unfortunately insurance will not cover this as i am in the UK so it will be self funded, i will probably go to Belgium. I am really trying to eat healthier, i prepare all my sons food and think about his diet carefully should just do the same but i have been 'trying' for 25 years now!

Wanted to get banded as soon as possible so i can shed some of the weight as i would like another child or at least try for one and if i wait my age is against me 43 this year.

Fiona

For what it's worth my oldest sister weaned herself at 6 months. My mother still bemoans it today! Funny enough my sister to this day does'nt like milk in general. A few years ago there was a study that breastfed babies tended to have normal body weights over their life time becuase they were given the chance from birth to decide when to stop eating when they were full. Bottle fed babies would drink what they were given. Though I have to say that theory didn't really work in my case!

Hi, I was just banded on June 28th. I have a baby, almost one year old who I still breast feed. I spoke with one of the anestesiologists. He said that the anesthesia is not in your milk once you no longer feel the effects of it. The same is with alchohol. If you have a drink and feel tipsy you should not breastfeed because the alcohol is in your milk at that time, but once you feel normal, then your milk is ok. He said to be really safe, wait for 24 hrs to feed your baby. That is what I did. I had Csections with both my babies and breastfed them immediately after I came out of the OR and while on pain meds in the hospital with no problems, and that was when they were newborns, so I would think if it was not safe, they would not have encouraged it.

Because I paid cash for the Lap Band, I was able to go first at 0730, and home by 1400. So I fed my little guy before I left for the hospital and then I started again the next morning. He is older than your little one, so only feeds in the morning and before bed, but I had some frozen milk just in case he seemed to need it. He was fine about it all though. In regards to supply, I think everyone is different and you won't know until you have the surgery yourself. I would recommend you talk to your surgeon and research for yourself and then decide on what makes you comfortable. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Betsy's comment is dead-on on this, as usual. :thumbup:

When I first started considering surgery late last year, my youngest was still nursing a few times a week. She self-weaned while I was doing the 90-day diet required by my insurance, at 29mos old (she went 2 months longer than her big sis did!). But, if she hadn't, I would have held off on getting surgery until she was done. A few months extra waiting is no big deal when considering how brief the nursing time is in a child's life.

That said, I'm still producing, so while my production is low, I don't think it would be hard to get it back up and running.

I'm going to be giving it a try soon, in fact, as my sister is having a very hard time producing for her 5-month old and has asked if I would be willing to pump to help keep my niece on breastmilk for as long as possible.

This is also a concern of mine, but I really think it should be okay for the both of us.

I had my gallbladder removed last week and was also told by the anesthesiologist that it was safe to nurse within 6-12 hours of the surgery and so I did. My baby is 11 months old and TRYING to self-wean though I'm so not ready!

I'm afraid that my lap band surgery in September is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back and he will self-wean then. But I want to be healthy for him long-term!