Anyone else pregnant and BF?

[sweetnitanitro]

I would love any tips or advice anyone has, this is new territory for me! I'm only 5+1 by my dates so it's early days. I'm still feeding 20 mo DD a fair bit, she goes off solids when she's got a tooth coming but I'm trying to encourage her to eat more solid food. I don't really want to stop BF her though, I'm hoping to tandem feed if all goes to plan.

Should I be taking any supplements other than normal pregnancy ones?

TIA

I breastfed my son until I was about 5 months through my pregnancy, my milk then dwindled (very common) and he stopped.( he was 16 months).
I planned on tandem feeding myself and I highly recommend the book "Adventures in tandem nursing" by Hilary Flower. It has the answer to every single question regarding feeding through pregnancy and beyond!
Good luck

I'm no expert but am 17 weeks and bf DS age 2.

Until a couple of months ago, he bf on waking, at bedtime and occasionally if he woke in the night but I think my supply has dropped and he's given up the morning feed in favour of "downstairs breakfast".

He still asks for "mummy milk" at bedtime and I've been giving him a small cup of cows milk before I bf. Not sure how much milk he's getting at the moment, as he suckles and then shakes his head but if I ask if there's milk he nods and carries on suckling

If he wants to I'll probably carry on with the bedtime bf although don't know anything about the logistics of tandem feeding, am sure between MN and Kellymom should be able to work something out

Don't think you need any supplements etc, just balanced diet and stay well hydrated.

Good luck with your pregnancy.

Thanks so much for that, that book does look good! Nice to hear other people's experiences too.

Good luck with your pregnancy too Montifer

I have a three yr old and a 15wk old and am tandem feeding. While i was pregnant it really hurt when my son fed so i only allowed 30 second bursts, plus there was a lot less milk for him. After i had my baby i found it really useful to be still feeding him as i didnt have any pain or problems starting to feed her, plus my boy was very happy to take some milk out of my engorged boobs whem the milk came in and i was very uncomfortable.

I just took the usual pregnancy supplements - when i could keep anything down that is! I love having the closeness with my older child as he could well feel like he isnt getting as much attention from me any more, but we still have our special "milky cuddles".

Hope everything goes well for you.

Thanks pooter, that is a really good point about engorged boobs, I'm sure that was worse than being in labour! I'm glad it's worked out well for you, I'm really hoping I can do the same.

that book is fab.
I'm not pregnant and nursing but I am tandem nursing and have been for 15 months.there are pluses and minuses.

I nursed my ds through pregnancy when I was expecting ds2.

Ds1 was 3.8yo when I got pg and he didn't seem to care that there was no milk for about 5 or 6 weeks from week 18 or so, and was happy with the colostrum when it came in.

I would also recommend reading Adventures in Tandem Nursing. There is a lot on nursing during pregnancy, and a special chapter on nutrition etc which should answer your questions.

I was really glad to still be feeding ds1 when ds2 arrived, although it was a bit crazy at first trying to work out the best way to keep everyone happy.

Agree with pooter re the engorgement. DS1 loves it if I ask him to help ds2 by taking the pressure off an engorged boob so he can latch on! And I had no supply issues because i let ds1 feed as often as he liked for the first 3 weeks or so and I had enough milk for the whole street!! (was also sofa bound after having broken my ankle, so this was a great way to keep him occupied and included!)

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

I am 38+3 with dc3 and still feeding 20 month old ds. I was also feeding dd (dc1) until February, so did 16 months of tandem feeding with her and ds, including during the first 5 months or so of this pregnancy!

I didn't take any extra supplements in any of my pregnancies, except for a little iron over the last couple of weeks as my levels have dropped a little too low, and an occasional calcium supplement early in this pregnancy, because I was also dairy free due to ds' intolerance.

Agree with those who have mentioned the help with engorgement in the early weeks, although conversely I also had a bit of oversupply/fast letdown which drowned ds a bit on occasion when he was tiny. I helped this by restricting dd to one breast only.

Thanks everyone, I've ordered my copy of the book!

Tandem feeding must be more common that I thought, I've only mentioned it to my mum and MiL as they are the only people that know about my pregnancy so far and they both seemed a bit surprised, not in a negative way but I don't think they'd met anyone that wanted to tandem feed before. I've thicker skin than a rhino though so I'm not too worried about what anyone says