tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post998972505329872468..comments2024-03-12T07:00:44.143-04:00Comments on CHILDMYTHS: Adoptive Nursing: What Are the Reasons?Jean Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14619393019771381980noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-29090064374329255312014-01-06T09:08:15.546-05:002014-01-06T09:08:15.546-05:00Thanks for sending the paper. I hope to comment on...Thanks for sending the paper. I hope to comment on it in a few days--Jean Mercerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14619393019771381980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-38440181702570568002014-01-05T19:32:27.760-05:002014-01-05T19:32:27.760-05:00I think that mothers are quite careful with whom t...I think that mothers are quite careful with whom they speak about their child seeking breastfeeding but it's not a new thing- one of the cases cited in my paper was a child from Operation Babylift. <br />I've not heard of a teenager breastfeeding. Typically the children who seek breastfeeding are in very new to fairly new placements. The oldest child I know of was 12 (and in this case breastfeeding was not permitted by the mother), the oldest child I know of who breastfed was a newly adopted 10yo (and as seems common with these older kids breastfeeding only occurred a few times- almost a claiming behaviour).<br />My undergrad was in agriculture and postgrad in plant physiology....a bit of field switch to infant feeding, though I remain very grateful for my broad science background! Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16026426106959367530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-23955359969727239682014-01-05T19:18:26.373-05:002014-01-05T19:18:26.373-05:00I sent an e-mail request for the paper-- thanks.
...I sent an e-mail request for the paper-- thanks.<br /><br />No, I have never heard of adopted or foster children seeking breastfeeding. This may be just my ignorance, but I don't think it's discussed much in the U.S.-- although adoptive nursing has been around for a long time, here as well as elsewhere.<br /><br />Not having heard of breast seeking in these situations at all, I don't think I've ever interpreted such a thing as sexualized behavior. I'm simply aware that adoptive parents do sometimes feel repelled by children seeking breast contact, and may attribute such behavior to abuse by some person in the child's past, or actually accuse some other adult who's in the picture. <br /><br />I have heard of a mother who advocated for holding therapy breastfeeding an adopted teenage daughter, but I have no idea whether this story was correct. Much disapproval was expressed by various people, and I don't find that surprising.<br /><br />Are you a botanist by training, then? The two articles you've published other than on breastfeeding would seem to suggest that. Jean Mercerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14619393019771381980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-6896894423305666462014-01-05T17:21:02.029-05:002014-01-05T17:21:02.029-05:00Hi Jean, If you wish, send me an email karleeng@uw...Hi Jean, If you wish, send me an email karleeng@uws.edu.au and I will send you the first paper, it goes into the possible reasons why children might seek breastfeeding in some detail. It's just speculation but based on what women have observed in their children. As I have heard more stories I have strengthened my view that this is something that often flows from the instinctive feeding behaviours that newborns through to young infants express when placed in skin to skin contact with their mother. <br />Yes, it is a paradox. That children who have been traumatised and then abruptly placed in a new family might find it impossible to interact in intimate ways with their caregivers I think is not at all surprising. The idea of children seeking breastfeeding was unexpected to me...but it happens and quite a lot. Certainly in Australia it is discussed in the mandatory adoption education classes that prospective adoptive parents undertake. <br />I honestly haven't been contacted by many mothers who have thought that their child's behaviour in wanting to breastfeed really was an indication that the child had been sexually abused. There was just one case where the mum suspected that her son's behaviour might have been related to past sexual abuse. I expect that in such cases women might not be contacting me because I am sure that this also happens and picking between the two might be difficult. Usually when this happens women are very shocked (usually they have not heard of it before) and they were initially worried that it could be an indication of past sexual abuse because breasts are involved but it also does not appear to them to be sexualised behaviour and if they run with what their child asks they are certain that it is not. I have a question for you though, in all your years of working in this area, had you not heard of children seeking breastfeeding before?? Have you worked with families where this breast seeking behaviour has occurred and assumed that it was sexualised behaviour?? Have you heard of parents accused of sexual abuse because they have allowed children to breastfeed (I have not, but I know it is a fear of very many mothers). As I mentioned, this is a recognised behaviour in Australia in newly adopted children. I am certain that it also happens commonly in foster children but of the cases I have collected there is less than a handful where there child was a foster child. I can guess why. <br /><br />Nope, not a midwife either. I came from the life sciences across to infant feeding research. <br /> Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16026426106959367530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-640011580687435302014-01-05T10:10:55.457-05:002014-01-05T10:10:55.457-05:00Dear Karleen,
Thanks for these suggestions. I ha...Dear Karleen, <br /><br />Thanks for these suggestions. I had already read the later two papers, but could access only the abstract of the first one.<br /><br />Perhaps you can help me interpret some of your statements. I remain puzzled at the apparent paradox you put forward-- that getting most adopted children to nurse requires long and careful efforts, but a smaller number signal or request their desire to breastfeed. Why do you think this is? If nursing is seen as a general and expectable wish of human infants, why is it difficult to establish for many? I understand your statement that some of those who signal their desire to nurse may have been breastfed earlier, but considering the circumstances of adoption, I would think this number would be quite small.<br /><br />A second question is this: Given your statement that some adopted children seek breastfeeding, what do you make of other situations in which adopted or foster children touch the mother's breasts? As I noted in my post, this behavior is usually interpreted as "sexualized" and as an indication that the child has been sexually abused. Would you say that this interpretation is often wrong, and that the child's behavior may indicate the wish to breastfeed? If you have reason to think that, it would be important to publicize your view, and to prevent the damage that occurs when innocent people are accused of molesting children.<br /><br />If you are not a nurse, is your training in midwifery? I am curious as to how different disciplinary backgrounds influence perspectives on early development.Jean Mercerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14619393019771381980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-2326605964142390442014-01-05T00:15:26.677-05:002014-01-05T00:15:26.677-05:00Hi Jean, You might like to check out some of my pa...Hi Jean, You might like to check out some of my papers on adoptive breastfeeding. <br /><br />Gribble, K. (2005). Post-institutionalized adopted children who seek breastfeeding from their new mothers. Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health 19: 217-235.<br />Gribble, K. (2005). Breastfeeding a medically fragile foster child. Journal of Human Lactation 21: 42-46.<br />Gribble, K. (2006). Mental health, attachment and breastfeeding: implications for adopted children and their mothers. International Breastfeeding Journal 1:5. <br />Children seeking breastfeeding from their new adoptive mothers appears to be by far the most common form of adoptive breastfeeding- I have a hundred of so cases now. And btw I'm not a nurse though I am an academic in a school of nursing and midwifery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-70060122990575792332014-01-01T16:47:27.900-05:002014-01-01T16:47:27.900-05:00Some psychotropic medications can make men lactate...Some psychotropic medications can make men lactate, which makes the drugs very unpopular in mental hospitals. And of course endocrine dysfunction could also do this. But perhaps more likely is that the father was messing with the mind of the credulous Humboldt, as later indigenous peoples played jokes on Margaret Mead! Jean Mercerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14619393019771381980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-25277366692006690072014-01-01T13:39:44.718-05:002014-01-01T13:39:44.718-05:00An interesting historical note:
The German explo...An interesting historical note: <br /><br />The German explorer Alexander von Humboldt wrote of his early-19th century travels in South American that he met a widower, age 32, who was breastfeeding his infant child after the death of his wife – and the man claimed to be doing so for several months. Humboldt doesn't have a stellar reputation for accuracy, but he rarely mentioned any indigenous people. This lactating father stands out in his writings.LindaRosaRNhttp://www.childrenintherapy.orgnoreply@blogger.com