a quick poll for anyone who has tandem fed (or at least fed whilst pregnant)

[thisisyesterday]

am thinking of ttc number 3. But ds2 is only 7.5 months old.
I am really worried that if my milk supply dips/goes he will self wean. he has a dairy intolerance, so I want to bf as long as possible. Formula not an option for any necessary top-ups.

so my question is this:
when you fell pregnant how old was your baby/child?

if your milk went, when did it go and how long for?

I appreciate that this is very unscientific, would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar age gap and carried on feeding though

My dd1 was 15 months when i became pg with dd2 and i bf her till i was around 8 months pg.

Didn't bf her till a few months after i had dd2. Still bfing dd2 now (she's 2 in August) and dd1 gets a bf occasionally (3-4 times per week) and she's 4 in August.

My dd1 was also 15 months when I got pg with dd2. The fact that I was pg didn't seem to affect the supply at all. I continued to feed her until a couple of months before dd2 was born. However, by that time, she was only having one bedtime feed a day.

When I got pregnant with DD DS was nearly 30 months so clearly that was a very different age gap.

I don't think my milk "went" as such, although I think it definitely decreased. DS was only feeding twice a day at the beginning anyway. He kept that up until I was around 23 weeks pregnant, then started to self-wean very gradually. By the time DD was born he was only nursing once a week if that, and he stopped altogether once she was here -- he clearly thought of it as something only babies did and talked about how he used to do it when he was little.

The earliest I was pregnant was when the baby was 14 months. He did self-wean about half way through the pregnancy. My next two self-weaned, but they were older. My fourth child was 2.0 when I got pregnant again, and she fed through and tandem nursed until she was four (baby about 15 months).

DS1 was around 20 months and only feeding twice a day when I got pregnant with DS2. I fed him for around 4 months then he more or less self weaned, though I did feed him a bit after DS2 was born.
Don't think my milk supply dried up, if I had really wanted to carry on I am sure I could have done.
With hindsight I really wish I had tandem fed as am sure it would have helped with the jealousy he still feels for his brother one year down the line .
I think if I had got pregnant at the stage you are at it would have been easier to keep going as I was feeding much more then and milk was far more important to DS1 at that stage.
There is good info on kellymom.com on tandem feeding. HTH and good luck

thanks. breastfeeding is really important to me, and to ds2, he still feeds a gajillion times a day, so I would hate to jeopardise that by becoming pregnant.
but then, I would really like a smaller age gap than I had with the first 2.

argh, this is so hard!

I am currently 5 months pregnant and feeding my dd, who is almost 13 months.

My supply dropped dramatically from about 8 weeks into this pregnancy. Despite nursing dd frequently, production is still low, but is obviously adequate!

She is showing no intention to wean .

DD1 was nearly 2 when I got pg. We continued for a while but she started biting (maybe I didn't have enough milk?) and I really was beginning to dread it. (I'd never ecstatically enjoyed it anyway.) She gave up when I was about 6 months pg.

roomforthree, that's good to know.
my supply does sometimes dip when I get my period and it's quite hard work dealing with it, ds2 gets a bit cross.
am scared I guess that because he is so young that he would just give up.

although, maybe it'd be the opposite and because he is so reliant on it he'd keep going>?

my elder daughter was 19 months when I got pregnant and was feeding a LOT,still many night feeds.I don't know if my supply decreased at all but she did seem to feed even more at night for a while.I fed until a couple of weeks before the birth and kind of had the idea she might feed again but she never did,once the baby was born she said it was "for babies".I felt half relieved as I could just focus on feeding the weeny and half sad the years of feeding the eldest had stopped.

I think it is fairly natural for your milk supply to drop slightly when TOTM/Preg again because your body uses the food you eat/energy to focus on other things so maybe at those times you just need to eat a bit more to compensate.

I know a few people who have been BFing and preg/bf-ing the first and second at the same time and haven't had any problems; I think you maybe just need to work at the supply as if baby is having growth spurt??

Mummy - there must be some other explanation than the use of energy towards conception - sex doesn't take that much effort in our house

from kellymom

dd was 11 months when i got pg with ds1. i bf throughout the pg, had a home birth and was tandem feeding within an hour of giving birth! i continued tandem feeding until dd was around 2.6,when she self-weaned. it was lovely having a nursing toddler with a newborn. esp when my milk ame in and ds1 was asleep!! and it def helped the jealousy thing that i was able to nurse both of them (they're 8 and 10 now, so naturally argue ;like cats and dogs .
would def recommend it. dd's demand didn't change particularly while i was pg, iirc. now bf ds2, and eldest 2 have shown no interest in resuming!!!! (dd is immensely proud that i bf tho :O)

when you fell pregnant how old was your baby/child? 18 months.

if your milk went, when did it go and how long for? Stopped feeding at 22w pg (DS1 was 22m) as was getting v.sore after feeds and felt drained.

DS1 was also dairy intolerant, but got by on rice milk and occasional goats milk. He's fine now though (he's 4 now).

oh dotsie, that's what I like to hear! that's my ideal scenario. had a fantastic home birth with ds2 and hoping for the same again

DD1 was 9 months when I got pregnant with DD2, she self weaned at 12 months which I was a bit sad about but I was feeling so dog rough at the time. Don't know if my milk changed or she was just ready to wean, one morning she got up never asked for milk and that was that.

Dotsie - how lovely! That is how I hope it will be for us!

just under two years old
milk supply dipped for a few days/a week but dd1 was persistent

DD1 was nearly two when I got preggers. My milk supply dropped but didn't stop and we are still tandem nuring at nearly 5 and 2.

A few other points to think about as well as the dairy intolerance. I'd give it a few more months yet, firstly, your body may need a little longer to recover fully from the last baby, natural child-spacing generally produces children 2-4 years apart, and Mother Nature usually has a good reason for doing these things! Secondly, having two THAT close together is really hard work, seriously, do you really want a newborn and a small toddler at the same time?

Give yourself a break and wait another 3 or 4 months, they don't have to be close in age to be close and loving siblings!

Monkies

I fed DS1 while pg with DS2. It only lasted four months into the pregnancy. The milk gradually got less and less and my boobs were getting more and more painful with every feed. When I got flu and was in bed unable to feed for four days, I stopped. DS1 was 16 months so didn't mind too much.

ds1 was 8 months when I got pregnant but I had to stop bf as I had a lot of bleeding and there was a chance it was caused by the bf. I was v sad to stop

Nearly 2. Supply dropping, and thinking of gently weaning anyway. Down to just one feed a day.

I've a friend who got pg when her DS was 6 months old. He fed all the way through, then selfweaned when hi little bro was born-apparently he didn't like the taste of colustrum!