Breastfeeding through pregnancy

[TTCmonth2]

My little boy is 3 months old and my cycles are coming back (had a year before this with my daughter!). I'm considering not using contraption as we do want 3rd but really want to continue breastfeeding exclusively. Does anyone have experience breastfeeding through pregnancy (in particular with very young babies). I'm going to start expressing once a day so I have that sorted 🙂.

Thanks! X

When I was breastfeeding my 2nd she started being really fussy and refusing the breast at 5 months. Turned out I was pregnant, which I believe can make the milk taste different. However, I had a friend back then who successfully breastfed both a newborn and a toddler at the same time, and she had no problems at all. I was very jealous. If you feel you are ready for another then go for it :-)

@Ladyrattles thanks so much for the reply! That's one way to find out you are pregnant isn't it! It's interesting to hear both sides, I guess I can only hope for the best 😬! I would just love a smaller gap if possible!

@TTCmonth2 yes lol, she knew I was pregnant before we did. Good luck x

My DS got really fussy about BF when I was pregnant too (he was about 11mths when I fell pg) so I think it is true that the milk changes. I also found it quite uncomfortable at some points due to increased nipple sensitivity from pg hormones. We powered on & he did feed on & off until 2, he was much happier once I had DD & they tandem fed for about 5months.

I continued to feed my 2yo once I was pregnant, but I stopped at about 33 weeks because the pregnancy was causing terrible nursing aversion and I just really hated the sensation of it. Apparently this is common (hormonal) so it might be worth looking up about it. DS2 never had any problem with my milk and probably wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't been strongly encouraging it so no worries there.

Adventures in Tandem Nursing might be a good book to read as well.

@sparklyblue81 that's really interesting, thank you! Absolutely smashed it by carrying on and then tandem feeding, well done! With DS being very young it's obviously his only source of food which is my concern . Decisions decisions! X

@BertieBotts nice to hear a positive story in terms of milk supply, thank you. Sorry to hear about the aversion, I have read about them and they sound awful!! It seems that's one of the biggest causes of people stopping xx

Hi, slightly different situation but when I was due my DD I was told by my midwife not to express colostrum antenatally as it could stimulate uterine contractions and cause a miscarriage or premature labour. Not to worry you as advice could’ve changed but if expressing for 15 mins a day was off-limits, I would’ve thought they would’ve advised against breastfeeding too

It is OK as I think it all worked out quite nicely :) I didn't particularly mind the idea of tandem feeding, but it will be good to have a break between them and perhaps easier without DS2 becoming all obsessed with boob. Not sure if I've actually avoided that part yet :o but we'll see.

Breastfeeding isn't the same as expressing, the balance of risks and benefits is different. In general the risk of triggering a miscarriage or premature labour via nipple stimulation is extremely low, however the benefits of antenatal expression before 37 weeks are also extremely low so the trade off isn't worth it. You can express after 37 weeks as labour wouldn't be premature by then, and a few days/couple of weeks' worth of collected colostrum is normally enough so there's no reason to start earlier anyway.

But breastfeeding is different as it has huge benefits for the baby/toddler who is already born, particularly if they are under 12 months and still dependent on it. The risk to the unborn baby is so tiny compared with the effect of stopping breastfeeding prematurely for your baby/toddler, so it's generally considered that the trade off is worth it.

I don't know if there is also a difference in the likelihood of direct breastfeeding vs expressing in causing uterine contractions - it might be that expressing is a stronger sensation or lacks certain hormones etc that breastfeeding does contain and so it is actually a higher risk (just speculating here).

If you're at particularly high risk for miscarriage or premature labour then it might be something to discuss the risk/benefit payoff with your midwife or the breastfeeding network (if you're not pregnant yet), but generally no, it's considered safe to breastfeed all the way through.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/guest-post-breastfeeding-through-pregnancy-and-beyond/

I was BF DC1 while pregnant with DC2, no problem ;)

However I'm sure you've heard by now that some women can have issues. More like hormonal issues. They feel super uncomfortable about BF. That happened with I was pregnant with DC3 but at least there was a much bigger gap and it was no big deal to wean DC2. My nipples got very sensitive and felt like she was biting me. Some people just feel their skin crawl and want to yeet their kid out of the boob fun pregnancy hormones......

Oh yes, milk supply was no issue for DC2 chubby michelin man baby!!! And whenever baby fed, DC1 wanted to feed. DC1 went from feeding 3 times a day to EVERYTIME baby did it was ok

I would actually consider leaving a longer break OP, just to give your body time to recover. I know two people who were diagnosed with auto-immune conditions after their second babies were born and who were told the hormonal disruption of two close together pregnancies and breastfeeding may have been a trigger, there's also WHO advise on spacing pregnancies and a friend with SPD was strongly advised the spacing of her children would be an issue. I feel like it isn't generally talked about. Two babies in a year or not much over is a LOT to put on your body.

Equally, if time/age is an issue it depends which is most important to you. I know people who wanted to keep feeding but developed a feeding aversion, people who cheerily fed through and continued to tandem feed, and people who stopped feeding earlier than they would have liked as they thought it was affecting their ability to conceive. Definitely more people who stopped earlier than they wanted though: most would have liked to have fed longer but prioritised having a baby closer in age so I'd really think it through when you'd be happy to stop as it may be the choice is taken away from you through either a v strong aversion or baby refusing.

Equally you may find you struggle to conceive while feeding - I had regular periods from about 9 months/a year, but it was still only after fully stopping weaning at two that I got pregnant, literally the cycle after totally stopping, and for the last few months I was only feeding for a minute in the morning. I know other friends who have said the same. Its hard to predict.

Btw OP, I remember reading that a woman's biggest peak of fertility is 8-10months after giving birth. That's what happened to me for DC2. I wasn't taking contraception but we weren't proper trying to for it as well