Breastfeeding And The Sleeve

[Singlemama 21]

Hi there!

I have my first consultation appointment on the 13th, so I don't have a surgery date yet. But I have been approved through both of my insurances, so hopefully it's only just a matter of time. Anyways, I'm still breastfeeding my son. He'll be 10 months this Saturday. Should I expect any change with the sleeve? Lose my supply? Have to work extra hard to get it back up? Anyone who has had any experience with this, please let me know! Thanks so much!!

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I wouldn't plan on it. You'll be subsisting on a very small amount of calories, which is very taxing on your body and does not really provide enough nourishment for your own body to keep going, let alone produce milk for someone else. I don't know if your supply is going to run low, but if it somehow doesn't, it'll be at the cost of your own health, so it's not worth it. He's old enough that being weaned is not unexpected, anyway.

[Caradina 65]

I would wean him. The medications you will be given at the hospital will make your milk unusable for almost a week, and at that point, like Blackberry said, your body will struggle to produce milk. I was only able to get in 300-400 cals a day in the first couple of weeks, and breastfeedign an infant of that age usually takes around 500 calories daily from you....

[Singlemama 21]

Well, in regards to the having to wait because of the medications used, how do they differ from having your gallbladder removed or any medications used in a c section, including pain meds like morphine and hydrocodone? Because I've had both done while breast feeding and didn't have to wait any amount of time. Was told I could wake up and feed, because by the time I awoke it was out of my system enough. Do they use different medications to put you to sleep or for pain?

[kimmr 5]

I'm not sure about the drug situation, but I think it would be hard with the lack of fluids.

When I was breastfeeding my first daughter, I got the flu, and threw up for a solid day. I couldn't keep anything down. I didn't have to stop breastfeeding at that time, but my supply drastically reduced, and it took me a while to get it back up again.

When I was sleeved, I had to stop drinking Water at midnight on Monday night. I was sleeved Tuesday at 8:00 am, and then wasn't allowed Water by mouth until about 2:30 pm on Wednesday. Of course, during that whole time, I was receving IV fluids, so that kept me hydrated. Regarding actual calories, I was allowed 1 tsp of Protein drink an hour starting at about 8 pm on Wednesday night.

I'm not saying that it would be impossible to continue breastfeeding after surgery, but I would think you'd definitely experience a set back, at the very least.

[Singlemama 21]

I'm sure there will be set backs but after writing this thread, I searched for posts on similar situations and did find people who had succeeded at continuing to breastfeed. I know he's old enough to wean, but long ago I decided I wanted him to wean himself when he was ready. So I suppose I'll work very hard, pump a lot, try to get every bit of the liquids in and consume as much Protein as I'm able. I will ultimately hope for the best and see what the outcome is. ) as far as the medicines in my system, I'm not too worried, and wasn't when I wrote the post. It was more about if anyone had been in this situation and was successful even with the decrease in caloric intake.

[Caradina 65]

My friend decided to do child led weaning too... Her son is 4 1/2... and still breastfeeding. LOL I think eventually you'll have to make the decision. That said, I'd be to paranoid about transferring opiates through the milk, but I'm not a doctor so maybe it does leave the system faster than I think it does.

[beautifulnewme2012 164]

Ashleigh I think u are handling it right. U should do what u can and see if you can continue or not. Every body is different so you may adjust if you work hard at it. I have known women who were on low cal diets while breastfeeding and did fine. And others who stopped producing milk so you will just have to wait and see!

[cookies 56]

IMHO, the problem won't be that you won't be able to produce milk for him. Your body will continue to attempt to do that. The problem will be your body will be eating up your available muscle in an effort to do so as you will not be able take in the calories necessary.

[BKMama 179]

Can you just start pumping now and get a nice stash built just in case? I admire your diligence for trying to keep nursing, so good luck! :-)

[Catracks 865]

People with the sleeve struggle to stay hydrated as it is and the calorie deficit is significant. It will pull the nutrients right out of your body. Pump some milk and freeze it, get him used to a bottle (my daughter went from breast to cup and never had a bottle) and start weaning.

Of course ask your doctor, but I believe he will echo what we've said.

I wouldn't wait and see. My daughter pretty much weaned herself close to 2 years out as she started being more interested in solid food. 10 months is too soon to be shocked out of it. No kid should be. It should be done gradually over a month at least. It won't be easy on you either both physically and emotionally, especially if you just quit. Ouch! Let your milk supply naturally decrease as he gets more bottle feeds.

[Singlemama 21]

Well I discussed the breastfeeding with Dr. Kim today and he didn't seemed phased by it. He just said I'd need to stay on prenatals, and absolutely make myself drink all the Water, because the water is key. And then his team would help me make the best choices on foods and meals to keep both baby and me safe and healthy. :] Glad to have a doctor who supports my decision!

[Catracks 865]

Knock me over with a feather. Well, great!

[deltadawn817 106]

You will have top pump and dump for the first 24 hours after surgery. It is diffrent from a c section.... when they put you under wtih general anesthesia. They should be advising you to pump and dump.

[Wheetsin 714]

Anesthetic drugs are administered for a short period of nearly always less than two hours, and analgesic drugs to relieve the pain of surgery are administered for only a few days. The total doses of these drugs ingested by an infant is negligable, and intestinal absorption of these drugs by suckling infant is also negligible, which is why the advice of all experts is simply to continue breastfeeding after any operation (Howie 2006, Lang 2003). If a woman feels she is capable of breastfeeding her baby after an operation, she may do so in full knowledge that any anesthetic and analgesic drugs present in her blood will not affect her child.

ETA: here is a link to the Howie reference cited above. The Lang is also available, but in German.

http://anesthesiaweb.org/images/breastfeeding/Howie-2006.pdf (Howie 2006)