Breastfeeding toddler while pregnant

[ReySky]

I'm feeling really emotional tonight as I think my milk supply is dropping. I am 6 weeks pregnant and my DS is 22 months. He is boob-obsessed and would happily feed all day if I let him. I feel naive but I didn't really research this before getting pregnant and just feel so sad.

Has anyone managed to continue to breastfeed throughout pregnancy that can give me some hope?

Thank you.

I did and my milk did seem to dry up but she still carried on feeding for comfort until I eventually stopped at about 6 months pregnant as I didn’t want to be feeding both when the baby arrived, but that was just my choice. She would have carried on. I think if you’re happy then just keep going and your toddler will probably still get a bit and enjoy the comfort, though they may need to be offered some other milk alongside.

I was doing a bedtime feed til I was about 6 months pregnant, DD was coming up two and I wanted a little break before this one arrived so weaned her off.

Maybe pick which feed(s) you want to keep for now and see how you go? I had totally had enough when I finished with DD and it only took a week or so of 'its running out, nearly all gone' etc before we stopped so it was very gentle.

Have just had DD2 and she has taken to feeding just as well and my body has just cracked on with it so I think that little break has been well worthwhile! But I probably could have carried on the bedtime feed if I'd felt like it too.

Everyone's milk supply drops at some point in pregnancy and there's nothing you can do about it I'm afraid. It's hormone related so the usual things like feeding more often have no impact, and herbal remedies like fenugreek which are often suggested for low supply shouldn't be taken in pregnancy. Most people go through a period of low or no supply until their colostrum comes in, somewhere around half to two thirds of the way through pregnancy.
About half of older nurslings will stop themselves during their mother's next pregnancy, mainly due to the reduced supply and changes to the taste of the milk. Of the rest, quite a lot of mums take the opportunity to encourage weaning and some continue to comfort feed even though there's not much milk - sometimes called dry nursing. When colostrum comes in sometimes this makes the older baby more enthusiastic, as there's "something" even if it's not mature milk, but others go right off it, presumably because they dont like the taste. Just a word of warning of your toddler does start drinking colostrum, remember it is a natural laxative!
If you want to continue, keep offering, but ultimately it's probably down to your DS now. Also don't feel bad if you want to stop. It is not uncommon (or unreasonable) for some Mums to feel that pregnancy is the time to stop, and some find their nipples become too sore or that they've developed a real aversion to feeding. I night weaned DS1 whilst I was pregnant with DS2 as I was just too exhausted to keep up any night feeds, but he carried on with one or two daytime feeds even when I had virtually zero supply, and I then tandem fed for about 3 years.
LLL publish a book called Adventures in Tandem Nursing. Despite the rather twee title it's quite informative and has a lot of facts about feeding through pregnancy so it might be worth trying to get hold of a copy.
I hope everything goes well for you.

Yep. Lots of kids will drop feeding frequency but continue to dry nurse. Dry nursing can be uncomfortable, however, so you might develop an aversion. In that case, I'd advise night weaning (in fact if advise night weaning anyway- still feeding your eldest overnight while you've got a newborn is going to be tough.

Mine seems to have all but dried up, though when I ask my 26 month old if she gets any she always says “a little bit”. Maybe there’s colostrum now? Regardless, she still nurses regularly. For comfort more than anything I think.

The main thing that has changed is I make more of an effort to get dairy products into her diet.

I had to give up BF when I fell pregnant at 22 months. I think my supply was already starting to dry up at the time, and getting pregnant completely dried it up. I tried dry nursing, but found it far too uncomfortable. Fortunately DD took it very well. We were only feeding at bedtime, so I simply didn't offer. If she asked for a feed, I told her there was no milk and offered a cup of milk instead. It was only a couple of days until she stopped asking. Tbh I'm relieved I'm having a bit of a break before it all starts again with the next.

Fifteen month gap between my DC and I BF throughout. I did experience dips in milk supply and it frustrated DC1 at times but we continued and three and a half years later, we're still BF. BF is more a comfort thing for your toddler atm (he should be getting his nutrition from food) so he should be okay. If you can tolerate it (nursing aversion is common), keep going.

