Pregnant and breastfeeding

[BatCave]

I found out this morning I'm pregnant Very faint line but I'm 3 days late and I'm NEVER late!

I'm breastfeeding my 19 month old and don't really want to stop yet if i can help it, just wondering if anyone had any experiences of breastfeeding whilst pregnant. My boobs aren't sore, but I have noticed a significant drop in supply this last week or so (another reason I suspected I was pregnant). Is this supply drop likely to worsen? Is there anything I can do (naturally) to help maintain my supply? DD feeds twice a day morning and before bed, if she's away for the night she drinks expressed milk topped up with cows milk (she doesn't like cows on its own) and i express a bit.

Many thanks x

Your milk will change to colostrum at about 5 months, so baby might not like the change and self-wean at that time

I just stopped breastfeeding my 15 month DD a week ago as I am 6 weeks gone and I want her to have stopped feeding and forgotten all about it by the time the baby comes.

I dont want her to feel pushed out and that the baby is stealing her milk and I certainly cant be doing with tandem feeding!

She was only feeding at night for the last month anyway as we were trying to wean down gradually, and to be fair she seems perfectly ok with it and has actually slept better since we stopped!

she sometimes still points to my boobs hopefully, but as i often used to say "all gone" she is kind of used to the idea that it was only there occasionally anyway.

she still isnt a big fan of cow milk and i have to make it her only option to get her to take it, as if there is water anywhere near she will refuse milk and opt for that instead.

my first baby weaned himself at 20 months.

why do you not want to stop? i know the bond is lovely, but by this kind of time they are fine without it, honest :)

Xx

Well its not that I desperately want to continue at all costs, but I'm not in a hurry for her to wean. If she weaned naturally then that'd be cool, and I'd be more than ready for it! But as far as I'm concerned there are still benefits to her having breastmilk for some time yet and I'd like her to have those benefits if possible.

Good point about them forgetting feeding, hmmm, I don't really want to tandem feed or for her to get jealous. I suppose just go with the flow and see what happens then. I've got a feeling she might self wean soon anyhow.

I am 12 weeks and bf a 17 month old. I've had a couple of episodes of soreness or feeling touched out, but we are doing OK. We night weaned as I really needed more sleep. I expect him to keep going, he's a massive milk monster, still on about 6 feeds a day. There is a mahoosive thread over on breast/bottle feeding.

If you're interested in reading up about this, there's a book called adventures in tandem nursing published by la leche league. You can get it on their website or apparently if you have a local branch they might have a copy they can lend you.
I found it useful and it's highly recommended by many on here.

My DD weaned herself when I was about 22 weeks pregnant (I'm 27 now). When I got pregnant I was feeding her three times a day. She's 20 months now so I think she was about 15-16 months when I found out I was pregnant.

I deliberately dropped her afternoon feed in the first couple of months, to be honest I can't remember why. Then she stopped looking for her morning feed, so I gave her a cup of cows milk. Then about a month ago she lost interest in her bedtime feed so I stopped offering, always intending that if she made any moves to asking for a feed I would give her. But she wasn't fussed.

I think most people see a drop in their supply. In my case, I think DD had been dry nursing for 1-2 months before she stopped feeding. I have colostrum now, but I think it came in too late to 'save' breast feeding for us.

I am sad that DD has weaned, but it was a really nice gradual process. I've never had to refuse her a feed and, although things were sped up by my drop in supply, I feel I've done things to her timetable.

Oh, I almost forgot, feeding did start to hurt. Never toe curlingly unbearable but just very uncomfortable, I think more so once she was dry nursing. Again, I think most women experience discomfort of some sort, with some women finding it very very uncomfortable.

I hope your pregnancy goes well and you and your DD come to a mutually acceptable solution re continuing with nursing.

I found that I was getting exhausted trying to BF my DD while in the early days of pregnancy. I just couldn't keep it up and my supply really dropped anyway. It's natures' way of telling baby to wean to make way for the next one, IMO. As other posters have pointed out, it's possible to drop feeds gradually.

She was 12 months when she was weaned onto bottles, and truly, cows milk or formula from that stage onwards is all they need (and certainly won't deny them any nutritional benefit).

Good luck with your decision. Don't exhaust yourself, you owe it to your new baby.