Is this tremendous guilt normal?

Honestly even if you would have BF your daughter for 2 weeks she would have gained some benefit from it. So do what you feel you need to.

The guilt will strengthen when you do finally quit..Hormones can be he!!

It will subside though.

But for your own sake..make sure this is really what you want. I don't want you to kick yourself later because you miss it.

Good Luck

There is such guilt because you have two children now, you are more stressed out, more tired, probably some hormonal changes are going on physiologically, and maybe you need to start your meds back up. Remember, your baby got the colestrum in the very beginning, which is the best of breastfeeding.

I think your fear is irrational. You can quit breastfeeding anytime after you start. For the best condition of the child if you need the other medication that is forbidden to breastfeeding mothers then, talk to your doctor. Tell him what you want to do and then after he tells you what kind of milk you will need then start the baby on a feeding program.

the baby should be fine.

Plenty of mother's don't even make it as long as you did so I'm sure it would be fine. Your health is important too so if it is important for you to get on the medication, then perhaps it is a good time to stop. I don't know why you are so guilty though, but you don't have to be.

What medication is it? In nearly all cases the small amount of medication the baby might receive in the breast milk is still safer than formula feeding.

Guilt is internal --you feel guilty when you violate your own moral code. I can't tell you if your moral code is right or wrong that's not my business, its between you and possibly God/your religion.

I would recommend that you keep breastfeeding at least until your 7 year old is healthy.

I would be more than happy to find what information I can on any medication you need but the main resources are:

#1 Source:

Medications and Mother's Milk

Thomas Hale

(Most pharmacies have a copy and some libraries)

---------------

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) - A peer-reviewed and fully referenced database of drugs to which breastfeeding mothers may be exposed. Among the data included are maternal and infant levels of drugs, possible effects on breastfed infants and on lactation, and alternate drugs to consider.

-------------

Motherisk

(416) 813-6780

Monday to Friday

9-5 EST

ANYONE can call from ANYWHERE

-----------

Dr Thomas Hale's Forum

ANYONE can read ONLY health professionals may post questions

http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/lact/medicationforumspa...

------------

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/09a-drugs_and_bf.ht...

Over the years, far too many women have been wrongly told they had to stop breastfeeding. The decision about continuing breastfeeding when the mother takes a drug, for example, is far more involved than whether the baby will get any in the milk. It also involves taking into consideration the risks of not breastfeeding, for the mother, the baby and the family, as well as society. And there are plenty of risks in not breastfeeding, so the question essentially boils down to: Does the addition of a small amount of medication to the mother’s milk make breastfeeding more hazardous than formula feeding? The answer is almost never. Breastfeeding with a little drug in the milk is almost always safer. In other words, being careful means continuing breastfeeding, not stopping.

[...]

Breastfeeding and Maternal Medication

Most drugs appear in the milk, but usually only in tiny amounts. Although a very few drugs may still cause problems for infants even in tiny doses, this is not the case for the vast majority. Nursing mothers who are told they must stop breastfeeding because of a certain drug should ask the physician to make sure of this by checking with reliable sources. Note that the CPS (in Canada) and the PDR (in the USA) are not reliable sources of information about drugs and breastfeeding. Or the mother should ask the physician to prescribe an alternate medication that is acceptable during breastfeeding. In this day and age, it should not be a problem to find a safe alternative. If the prescribing physician is not flexible, the mother should seek another opinion, but not stop breastfeeding.

Why do most drugs appear in the milk in only small amounts? Because what gets into the milk depends on the concentration in the mother’s blood and the concentration in the mother’s blood is often measured in micro- or even nano-grams per millilitre (millionths or billionths of a gram), whereas the mother takes the drug in milligrams (thousandths of grams) or even grams. Furthermore, not all the drug in the mother’s blood can get into the milk. Only the drug that is not attached to protein in the mother’s blood can get into the milk. Many drugs are almost completely attached to protein in the mother’s blood. Thus, the baby is not getting amounts of drug similar to the mother’s intake, but almost always, much less on a weight basis. For example, in one study with the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil), the mother got over 300 micrograms per kg per day, whereas the baby got about 1 microgram per kg per day).

------------------

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3804/is_20...

Breastfeeding Benefits and Formula -Feeding Risks: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Infants who are formula fed are at risk for more short- and long-term health problems than are their breastfed peers (Table 1). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 1997) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for approximately the first 6 months of life, and continued breastfeeding to at least 1 year or beyond. Formula-fed infants have more allergies and incidents of asthma and wheezing (Burr et al, 1993), more episodes of diarrhea (Clemens et al, 1999), more ear infections (Duffy, Faden, Wasielewski, Wolf, & Krystofik, 1997), and are more likely to be overweight or obese entering kindergarten (Armstrong & Reilly, 2001). Children who were not breastfed as infants are at increased risk for developing childhood cancers (Davis, 1998) and type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes (Virtanen et al., 1991).

If a mother chooses (or is advised) to formula-feed, her health is at risk, too, both in the postpartum period and in the long term. Not breastfeeding increases the risk of postpartum bleeding, and women who do not breastfeed also have a greater incidence of obesity and osteoporosis later in life (Lawrence & Lawrence, 1999). Mothers who do not breastfeed significantly increase their risk of ovarian cancer (Lawrence & Lawrence), and a recent large -scale reanalysis of data from 47 different studies (including more than 500 ,0 000 women) found that mothers decreased their risk of breast cancer by 4.3% for every 12 months they breastfed (Collaborative Group, 2002). Mothers who do not breastfeed miss out on important mother -infant bonding and the empowerment many mothers find in being able to provide something positive and special for their babies (Lawrence & Lawrence). In other words, not only is "breast best," breast is normal.

Breastfeeding and Psychotropic Drugs: General Considerations in the Healthy Full -Term Infant

Many healthcare providers know little about the effects on the infant of drugs in breast milk, and fear possible harmful effects if a drug is known to have an unfavorable pregnancy category rating. However, whereas drugs present in maternal plasma during pregnancy can pass directly to the fetus through the placenta, the breast is much more selective. Most drugs do pass into breast milk, but almost all appear in only small amounts-less than 1% of the maternal dosage. Very few medications are actually contraindicated in breastfeeding women (Riordan & Auerbach, 1999). To better understand factors that affect drug transfer and concentration in breast milk, see Table 2.

How can a clinician balance the clear health protections breastfeeding offers to both mother and baby with the risks that maternal medication might affect the nursing infant? Research about psychotropic medications in breast milk, or their effects on breastfed infants, are often limited to case reports or very small studies. Sometimes there are no data at all. Drug package inserts that are prepared by drug companies take an overly cautious approach and warn that any drug that has not been clinically proven safe should not be taken by a breastfeeding mother. It is possible this advice is based more on fear of litigation rather than objective evaluation of the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of taking the drug while doing so (Mohrbacher & Stock, 2003).

...what's the medication?