Thoughts on feeding during pregnancy/tandem-feeding

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

I'd always had it in my head that I would BF my children til about 2, knew I wanted them close together and just assumed I'd tandem feed.
DS is 10m now and I've just found out that I'm expecting DC#2. So now I'm wondering if its best to stop feeding him at about 8m preg (when he'll be about 18m), so he is weaned before the baby comes, to stop him being so jealous of the baby having lots of BM?
If he'd been younger when I concieved, I probably would have stuck with the idea of tandem feeding, but for six months worth, I wonder if it would be worth the fuss...?

Does anyone have any experience either way?

i bfed in pregnancy and tandem fed twice.

it wasnt something i planned, but i got preg when ds2 was 18mths ish? and still feeding and he carried on feeding til he was nearly four!

tbh i wouldnt stop him feeding, i think to stop so near to the baby being born could be upsetting for him,esp when you will then be feeding the new baby lots.

if you let him you can feed them both at the same time, and its great when you are engorged to get a toddler to have a quick feed and ease the fullness.

plus it means quiet time when you can sit down with them both and i even used to be able to lie down, feed one on each side and get them both to sleep so i could have a rest!

i then got preg with ds4 when still feeding ds3 and again fed through preg and tandem fed ds3 and ds4.

i found it hard in the early bit of pregnancy due to sensitive breasts/nipples but that eased and i never had a problem feeding them both, i always put the baby on first and onto the fullest breast and offered the elder child the 'leftovers' ithink it helped stopped them feeling pushed out by the new baby and like i said it helped wiht engorgement and on the occasion i got horrid mastitis having a toddler that could have a feed and 'drain' the affected breast helped to clear it :)

there are some good books on tandem feeding but i forget what they are called, also the annalytical armadillo (on fb) has some great stuff on tandem feeding as does kellymom :)

congratulations beyond.

I'm bf ds who will be 19m when dc2 arrives is sept, so we have the same age gap.

4mad makes lots of really good points. For me the idea of letting ds continue so he feels included, and getting a rest while they both feed are important...i'm banking on those! But i had already decided to let ds self wean.

It's not unknown for older, recently weaned dc's to want to nurse again once they see the new baby doing it so weaning so close to your due date might not succeed.

Would you be prepared to let your ds go on a little beyond two? Then he can get used to the new arrival before weaning?

Adventures in tandem nursing is the book, cheapest from the lll site, but out of print for a few weeks atm.

There is a bf while pg thread if you'd like to join us to share experiences.

Hi there BeyondTheLimits Congratulations

I'm 29 weeks and still feeding my 19 month old. It has it's ups and downs, but I certainly am not going to try to stop him at this time.

Here is our support thread. Do pop in and say hello.

Thanks for the replies ladies! :)

I thought he might decide to unwean if I weaned him close to birth, so glad to know its not difficult (perhaps even easier) to feed two

I'll come over to the other thread now...