I'm in a what's app group of breastfeeding mums and there are several tandem feeding mums with their toddlers and babies so it's possible! Have you phoned the national breastfeeding helpline for advice or looked on sites like la Leche League or Kelly Mom?

My DC1 was 6 months older but was becoming frustrated and I had seriously sore boobs so we took it as a natural end.

I wasn't adverse to tandem feeding though and if he had wanted to continue I was going to get the LLL book mentioned upthread.

I continued to nurse my then three year old through my pregnancy. I think my supply was already fairly low but seemed to be fairly constant throughout.

I'm so glad I managed to keep feeding through pregnancy as I think it helped massively with my supply after birth. My little one was pre-term and was on bottles of expressed breast milk and I was able to express loads and loads of colostrum right from when he was just a few hours old.

I tandem nursed for around 10 weeks before my older child just naturally stopped wanting to feed.

Thank you so much everyone for your replies and experiences.

I was totally unprepared for how upsetting I would find it but for now he's still happy feeding so will just follow his lead. I'm happy to give tandem feeding a go but equally if he decides he's had enough then that's fine too.

I’m 7 weeks and breastfeeding my 21 month old . I got pregnant on her when my eldest was 20 months old and fed her throughout the pregnancy she stopped herself around 2 months after I gave birth .
Hoping to do the same this time it’s great to have your milk in when you give birth takes one stress away .

I continued all the way through my pregnancy and now tandem feeding my 20 month old and newborn. My milk didn't seem to dry up or at least my daughter didn't stop feeding but she has enjoyed the increase in milk supply I've got now with my newborn

I'm currently pregnant with DC3 and feeding my 2 year old. When I got pregnant he was feeding about 6 times a day and now at 33 weeks pregnant he's feeding 2-3 times a day. I'm just following his lead and letting him feed when he wants to. I still think I have a decent supply. He did have one or two dodgy nappies possibly from the colostrum but it was never a big deal. Weeks 10-20 ish it was quite painful to feed and I had to be sure I got a very deep latch but I'm happy he's still feeding and hopefully he will persevere for the last few weeks and then tandem with his sibling. There's a Facebook group called something like pregnant and tandem breastfeeders UK which is a good source of information about what you can expect x

I continued all through my pregnancy and then tandem fed the newborn and the toddler when the newborn was born. I have to say though that I got real aversion to feeding my toddler when my baby was born and that was AWFUL. I properly wanted to fling her off me all the time and had to literally grit my teeth. So I wish I had stopped before in hindsight.

I'm hoping to tandem feed too so whilst I'm sorry you went through that I appreciate you sharing so I can be forewarned!

I tandem fed and was absolutely delighted I had when dc2 was born as it meant I could draw off the slight excess supply easily!

I fed throughout pregnancy and then at some point after his brother was born, 3.5 year old DS stopped and I didn't notice exactly when. All worked out ok

That's reassuring thank you both. It would be my ideal for my baby girl to self wean and my pregnancy or second baby not to negatively impact that. I call her a baby as she's only just crawling still and very developmentally little. No toddling.

Anyone have any breast milk jewellery done yet just in case baby self weans soon? I'm thinking of getting a ring and something for my daughter.

No but i did have a photo shoot done when I was feeding and I have some really amazingly lovely photos of feeding. I’m so pleased I have them.

That's lovely what a great idea.

I recently married so also have a feeding photo to treasure of us both in our dresses.

That sounds gorgeous!

Breastfeeding photoshoot sounds lovely 😍 I am nearly 9 weeks pregnant and still breastfeeding dd1 but my supply has massively dropped, nipples v sore and I'm feeling super sick a lot of the time so I'm considering weaning v soon. Been explaining that milk is nearly all gone etc for a while. We just do one bedtime feed now but she does love it. She's 2 this month so think we had a good run- so sad to stop tho! I just ordered a breastfeeding ring from mother's love jewellery 🥰