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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Pregnant and Nursing Support Thread

535 replies

TinkerBellesMum · 25/07/2008 10:06

I thought I'd start up a support group, for those of us pregnant, with an older nursling. If you are pregnant at the moment or tandeming or have done in the past and want to add your support, please post!

I'm 12 weeks pregnant and have a 2 and a week year old. One of the first things I noticed about being pregnant was my nipples felt bruised like she'd bitten me. 8 weeks later not much has changed and I'm still spending every feed saying "gentle please".

Someone please tell me it gets easier!

I'm also starting to feel quite full and hard.

I keep getting told by my family I'll have problems tandem feeding "and how many mothers do you know who have done it?" My dad was grilling me the other day about tandeming and when I'll stop Tink nursing. He's a radiographer. I made him agree with me "Well, you know yourself that when the adult teeth come through because they're in a totally different order to the milk teeth the jaw changes shape" "Yes and around the same time the soft spot in the jaw fuses" "That change makes it impossible for them to continue nursing, that's why they got called milk teeth" lol how could he argue when he'd just backed my argument up!

OP posts:
constancereader · 25/07/2008 10:13

Hello

I am 29 weeks pg and still feeding my 18m ds. It did get less painful for me at around 12 weeks - hopefully it will for you too!

My worry atm is that my milk seems to have dried up. This hasn't put off my ds (why???). There is nothing there at all, even immediately after nursing I can't squeeze out a drop. I think he may get a shock when my milk comes in for the next one, I am slightly anxious that he will want to feed all the time again.

Well done for winning the argument. My family don't really discuss it tbh, I'm not sure they even know I am still feeding him.

TinkerBellesMum · 25/07/2008 23:19

I hope so! Actually I've noticed the last couple of days that it's not so bad, although I've avoided it slightly as I got quite badly burnt on my chest at the picnic on Monday.

I don't think my family can avoid the fact I'm still nursing as she doesn't mind where she asks and I have fed her out recently. I stay over quite a bit with my parents so they see me feed her often.

He may still be getting something or he may just be enjoying the comfort, at that age nursing isn't about food so much anyway.

Two of the things I've wondered about but too scared to ask anyone IRL in case I get the "you should stop" stock answer are:

  1. As I'm at risk of a premature labour, could the nipple stimulation of nursing cause me to go into labour? But then half of me says your body won't go into labour until it's ready anyway, the natural inductions won't bring things on that much
  1. What happens to the milk? I've heard two stories, one is that the milk is reset so the older nursling gets colostrum too and the other is that the difference in the suck produces the correct milk for each nursling.

If any of our resident experts are reading this and would like to comment, please do!

OP posts:
theSuburbanDryad · 25/07/2008 23:25

Hiya - can I join in please?

I am somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks pg, and nursing my 18 month old ds. Still seems to be plenty of milk here, and ds is still enjoying nursing as much as he ever did, hence no plans to stop! Not sure what we'll do about the co-sleeping situation though - got some good advice on my other thread, but if anyone would like to add anything I'd be happy to listen!

beanbearer · 25/07/2008 23:56

Hiya, I'm incredibly impressed with your presence of mind, turning your Dad's question back at him. I've just had a little boy and my 2.2 yr old girl is still feeding. While Mum never actually said outright "you should stop feeding her", I found no matter what issue came up - sleep, feeding, behaviour etc - her response would ALWAYS include a suggestion that it might be time to stop feeding DD. Very irritating - just had to learn to grit my teeth!

In terms of support, I was lucky that on my peer support course I met someone who'd tandem fed and somehow that 'proved' to me it was possible in a way that no thread or book could. Irrational, I know. That said, I've found Adventures in Tandem Nursing really helpful. There are loads of personal anecdotes in there, including the question of pain during pregnancy.

It seems to be worse for some people than others and at different stages of the pregnancy. For me it was OK to start with, then got really bad late in month 5. Probably not relevant at this time of year but I found it was worse if I was cold - so it can sometimes be exacerbated by external things that only trial and error will identify.

Apparently supply does drop but if they still want to nurse, they're probably getting something from it. Might explain why DD started waking in the night again to feed around this time. Colostrum replaces milk around month 4 or 5 I think - certainly in my case if I managed to squeeze anything out it was more like a clear gel than anything you'd recognise as milk.

