If for some freak reason I wasn't producing milk or I couldn't nurse my LO, I think I'd prefer a wet nurse over formula/pumped milk.
Of course I'd make sure the "wet nurse" was healthy, no diseases and I would control what foods she ate 
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nope i'm too much of a hypochondriac. i think i would just formula feed. with donated breastmilk, i believe they pasteurize it though, so it is safe!
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If it was family or a close friend I don't think I'd mind but it takes so much time that'd be a lot to ask someone.
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Can you really hire a wet nurse these days?
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No way! I really wouldn't want someone else sharing that bond with my baby.
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@mrbee: There was just a recent article about it.
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/01/20/the-return-of-wet-nursing/ -
I don't think so. I think that is why there is formula available now. We can take that option versus having to hire a wet nurse.
My boss in the UK did have a wet nurse living with his family. That's the only family I've ever known with one.
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We donated all of our extra breast milk to the adopted neighbor baby. We were happy to do that.
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nope... would prefer formula
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Nope. Absolutely not.
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Ew no! Not a chance! My baby, my boobs or a bottle.
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We formula fed our baby from day 1, and I was fully able to produce milk. (There we a lot of other factors I was considering. I made a fully informed personal decision.) Formula is fantastic these days and I am going to feed all my kids with it! People get way too wound around the axle about breastfeeding.
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@MsMini: Ditto! Also, the idea of LO consuming someone else's breastmilk freaks me out.
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I couldn't breasfeed, and I feel much better using formula than a wet nurse. It just weirds me out.
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no way. i don't want my baby bonding with a wet nurse!
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I would use a milk bank. But the wet nurse idea doesn't freak me out. I totally get it. And if a friend needed it, I'd nurse her baby. Doesn't bother me.
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I would use breast milk donated or purchased in order to make sure my baby got breast milk. I pump all the time so that I will be able to continue giving her breast milk even after I've weaned her from nursing. As far as wet nursing goes, I do not think it is gross but I don't think I would choose that route.
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Just curious... Would people consider an adoptive mother a wet nurse?
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I just wanted to see what people thought about the question I posed above?
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@Mrs. Jacks: I'm a bit confused by the question. An adoptive mother wouldn't be able to nurse so how could she operate as a wet nurse?
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Maybe she means the birth mother acting as a wet nurse? @Mrs. Jacks:
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Nope, I wouldn't. I just wouldn't be able to trust the wet nurse/health/sanitation/etc.
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@Mrs. Jacks: If the adoptive mom was able to induce lactation (which doesn't always work) I wouldn't consider them a wet nurse, as that is their baby as far as I am concerned.
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nope, I would rather formula feed than give mybaby someone else breast milk. Breastmilk is very sensitve to everything the mom consumes, I cant control everything the mom eats so I would not know exactly what was in the breastmilk
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I would probably just formula feed. I'm not completely attached to breastfeeding, although I'll definitely give it a try, but if I can't do it, formula all the way for me!
@Mrs. Jacks: If the adoptive mom could breastfeed, I wouldn't consider that a wet nurse. Adoptive or not, the mom is the child's mother. To me a wet nurse is someone who just feeds the baby (via breastfeeding), and doesn't take on all the additional bonding/tasks/etc as the real (adoptive or birth) mom .
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Sorry, I should have clarified. For example, Little Jacks is only now weaning completely... so technically it could be possible for someone like me to nurse a baby... I was just seeing how people felt about that.
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@Mrs. Jacks: The womanly art of breastfeeding book has a section about adoptive mothers nursing. It sounds like a lovely thing to do for a new child.
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@Mrs. Jacks: I don't think there would be anything wrong with you doing that.
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@Mrs. Jacks: I agree with others. If you can do it, more power to you!
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I would if I had tons of money-- after reading that article, it seems like the wet nurse lives with the family and makes about $1k/week. I definitely wouldn't be able to afford that!
If I had a friend who wanted to nurse or offer her milk, I would take it. I think breast is best, regardless of who the source is (as long as the woman is healthy, etc.).
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@Mrs. Jacks: Ah in this case then no I would not consider you a wet nurse. You are the child's mother end of story.
You can control everything you put in your body where you can't do that with a hired wet nurse. Additionally, you should be forming a bond with that baby since it's your baby.
My issue with a wet nurse is not the fact that the milk is coming from someone who isn't biologically related to the child. It's the control and bonding issues that I raised above that wouldn't be an issue for you since Jack Jack will be your child.
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No. I'm fully for breast-feeding, but not to that extent.
As for an adoptive mother breast-feeding, that's different - you're the mom, you know what you eat/drink and that you are free of breast-milk communicable diseases. Little weird, maybe, but understandable (if I adopt, any older sibling would be weaned.) 'Course, I plan on homebirth, which is weird to others too - I don't care, because I think it's the safest option for me and my baby.
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I really really want to breastfeed, but if I can't I'm pretty sure I would just go with formula. The logistics of having a wet nurse in this day and age sound very confusing to organize and navigate.
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I'd just go with formula.
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@Mrs. Jacks: In your case that is your baby, so I see no problem with that.
I actually had never heard of a wet nurse. I wouldn't consider hiring one because I would worry about disease, what she is consuming, etc.
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34 comments