WLS while breastfeeding

Hi - newbie here!
I am anticipating having an RNY or DS in March.
I have a 4 month old that I'm breastfeeding - she will be 10 months old in March. I definitely want to wait until she is receiving a lot of her nutrition from solids - but I'd also like to continue breastfeeding if at all possible. Has anyone here tried to continue breastfeeding after surgery?

Mandy  you should wait until you are no longer breastfeeding.  Surgery will interrupt your breastfeeding - you will be in the hospital for several days,  you may not physically be able to nurse her when you get home....and you will definitely risk having your supply diminish.

I assume you will start feeding your baby food between 5-6 months.  You can transition her to solids and then supplement with formula but you should not plan on breastfeeding after surgery...you MIGHT be able to,  but do not count on it.

And anyway....one person's experience here is NOT necessarily an indication of what will happen to you.

Also you should know that you will not be able to lift your daughter for 6 weeks after surgery - this will make breastfeeding extremely difficult.

 What NY said - and I also wanted to add that you can pump and get a good supply going as much as possible in the freezer to limit the formula you give her.  You can continue to pump while in the hospital, and toss it out due to the meds you will be taking for pain, etc, to keep your supply up until you get back home but then like she said, you won't be able to lift anything so you'd have to train her now for positions that you don't have to hold her.  I would strongly suggest you contact a lactation consultant as well to see what their opinion is on the situation.  

After having the DS and now that I have a fresh baby that I'm bfing, I can't imagine having to sustain another persons life while trying to heal from the DS.  It would have been too much for me.  I'm  not saying it's impossible if you really WANT to do it, there is a way, but I would plan on not bfing when you go in for sugery.  

Thanks for your input. I am waiting until March for the surgery just so I can feed her a little longer. At that point she will be on solids and I know I have to plan on supplementing her...just hoping that maybe I'll be able to keep enough supply to do a "comfort" feed once a day or so. A girl can hope, right?
She's my last one...I'm pretty attached!

I would think it almost impossible to continue nursing during the recovery phase from surgery. You will hardly be able to get in enough liquid to keep yourself hydrated, then add to the extremely fast weight loss you would be releasing a ton of things from your fat stores and into your breast milk. Plus you will need all the vitamins and nourishment you take in to heal yourself. If you really hope to be able to continue I would bring it up with your surgeon, your baby's doc and a lactation consultant, so that everyone can work together as a team to help you heal and get well from surgery and let you continue to nurse.

I would postpone a few more months, maybe 4-6 months, for me.  this is your last baby, this will not be easy for you.. my children were exclusively bfed for over 12 months (that includes no water either) if you wait till she is older you can have your surgery pump for a few days after anesthesia (to remove) then you could start comfort feeding after that, but as you know comfort feeding is different than receiving most of her nutrition from nursing.  do what you think is best in your heart, you will miss it, i know i do, those are very special times, just make sure when you have your ds/rny that you are ready to say this will be it, surgery, tiredness, etc may put a permanent end to that, balancing act.....wishing you great success with your surgery and bfeeding your baby....

Many of us struggle with staying hydrated after the surgery. I can't imagine how much harder that would have been with trying to sustain a baby at the same time.
     But my biggest concern would be your meds - EVERYTHING you take goes into the breast milk. So for as long as you are on any narcotics/pain meds at all, those drugs would be in that milk - not something you would want your baby consuming. So pumping and throwing away the milk for just a couple days isn't going to be enough. What if you get a wound infection and need antibiotics? Hopefully that won't happen, but you never know. You wouldn't want your baby getting those through the milk either.
     Also, keep in mind that the baby needs to get good nutrition from this milk, not just fluid. If you are eating next to nothing for the first few weeks, and absorbing even less, that won't supply any decent nutrition for the baby.
     So definitely something to discuss ahead of time with your doctor, but personally I don't think it's a good idea. Sorry!

Larra

Lactation places high demands on maternal stores of energy and protein..

It might be fine to do a comfort feed at night - but you can't count on breastmilk as nourishment after your DS.  And it won't happen for a while after your surgery.  I don't think pumping right after surgery is realistic.

And you can't breastfeed at all while you are on narcotic pain meds.  You'd have to pump and dump - not gonna happen immediately post-op.

There are antibiotics that are safe during breastfeeding.  Also,  unless someone is extremely malnourished, breast milk is still nutritious.  Look at the 3rd world...not that it's ideal of course.  A main reason that it would be especially difficult for you is because of your own inability to stay hydrated.  It would take a long time for your milk to become devoid of nutrition - but you will have trouble producing because of the lack of hydration.

But for YOUR health,  you shouldn't do it.  And since you may simply not be able to breastfeed (supply, position,  etc etc) you have to make sure it's not necessary for the baby in any way by the time you have surgery.

If I were you I would wean completely before surgery. 

 LLL leader here!  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but, hun, it just isn't going to work...  

1. Nursing consumes about an additional 300-500 calories per HOUR.  Nursing a child under the age of 1, you figure you spend about 1-2 hours total a day nursing (they are pretty efficient by that age, and the frequency of feedings is reduced).  That is MORE CALORIES THAN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE IN at first post surgery.  Your milk will be woefully inadequate in the nutrition dept because of this...

2. Anesthesia, pain meds, antibiotics are all passed through breast milk.  You would have to pump and dump for about 36-72 hours post anesthesia, and several days post last use of narcotis and antibiotics before it was clear of your system.  This brings on several factors- many women do not respond as well to pumping, and it can diminish your supply to exclusively pump.  Also, your baby may (read as probably) will become accustomed to bottles during this time, and may not even want the breast back once you are "pure" again.

3. Dehydration is a HUGE issue for everyone postop.  It is VERY difficult to get in the required 64oz per day that YOU need to remain hydrated.  There is NO WAY you could take in the reccommended GALLON a day a nursing mother should have.

4. You won't be able to lift your child.  Pretty self explanatory...

I commend you for wanting to continue the nursing relationship, and fully understand the bond and importance of it.  If it is that special and important to you, I would advise putting off your surgery until your daughter has weaned fully (this is, of course, unless you are facing some very serious comorbids that you need to get under control immediately).  WLS will always be there.  The nursing relationship, as you know, won't.  If you are healthy enough to nurse now, and healthy enough to be planning surgery, I don't see why you couldn't wait.

Now, with that all said- once you are completely healed, and at least 18 months out from your surgery, with stable vitamin levels and able to eat a fairly normal sized amount to support yourself nutritionally- nursing at THAT point wouldn't be an issue at all!  I fully plan (intend) to have more children, and provide extended child led weaning nursing to them as well.

Mandy just to reassure you - once you're past the post-op period and not on narcotics any more (and you have to wait a bit after you're off them),  then go ahead and have a night time bonding feed with your little one,  as long as you can get her in position - and there are creative ways to position her of course.

Just because your milk may not be a nutrition source (she'll be eating solids and formula),  doesn't mean you can't have a bonding nursing session every night.  You certainly can.  And as long as she doesn't need it for food,  she can suck as comfort as much as you and she want.

I had a baby in January,  and because I had lot of breast plastics, I was only able to produce tiny tiny amounts - not enough to nourish him almost from the beginning.  But I still nursed as a bonding/comfort experience.  You can too.