I asked DD the other day if she preferred my milk now DS is here or before, while he was in mummy's tummy. Now! she said firmly - but there was no question she always wanted to feed while I was pregnant, particularly in the last 3 weeks when I was off on maternity leave. She shifted from feeding morning, post work and night to feeding about 8 times a day. In the first week or so that DS was back home (I stayed in hospital for 2 nights until we'd got our act together) she kept up that rate and would also ask to feed whenever she felt a bit insecure but would usually only want a minute or so. Think it was mainly about asserting her right to milk. Thankfully, she seems to be dropping back to the old 3x a day pattern now (DS is 6 weeks old).

As the book points out, there's good and bad things about tandem feeding but for me, it's been great to have one area of mothering two where you don't feel torn about whose interests come first: even Mum has had to concede that seeing the two of them feeding together is a lovely sight. And having a highly efficient 'breastpump' certainly made the engorged stage much easier to handle this time round!

Very best of luck on your own "adventures" .

beanbearer · 26/07/2008 00:04

Sorry for massive post before. Took ages so missed your further questions Tink's Mum. Kellymom, as ever, has lots of useful info. Also, I think a lot of the anecdotal stuff in the book I linked to came from this survey.

onwardandupward · 27/07/2008 21:18

Another 12 weeker nursing through pregnancy here We're all just skipping over here from the fab feb thread aren't we? waves cheerfully

In the adventures in tandem nursing book, which I'm just loving, it says that unless there are reasons to think you're in risk of premature labour, and the doctors are saying "don't have an orgasm", then there's no reason not to breastfeed. Not that breastfeeding leads to orgasm (she says quickly, before people start getting the wrong end of the stick), but that both release oxytocin. In the last couple of weeks of pregnancy, or once you've reached full term, can't remember which, THEN oxytocin can trigger labour, but before that it won't. The book says a 38 week uterus is a completely different animal from a 36 week one, all other things being normal.

I haven't heard about difference in suck. My understanding is that everybody gets colostrum, and there's puhlenty to go around. Some older children wean when the colostrum comes in (eurgh, yellow, different taste)

Oh, and more sore nipples here. They just feel dry somehow. And I get occasional shooting pains deep in the tissue, which I think is bits of breast which had given up producing milk re-engaging. The adventures book talks about that too.

Sometimes I feel more sick when nursing, and that's a bore. Anyone else having that?

onwardandupward · 27/07/2008 21:19

the doctors are not saying "don't have an orgasm"

Sorry. I wish I could type...

theSuburbanDryad · 27/07/2008 21:20

O&U - any chance I could borrow that book off you when you've finished? i'd happily pay postage?!

V cheeky, i know. Feel free to say no!!

CantSleepWontSleep · 27/07/2008 21:29

Hi TBM. I'm 30+ weeks pregnant and still nursing my 2.5 yr old dd many times a day. She's still as boob obsessed as ever, so I fully expect to be tandem feeding in a few weeks' time. I found feeding her incredibly painful for the first trimester, and although it still hurts a bit now, it's not as bad as it was by a long way.

She tells me that she's still getting milk and that it tastes lovely, but I tried to express the other day (need to get some out in advance for ds in case he has low blood sugar when born due to my gestational diabetes) and got nothing. Hoping that I will manage to get some somehow in the next few weeks.

Definitely believe that both children will get colostrum then newborn milk.

thisisyesterday · 27/07/2008 21:39

hello,. can I join?
Am not pregnant yet, but we're trying, and hopefully will continue nursing 9 month old ds2.
think it'll take a lot to stop him nursing in fact lol

kiskidee · 27/07/2008 22:03

I am 32 wks and still feeding a 3 yo. The milk was gone sometime after 12 wks. She says there is still milk there and loves it as much as ever. I weaned her to 2 feeds a day at around 8 wks because I was so exhausted. DD is still in love with breasts and breastfeeding so I am sure she won't give up anytime soon.

The tenderness didn't make much of an appearance for me till around 8 to 12 wks.

It varies now. Some days even my top irritates me other days it is ok tenderness.

