Is it possible to breastfeed a newborn with an 17 month old

[PhyllisVance23]

I'm pregnant with our second, my first will be 17 months when baby arrives.

I breastfed my son until he was 3 months and was heartbroken stopping as I had to go back to work. I found it really hard establishing it, I don't think I was very good at it - he was on me all the time and we never got into a routine. I didn't sleep! So stopping when I was just getting the hang of it was mentally hard.

Anyway, I held onto the idea that next time round ill be able to do it for longer as husband will go back to work instead of me.

We went through fertility treatment to conceive our son so was so shocked when we found out we were pregnant again, but I'm really scared. I know it will be hard, but will I cope? I don't have family help here so I'm on my own really during the day.

My main question, is it POSSIBLE to breastfeed when I'll have a 17 month old too? I remember first time round it was constant with no sleep, I was meant to sleep when the baby sleeps (hour at a time!) - I can't do that when I have a toddler?? So how will this work?

I'm freaking out!

Totally possible and could actually be easier. I've got slightly larger gaps between my 3 (23 then 22 months) but what I found with the subsequent 2 is that the lack of sleep didn't impact me as much, possibly helped by the fact that DC1 didn't reliably sleep through until he was 5!! Plus I could breastfeed one handed which gave me the other hand to deal with the toddler

It's definitely physically possible, however be prepared that the older child may self-wean, as the milk is more tailored towards the newborn ❤️

@USaYwHatNow the existing child isn't breastfeeding any more

@beccahamlet ah apologies I misread your post! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yes.

You very quickly learn how to breastfeed using just one arm standing up, in order to be mobile and on call for your toddler.

Totally possible!

I have an 18 month age gap between my daughters and I've been exclusively breastfeeding for 7 months. I do wish my youngest took a bottle though. I made the mistake of not giving her one early enough.

Only thing is, my toddler does sometimes get jealous when I breastfeed, especially if she's tired or hungry. Mostly it's absolutely fine and she isn't bothered.

Sometimes she'll pick up a teddy and pretend to breastfeed it hahahaha when I bf my baby.

Totally possible - my first was 19 months when the second was born and the feeding was much easier second time around.

Absolutely possible, did it with younger 2 so with 3rd had a 2 & 4 yr old to deal with. Bonus was DC 2& 3 fell really quickly into a natural routine because they needed to feed around older DBs needs, meal times/nursery runs etc. Cluster feeds slotted in when older kids were napping or gone to bed.

Really? Ahh you're making me feel so hopeful girls. Thank you! How and when did you manage to sleep? My boy was doing 90 minute feeds pretty much for the first few weeks.

Maybe it will be easier because I'll know what to expect. Thank you xx

That feeling of dread is slipping away to more positive stories I hear x

I'm sorry to hear your first BF experience wasn't what you wanted! My boy was also a milk machine and just constantly latched. I think not having a routine at 3 months is totally normal and was definitely our experience! It was at least 6 mo before he had a proper feeding schedule.

I know someone with 5 children (all preteen) who breastfed. She had the newborn latched while she cradled him in one arm, running around after the other 4 and trying to dish out their dinners! So you can definitely handle one toddler 😉

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I'm sure with the will and the advice here, you'll all get on fine. Remember to replace your fluids is my advice. But if you struggle in the early days, as I did, mixed feeding is OK too though.

In answer to your sleep question, the book Save Our Sleep by Tizzie Hall was a life saver for me with two under twos!

Many congrats OP. I stopped BF DS1 when he was a year, DS2 arrived when DS1 was 21mths. Midwife did warn me that as DS1 was so little, he may establish an interest in bf when I was bf his brother. That didn’t happen at all, I bf DS2 until he was 7mths. I agree with pp, I did mixed feeding a lot in the early days with DS1 it worked out well for us. Good luck.

Definitely totally possible.

If your new baby also likes marathon feeds (tho they're all different!) you could research some slings that you can adjust to breastfeed in (you'd still be mostly holding/attending to the baby, but it might be handy for those odd moments during dinner prep or bath time or whatever, when TWO HANDS would be really useful!)

My gap was a few months wider, but I did it and it was fine. Helped by the fact that dd2 was much faster at feeding than dd1 was, I have to admit. If anything, I would be stuck on the sofa feeding and was able to give dd1 my full and undivided attention, rather than being on the move so much.

I wouldn't expect to get any sleep for the next 3 - 5 years though.