How does it work with 2nd child?

[SpoonfulOfJam]

Just wandering what to do when I want to have my second child. My first is ebf. I want them to be 2 yrs apart so will ttc when my LO is just over 1. I still hope to be breast feeding him at least once a day.

Firstly I'm wandering about my periods. Will they return when he starts on solids?

Also, if i am still bf when my second child is born, then would that child miss out on the colostrum. Should I stop bf during pregnancy?

Would love to hear about any experiences.

My periods came back at around 18 months old when Bf which seems to be about an average if you are still bf at that age.

You may struggle to conceive after only 15 months. The breastfeeding "method" of birth control is only reliable for 6 months max but it can reduce your fertility beyond this date. Most of my friends who have done this ended up with a gap around 2.5-3 years.

Your body would still produce colostrum for dc2 and there is no need to stop during pregnancy but you nay find that dc1 stops as supply drops and/or it becomes very very uncomfortable for you. But it is fine to feed through pregnancy and feed 2 at once.

Your periods may well come back earlier - mine came back at 8 months with DS1 and 5 months with DS2. With DS1 it was definitely when he ramped up on solids, with DS2 I think a couple of long stretches of sleep triggered it. It's very much a thing that varies from person to person, though.

I got pregnant again when DS1 was 18 months very quickly, though unfortunately miscarried, then got pregnant again very quickly (still feeding) and didn't stop breastfeeding DS2 til I was about 5 months pregnant with DS2. My milk supply dropped a lot in the second trimester and he was kind of losing interest anyway - it was more of a self-wean for him than anything else. It's definitely fine to feed all the way through pregnancy if you both still want to, though.

You will probably have loads of people coming on and saying that they were pregnant soon after the first while bf, but I think it's best to be aware it can take longer.

Took me 4 years to conceive DD, periods returned when she was a year old and still bfing basically on demand and multiple times in the night. Got pg again when she was 15 months old, my supply dropped very rapidly, she got very distressed about that. Then when my colostrum came in at 4 months she didn't like it and self weaned. She's been dropping feeds steadily since my supply dropped at the beginning of pregnancy and I was upset when she stopped.- good book to read is adventures in tandem feeding, I found that book very useful and balanced.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I was lucky first time round- conceived very quickly, baby was born in the time frame I had planned. Looks like second time round could be more unpredictable. I will take that into consideration, and take a look at that book.

Yes, Adventures in Tandem Feeding is excellent, also has stuff about weaning in pregnancy if that's how things go for you. I'd also recommend Taking Charge Of Your Fertility (if you don't have it already) for lots of good info about tracking your cycle when it comes back - you may find it's a bit different from pre-baby.

Good book recommendations. Also if you have a la leche league group near you, you might quite possibly find that somebody there has or is tandem feeding. They tend to have libraries as well and the adventures book is on their list so you could borrow it for a nominal fee without becoming a member.