Breastfeeding with the band

[TracyW2 137]

I have not been banded yet, but we are looking at a possible surgery date in late May/early June.

I am breastfeeding my son and plan to do so until he turns 1 in August.

Does anyone has any experience with breastfeeding with the band? Do they not do as many fills so you can get the extra calories that are needed?

Luckily I will only have a couple months left of breastfeeding, but it is not something I plan on stopping until August.

Thanks

[TracyW2 137]

33 views and noone can help?

I only got one reply with my introduction. hmmmm

[HeatherO 7]

I haven't gotten to that point yet . . . so I didn't have a good response for you regarding any personal experience. However, I will be breastfeeding in a few months and I am banded.

I have read in other breastfeeding threads that as long as you are getting adequate calories and healthy foods in, breastfeeding shouldn't be an issue. I know some people have mentioned that they need to keep up 1600 calories of daily intake to keep breastfeeding going well . . . so you may need to work with your nutritionist, banding doctor to make sure those needs are met. I have also read that some people pump and dump for a couple of days after anesthesia, but not everyone does. You might want to set aside a store of milk right before surgery.

Good luck. Search for a few more breastfeeding threads on this site and you might find more information.

[TracyW2 137]

Thank you for your reply.

I was told by the dietician that I may have to discontinue after surgery because I might not get enough in those first few weeks. Although I'm hoping if my surgery does end up being in June that I will be close enough to ending. My son will be 1 August 1st and plan on doing it till he is a year. So June he will be 10 months. Although I do not want to give him formula (personal choice), I hope he will be on enough solid foods so I wont have much of a problem.

They did talk about postponing surgery until I am done. I guess I should just wait and find out more when I find out when my surgery could be.

[Daisalana 33]

Same as Heather--haven't been there, so I don't know. But if you look through the pregnancy section of this forum, I know Breastfeeding with the band has come up on at least 2 occasions with many response, so you could go reference there for info..

[HeatherO 7]

Thank you for your reply.

I was told by the dietician that I may have to discontinue after surgery because I might not get enough in those first few weeks. Although I'm hoping if my surgery does end up being in June that I will be close enough to ending. My son will be 1 August 1st and plan on doing it till he is a year. So June he will be 10 months. Although I do not want to give him formula (personal choice), I hope he will be on enough solid foods so I wont have much of a problem.

They did talk about postponing surgery until I am done. I guess I should just wait and find out more when I find out when my surgery could be.

I know for certain that some people have been able to continue breastfeeding after surgery without issue. It is harder to get the calories in, but not impossible. Especially since you can take them in liquid form during the early days. If you really desire to keep breastfeeding but go forward with the surgery, you might want to consider just continuing with it and seeing how you do. You will also know closer to that time how well your baby is adjusting to solids and how dependent they are on your breasts as a sole source of nutrition. The surgery could always be scheduled and then pushed out if things don't feel right.

[TracyW2 137]

Thank you for your replies!! It means a lot that you took the time to help.

[DianeL 0]

Hi,

I was banded in mid-January, and am still BFing my daughter. She was 16 months in Jan. I have had no problems at all with producing enough milk, despite having lost over 57 lbs in the past 9.5 weeks!

I was told it was going to be pretty much impossible to produce milk after reducing my daily calories so much, but I was determined to make it work. I just made sure to feed her as much as possible to keep my supply up, and to drink Water constantly throughout the day (besides the times around meals).

Good luck! I hope everything works out for you!

[TracyW2 137]

Thank you for the reassurance!!!

And congrats on your continued breastfeeding and the weight loss.

[nerdine_mit 1]

Hi! I had my band baby in Feb 2008, and I am still breastfeeding. I had my band tightened up right after delivery, I was 185 lbs, by June 3/08 I was 152, and by August 3/08 142, and the whole time I was breatfeeding exclusively.

I have always had plenty of milk and my baby stayed on the 50%tile weight curve.

One thing I found really irritating was that my baby located my port during nursing and started to play with it. Which kind of hurt but I gently, and quickly, guided his hands away. (My port is just below my bra line.)

My weightloss since August/08 has been slow mainly because I am almost at goal, and I don't really care anymore if I actually loose 100 lbs as a 95-97 lbs weightloss is good enough and when I look in the mirror I see a skinny woman. Good enough for me!

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

[TracyW2 137]

Congrats on your weightloss and you ablility to breastfeed. I hope my dr can get in gear and get all my info sent to my surgion so they can get it submitted. I'm getting antsy!

Thanks for sharing your story.

[rachaele1 0]

I can let you know how my experience goes... my 5th child, a daughter, was born on July 22 last year. She was 5 weeks premature and spent a week in the NICU. I live in Italy, which is generally not a very supportive country when it comes to breastfeeding - so I wasn't allowed to hold my daughter, feed her or even give her the milk that I was pumping. But she and I prevailed and although she never breastfed "from the tap" (partially because my breasts were larger than her head!), I have been pumping and giving her milk in a bottle all along. The doctor here said he recommended I stop breastfeeding completely before my Gastric-lapband surgery.... well, my surgery is THIS THURSDAY 3/26 and although I have introduced formula and cut back on pumping considerably, I have not stopped 100%. I have spoken to the lactation consultant and she will be giving me a prescription for RAGLAN after my surgery to jump start the milk production again. I will also be taking FENUGREEK to increase my chances of regaining my milk production. Erin will turn one this July - and I hope to be able to give her milk until her first Birthday... I will let you know how it goes.

[TracyW2 137]

Rachael - I will be interested to hear how everything goes for you. I have taken fenugreek before. I dont want to give up bf'ing if my surgery does come before I am done.

Good luck thursday!

[HeatherO 7]

I can let you know how my experience goes... my 5th child, a daughter, was born on July 22 last year. She was 5 weeks premature and spent a week in the NICU. I live in Italy, which is generally not a very supportive country when it comes to breastfeeding - so I wasn't allowed to hold my daughter, feed her or even give her the milk that I was pumping. But she and I prevailed and although she never breastfed "from the tap" (partially because my breasts were larger than her head!), I have been pumping and giving her milk in a bottle all along. The doctor here said he recommended I stop breastfeeding completely before my Gastric-lapband surgery.... well, my surgery is THIS THURSDAY 3/26 and although I have introduced formula and cut back on pumping considerably, I have not stopped 100%. I have spoken to the lactation consultant and she will be giving me a prescription for RAGLAN after my surgery to jump start the milk production again. I will also be taking FENUGREEK to increase my chances of regaining my milk production. Erin will turn one this July - and I hope to be able to give her milk until her first Birthday... I will let you know how it goes.

The 26th is almost here. Congratulations and good luck on banding. Please let us know how it goes.

[Shaun 0]

i was banded in nov 08, at the time my son was 6 months old. when i arrived home from surgery, i pumped and dumped one time, to get the anaesthesia out, and then was nursing him a few hours later. i have had my fills just the same as everyone else. i now have 7.1cc in my 10cc band. no problems here, still nursing at 11 months old. any ?'s, dont hesitate.