Pregnant & breastfeeding

[justhayley]

Hiya anyone pregnant & breastfeeding?
I'm very early days pregnant (6 weeks) and due July. I have a 19 month DS who I still breastfeed ..... A lot!

I was planning on thinking about starting wean him when he turns 2 at the earliest- April, but now I'm pregnant.

Not sure what I should do, my options are:

1. Continue to feed & hope DS weans naturally during pregnancy

2. start to wean now

3. wait till April - would this be too close to the baby coming? He'l have enough change

4. tandem feed - worried that will run my body into the ground.

Experiences of all options helpful.

Thank you
X

I have no experience myself but my friend bf her 3 dc. The first kept bf after baby was born but not for long as the milk changed to suit the newborn and he didn't like it.

The second weaned herself in late pregnancy with the 3rd then went back to feeding for a short time, again stopping after a few weeks as newborn milk didn't satisfy her enough.

I'd say if you are happy to keep going then just go with it and see what your dc do! Could be handy to tandem feed- keeps the toddler busy ;)

You can keep going fine, but it just gets more tender. I fed my dd until her 2nd birthday which was when I was 20 weeks exactly. I have to say I was relieved when I stopped because it was simply exhausting and I'd got her down to.just bedtime. If she had been younger I think I would have continued longer though. Sometimes dc wean themselves during pregnancy when it turns to colostrum again.

Hi hayley I'm pg and bf my 15m old daughter, has not been easy I'll admit as my milk supply seemed to plummet as soon as I conceived! We were doing 3 feeds a day at the time, but now just down to 1, and I think she might be ready to wean.

At first I was really keen to continue right through pg, and even tandem feed, but lately I have really gone off it, not helped by low milk supply and DD getting fussy to feed.

Adventures in tandem nursing was quite interesting, apparently only 30% of bf women bf throughout pg. milk also gets a bit salty, so the change in taste puts a lot of babies off. Some don't seem to be bothered, and will dry nurse for a few weeks until colostrum starts coming in around 16 weeks, but others go right off. My DD is fussing a lot and bobbing on and off to suck her thumb, so think we won't be going for much longer

It's up to you, but there's nothing wrong with carrying on and seeing what your DS does himself. Or if you've had enough anyway, maybe a good time to stop! Hope things turn out well for you

Hi, I'm 37+4 and still breastfeeding. I'm expecting dc7 and have fed throughout my last 3 pregnancies. I tandem fed for just over a yr after dc6 was born, although I didn't really enjoy it. Dc 6 is nearly 2 1/4 and I had hoped to wean but it hasn't happened. With dc4 I fed up until dc5 was born and he then self weaned whilst I was giving birth but he was 3, which is how old dc5 was when I finally managed to fully wean her. Dc4 & 5 were only on bedtime nursing by the birth of the next but dc6 is still nursing a few times a day......looks like I will be tandem feeding again.....sorry I don't have any specific advice...hopefully you'll get a satisfactory solution for you and your dc...but no you're not the only one feeding whilst pregnant out there!!

Oh and yes I stopped at 2 because a) it seemed like a good point b) i moved her into a bed and so it was a clean break and c) i wanted a big enough distance between her feeding and the baby so she wouldn't get jealous. Maybe try to start dropping feeds now, gradually, and see what happens. Sorry if Im not making much sense - tis early!

I was planning on tandem feeding but my 20mo gave up when I was 20 weeks pg. She was feeding just 2-3 times a day at the time, and definitely went off the taste.

Sorry..just thought...yes mid pregnancy milk supply plummets (in fact it stopped with this pregnancy) but dc6 still enjoyed comfort suckling. Now (and in the other pregnancies) dc is getting colostrum again.....again not bothered any of the dc's....I figure the extra antibodies are good for them!!

hi I'm in similar situation op, 8 wks pregnant and still bf 11 month old. have dropped to just two feeds now (first thing & bedtime) as I'm finding bf is giving me abdominal pains. So no experience to add really but was wondering how people drop led those last two feeds? dd won't take bottle and barely drinks from cup....x

dropped! silly phone....

I am currently 18 weeks pregnant and fed my DD until 4 weeks ago and she is 15 months. We were down to 2 feeds a few months ago then swapped bedtime milk for a doidy cup which she takes sometimes. Morning milk has been replaced by extra breakfast. She hasn't seemed to miss milk at all and really not sure how much she was getting before that.

The last week DS has tripled his milk intake I'm so sore. Not sure if he's not getting as much milk In each session or knows something is different with me so wants to remain as close as possible.

I'm 5 weeks pg and feeding DS who is 22 months. He only feeds at bedtime and first thing in the morning, we gradually cut down from a load of feeds to just the two (and lo and behold, got my period back and then bam, pg! Surprise!)

I'm keeping an open mind on feeding all through pg and tandem feeding. I'll try and take it at DS's pace because I would hate for him to resent new baby if he's not allowed to feed anymore.

I breastfed ds2 when pg with ds1 - he was only a few months old. He stopped of his own accord as I approached 20 weeks and he was 7 months. He became very fussy at the breast, pulling off every few seconds and crying. I think my milk supply was affected and obviously milk was too big a part of his diet at that age for him to get by on reduced supply! (I'm sure it must be much more flexible with an older child who is eating a proper diet)

They say that a 2 year old can't remember not having a sibling within a few weeks so I don't think you need to leave a massive gap between stopping feeding and the baby arriving if you don't want to. Perhaps a couple of months? I know that once I stopped with my 3 they seemed to forget about it almost immediately it was me who was more upset!

I think a lot of it depends on how you feel about it all OP? You certainly don't need to rush into any decisions now, I don't think. I found that as I got bigger I grew tired of pulling my top up but I know women who've happily tandem fed.

hello all,
a view from the other side - I'm feeding both dd1 20mo and dd2 3 mo. it was the right decision for us. I took the see what happens approach and although I got a bit sore at times in my pregnancy it was never unbearable. there was definitely a shortage of milk at times and dd1 thought all her Christmases had come at once when my milk came in after dd2 was born. dd1 had been feeding only 2/3 times a day and has mostly kept to 2 since dd2 born.

it definitely made establishing feeding with dd2 easier, which was a factor for me as we were hospitalised with dd1 due to large weight loss.

I sometimes feed them simultaneously but not in public and I dont really like doing it. I try to negotiate with one of them mostly with occasional success and often tears.

for us it works as we have a see what happens approach and I'm trying to meet all needs and mostly it works

as a side note I'm practically back to pre dd1 weight and always starving. yummy junk food and cake .

I fed DS throughout my pregnancy and then tandem-fed DS and DD for a while. DS was down to just morning/night anyway. I stopped feeding him at two-and-a-half, DD was two months old then. It was mostly down to just feeling the time was right to encourage him to gradually stop (which he did without any trouble), age-wise, rather than because I didn't like tandem-feeding - I didn't mind it and didn't find it tiring.