I am thrilled, and a bit envious, to hear about the mom wanting to breastfeed a baby she adopted at 10 days old! Breastfeeding my adopted babies has been the most wonderful experience I have ever had! The fact that she had no time to prepare in no way decreases her chances for success. Had she been able to prepare, she may have been able to be producing some milk, now, but she can still expect to establish a normal breastfeeding relationship with her baby, and produce a significant amount of milk, starting from where she is now. Many of us have started from the brass tacks, with babies who arrived with little or no notice. That was the case with Thomas, my third adopted child, but the first that I managed to establish a significant milk supply and long-term (4 years) nursing relationship with. I started feeding with the Lact-Aid as soon as he was able to come home. At that time, I knew nothing about herbs or medications, or even high quality breast pumps. I succeeded just with his suckling. He was very healthy, and my relationship with him is still extremely close, at age 16. It would have been well worth the effort if I never produced any milk, but I estimated that, on the average, he was getting about 12 ounces a day from me. That is in the average range for moms who have never given birth to a baby, who have nothing but suckling to stimulate it. With the info we now have about herbs and domperidone, as well as various other tricks, the average tends to be higher. I produced more milk with my fifth child, with whom I drank gallons of fenugreek and fennel tea (and smelled like waffles with syrup). I would strongly suggest that this mom start out with the Lact-Aid. There are some things about the SNS that, I think, may make it more practical for use in a clinical setting. However, for moms who need to get set up to nurse 8+ times a day, without help, the Lact-Aid is much more practical. I have never heard of an adoptive who has had a significant amount of experience nursing with both supplementers, who did not prefer the Lact-Aid. A few of the reasons for this are that It is much easier to get set up to nurse with (especially nice when there is a baby screaming to be fed), more comfortable to wear and easier to clean adequately. Probably the biggest single factor is that it is so much easier to conceal under clothing, which tends to help moms feel alot more comfortable nursing in front of others. I would also suggest that she concentrate, first, on getting her baby latched and properly suckling the breast at feedings, using the supplementer to provide whatever formula is needed. To start off worrying about whether there is any milk yet won't cause milk to be produced any sooner, and may make it more difficult to learn to manage, and enjoy, feeding at the breast. Establishing that relationship is the best way to assure that there will be milk, too, so you really can't lose by taking that approach. I think it is a good idea to spend a predetermined about of time, such as two weeks, getting the logistics of breastfeeding down, before trying to determine if there is milk yet. If getting the baby suckling the breast is the only thing an adoptive mom does, she will most likely be producing some amount of milk within two weeks. Also, it is a good idea for the mom to know how to do hand expression. Often, moms who are only producing a small amount of milk will not be able to pump anything, and think there is no milk when there actually is some. If this mom wants to use medication, I would suggest domperidone only. Birth control pills can be helpful used for months before the baby arrives but, once there is a baby suckling the breast, the BCPs are more likely to be counterproductive, than anything. I can go on all day about this topic! This mom would be welcome to contact me, if she wants, at [log in to unmask] . I would also suggest that she go to the Adoptive Breastfeeding Resource Website (ABRW) at www.fourfriends.com/abrw . There are moms there who are/have breastfed adopted infants/children under a very wide variety of circumstances. Darillyn STarr Adoptive mom of six _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar – get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html