I have once spoken on here about my experience with bfing and arousal. I don't want to go into detail now but if you search my name (or maybe it was my previous and similar name) in this topic and a few key words, it may come up.

roomforthree · 27/07/2008 22:36

Hi TBM and everyone,

I am 28 weeks pregnant and my 14 month old dd is nursing as much as ever, even though I don't seem to have much milk.

Thankfully the breast tenderness has passed, but I have occasional stabbing pains. Hope this painful stage passes for you soon!

I am getting used to the silence and gapes when people know that I am pregnant and breastfeeding! Everyone assumes that the two states are mutually exclusive. My family, although silently disapproving, seem to know better than to question my intention!

I must say that I am most impressed with the way you argued the point with your father! What an excellent argument for natural term weaning!

thehouseofmirth · 28/07/2008 19:04

Hi all. I'm 11 weeks and still feeding my 3yo ds. It's been agony and having been lucky enough to never have had a second's discomfort I've found it quite hard going. As well as feeding 2-3 times during the day we co-sleep and I've found myself thinking some very uncharitable thoughts in the small hours but I'm committed to letting ds self-wean (though he loves it so much I am beginning to wonder if this will ever happen!) so will grin and bear it.

He says there's still milk but I have noticed he's eating a huge amount of cheese and broccoli at the moment and wonder whether that's just a coincidence?

onwardandupward · 28/07/2008 19:53

God, I'm so impressed at how many of us there are RIGHT NOW nursing older children while pregnant. feels proudSuburbandryad you'd be welcome to a short term loan - I have a suspicion I'm going to be wanting to refer to it again as the pregnancy progresses, but you could have it for a fortnight if that was any good...

I'm not on CAT though, and I don't want to put my email here. Hmm. Oh, I know, leave a message on my blog, which is here and I'll get an email notification with your address on as long as you sign into blogger

Mollyfloss · 28/07/2008 20:23

I'm nursing my 3.5 month olld and sort of assumed I would need to wean off bf at 6 months to give my body a chance to get back to normal before trying g for another baby at 9 months but apparently not! Do u think you lot are exceptions? Was it easy to get pg while bf? And what are the advantages of letting your LO's self wean? Sorry for the intrusive questions. I'm just very curious as maybe I will do bf long term too.

thehouseofmirth · 28/07/2008 21:03

Mollyfloss my periods came back regularly when DS was 9 months despite the fact he was a milk monster at night and pretty rubbish with solids. After 6 months I came off the mini pill and it's taken me just over 18 months to get pregnant but I had a test last October which confirmed I was ovulating so I think it's more to do with my age (38) and the fact DH and I were hardly at it like rabbits...

onwardandupward · 28/07/2008 21:49

Advantages of letting LOs self wean - they take it at their pace, so there's no screaming baby to contend with. And no need for moving onto formula and bottles (which always seemed crazy to me if you've managed breastfeeding for the first 6 months - I mean, there it is, and it's sterile and the right temperature and on tap, and your milk supply is JUST beginning to sort itself out so you aren't leaking all the time - why quit while you're ahead, yk?)

And because breast milk is human milk and formula milk is cow's milk, so if you can feed your baby human milk, that's the logical thing to do for as long as they need it. That's what they evolved to drink, and that's what we evolved to produce.

Plus there are huge health benefits to both Mum and child from full term breastfeeding, as well as the obvious emotional ones

Easy to get pg? Well, it took us just the one cycle once we'd decided to go for it

But it has to be said that if you are continuing to bf on demand, and you're with your baby most of the time, it rather depends how determined your hormones are and how long the gaps are between the child wanting milk. For some people, they have to wait until the gaps are more than around 4 hours in the day or 6 hours at night; but then one woman I know got pregnant when her exclusively breastfed baby was... wait for it... 4 weeks old. I guess, the thing about continuing to breastfeed on demand is that your body (and your child's body) rather than your mind is in control of family spacing.

CantSleepWontSleep · 28/07/2008 21:54

My periods also returned at 9 months mollyfloss, despite still feeding 9 times a day (was just stopping night feeding). Took us 14 months to conceive, but dh works away most of the time, and we had some other issues, so that was actually quite quick for us!

I don't tend to think of the advantages of letting a child self-wean - more of the disadvantages of forcing them to give up the best source of nutrition, comfort and bonding that there is, in order to drink milk designed for another species. Plus of course there are plenty of health benefits of extended bf, which you can see outlined nicely here.

Gina80 · 28/07/2008 22:04

Hello! Fab febber here too! I'm still nursing DS 15mths and am 9 weeks pg. I have really sore nips one day and not the next and always feel really hungry when I'm doing it to the point of feeling sick! DS is still a boobymonster and I cant see him self weaning.

I actually do want to wean him though and aim to do it by Xmas so as to leave a couple of months before the new baby comes. Will prob be needing lots of info in a few months!

theSuburbanDryad · 28/07/2008 22:09

O&U - don't worry about the loan, i wanted to refer to it through my pg too. V cheeky I know!! I think another MNer may have it anyways!

onwardandupward · 29/07/2008 17:31

Ah, never mind. I'll offer it around in a year or so

TinkerBellesMum · 30/07/2008 13:14

Hi all, I forgot to look back at this thread, I?m glad to see it?s taken off. I'm going to have a look out for that book.

Thanks for all the positive comments on the conversation with my dad. It was bit of a fluke really. I knew that I could use his knowledge on teeth to illustrate my point, I didn?t know about the soft spot and was quite pleased he unintentionally backed my argument up with it.

onwardandupward, that?s the problem. I gave birth at 20 weeks first time and 31 weeks with treatment last time, so they don?t expect me to go to term. But I suppose I?ll only go into labour if my body is ready to anyway and if I?m going to have prem labour, it will happen with or with Tink!

I keep noticing that after a feed my nipples look dusty

CantSleepWontSleep I?ve considered taking up expressing in case I have a premature baby again, but there was a lady in with me who could take off four bottles a time because she was already expressing for her older daughter, so I think that just already nursing Tink may be enough to bring my milk in quicker. I do worry what will happen if I end up in hospital with a prem baby. Last time I was kept in for two weeks, came home for 4 days and was back in for a week. I?m with you on the disadvantages over the advantages rather than the other way around. Google ?Mind your language? if you haven?t read it, it?s brilliant.

Mollyfloss, I got pregnant easily last time and since having Tink we haven?t used anything at all and it?s taken us nearly two years to catch naturally. I have a friend who was another September Mummy to give birth in July, she?s also still breastfeeding and is now a February Mummy. She told me her friend gave birth the same time as us, still nursing and is also now a February Mummy! Nature will space babies if you are breastfeeding, but you have to feed on demand. As soon as you have gaps of 4 hours or more your body will restart your cycle. Apparently it?s still difficult to get pregnant when you get your cycle back as you don?t always have a 14 day gap between ovulation and your period (I?m not a charter so don?t understand it all).

They say it?s about as reliable a form of contraception as the pill, which isn?t 100%.

OP posts:
theyoungvisiter · 06/08/2008 22:27

hello - I've only just stumbled across this thread but can I join? I am 23 weeks pg and bfing my 2 year old.

Sorry to launch in with a personal question! - but is anyone else having a problem with cracked nipples? I have NEVER had this issue before - even when DS was tiny - and it's suddenly come up and I'm really sore. The cracks are all round the sides (sorry if TMI!) I'm at a loss to know why it's suddenly happening and what to do apart from grit my teeth and whimper "gentle!!" at every feed.

PinkTulips · 06/08/2008 22:59

hello all, another february mom to be here

ds is just 2 and i'm 14 weeks pregnant.

he was feeding morning and night but seems to have dropped his night feed in the last few days

just as my nipples had stopped throbbing for every feed too!

will continue to feed him as long as he wants though, he's already quite concerned about being displaced as the 'baby' (we're not allowed to call him by name now, we have to refer to him as 'baby' or he gets very upset!)

i've been either pregnant or breastfeeding or both for over 4 years continously now and it'll be at leat another 2 or 3 before i'm done...... all worth it though

Tapster · 07/08/2008 15:39

I'm 8 weeks pregnant and feeding my 21 month old. Am I the only one hoping she will self wean soon?