Please tell me your experiences of becoming/being pregnant whilst breastfeeding

[Newbornmum]

I would like to start trying for baby #2 in the near future but am still bf my 9 month old. I'm worried about my milk potentially drying up and/or any other changes in taste and suchlike. If you breastfed through pregnancy or got pregnant whilst breastfeeding would you mind telling me how it went? Did your baby self wean and, if so, how far into pregnancy, did they get really upset about it or did they adapt fairly easily etc? Any tips or advice welcome and appreciated. Thanks so much in advance.

I accidentally fell pregnant when DS1 was about a year old, still feeding a fair bit. He carried on throughout. I did get a wee bit of aversion at about 6m but persevered. He self weaned about a week before his brother was born. Just over the space of maybe a week. I didn't dry up but I assume the taste was unappealing.

He asked to try a few times when I was very engorged a week or two later but just didn't want to really. No real transition - it was done, it was for the new baby and that was that. He got much closer to DH in that period but the BF was never an issue.

Got pregnant when still breastfeeding by 23 month old although we started trying when he was 18 months so it took a while, even though it happened first try with my first. I carried on breastfeeding until he was 2y4m. I did develop a complete aversion to breastfeeding as my nipples became too sore but I waited until I was around 20 weeks to wean him off boob as that’s usually when milk taste changes. He was also old enough for me to explain that we needed to stop.

I got pregnant when my little one was about 10 months, and I noticed that he wasn’t quite as keen to drink milk. He’d not drink for very long or just be quite on and off the boob. The pregnancy sadly ended at about 7 weeks and then my son was happily drinking again, so I’m assuming those early pregnancy hormones did something to my milk in terms of taste.

Pregnant when my son was 9 months and he decided a month later he didn't like the taste any more and that was the end of our bf journey! I have to say it was bittersweet as first trimester sickness and bf was hard work so it was a little bit of a relief and nice not to have to wean him off when he wasn't ready!

I tandem fed my older two, and am currently bf #3 and pregnant. It took me longer to conceive, I had to night wean both times. It's common for milk to dry up so if your baby is under 1 you'd need to supplement with formula. I was glad I tandem fed last time as it helped transition to having a sibling, but I don't want to do it again. It was really hard work and I felt very very touched out. Emma Pickett has a good podcast called 'makes milk', about bf but mostly about bf toddlers and stopping bf. There's a good one on conceiving while bf and things that help; you generally need a regular cycle back although there are obviously exceptions. Good luck!

I conceived DC2 when DC1 was 13 months. Was still breastfeeding but only first and last thing.

Dropped to one feed at 14 months and then dropped that one too after another month.

I really wanted to be done with bf DC1 before DC2 came. I wanted her to have exclusive rights over my milk like DC1 had done! It wasn't necessarily logical and of course many women do feed two children at the same time but it was a really strong feeling with me that I wanted that gap between for that reason

DC3 was conceived when DC2 was 13 months, she was only feeding at bedtime at that point and I weaned her at 8 weeks pregnant because I was feeling v rough and I wanted DH to be able to do bedtimes so I could rest. Wasn’t an issue, she happily accepted cuddles with no milk.

Tandem feeding here - baby and toddler on demand. Suffered with supply drying up in second trimester but dry nursed until third trimester when colostrum returned and toddler was overjoyed! Toddler was still feeding 4-8 times a day until milk dried up so was distraught hence dry nursing.

La leche League has good resources. Do have some aversion but only when toddler feeds at bedtime. So I feed toddler on demand in the day instead.

No reason to wean. Baby will soon let you know if they don't like the taste of colostrum!

I fell pregnant when DS1 was 5 months. Was still BF at the time.

I fed DD while pregnant until around the 20 week mark when she self weaned - she was boob obsessed until one day she just stopped wanting to feed. I was quite relieved really although a little sad.

DD was 3 and still feeding, conceived the first go and stopped feeding her at around 20 weeks pregnant, it would have happened anyway as she was feeding less and less, then only to nap and then she just forgot about it for a week so it was on her terms. As she was so much older I never planned to tandem feeds but my supply didn’t change during the pregnancy, I’m not sure if it would have over time.

I’d had my period back since 4 months pp with her, I think that makes a difference, whether you’re ovulating as usual.

Good luck!

I got pregnant with DC2 when DC1 was almost seven months. DC1 was still breastfeeding quite a lot, but not exclusively. My periods had come back four months postpartum, quite early I suppose, considering the breastfeeding.

When I was twelve weeks pregnant, DC1 lost interest in breastfeeding and effectively weaned himself at almost ten months. I think the taste had changed, as I've heard it can around that point of pregnancy. Whatever, the reason he decided he'd had enough of breastfeeding and that was that.

I'd only planned to breastfeed until a year anyway, so I didn't mind too much tbh. I'd also been finding it very tiring being pregnant with one while breastfeeding another. As for DC1, he adapted perfectly well.

Periods came back 4 months after having dd2 and I got pregnant with dd3 when she was just gone 2y (first try,) She was still bf in the night and morning. Tandem fed them for about 4 months - was a lot of big changes in our home at that time and didn't want to also stop bf at a time of such upheaval - and she self weaned.

May not be relevant to you but will just mention in case it's helpful at any point as no-one else who has commented had my experience. I'm one of those women whose periods didn't start up again while I was bf. I came off contraception when my DS was a year old hoping to start TTC no.2 but my periods never showed (though I started getting monthly aches and pains). At the time he had started nursery so wasnt feeding throughout the day but still enjoyed night time feeds. Eventually decided to fully wean my son which we did at 22 months. My period showed the following month and I fell pregnant on the third cycle after. Just something to bear in mind if AF isn't showing for you.

I tandem fed with my first and second child. Ds was 20 months when I had dd and I still fed them both quite a lot. The midwives on my ward seemed never to have experienced anyone doing this before and I was asked to explain how it worked for the nutritional needs of the baby to the head midwife- coming from mumsnet where tandem feeding isn't strange at all this took me by surprise!

It was so easy breastfeeding a newborn when I didn't have to start from scratch. I didn't get any form of PND with this situation, unlike my other two pregnancies and dd gained weight really effectively.

I weaned them both at the same time when dd was 20 months, by which time I was really sick of breastfeeding! So glad I did this though.

Ah good for you! I hope to do the same. Would love to get youngest to two for the health benefits.

Thanks so much everyone for all your replies. It's really helpful to hear how it actually turned out for ppl and their babies and given me lots to think about and take into account. I couldn't find too much online.

Fortunately, my periods returned at six months (I was surprised because DS was still feeding loads!) and are regular again now so that's a good start.

I also would ideally love to bf DS to 2 years for the health benefits but I'm struggling with trying to balance that with current age and wanting more than 2 children in the long run. I'm 34 nearly which I realise isn't especially old fertility wise but DH and I would like the option to have at least 3 children so I'm conscious of timing long term!

Did anyone do anything differently to prepare for ttc while bf? I am taking folic acid in my bf vitamins but no idea if that's enough - presumably it gets shared with DS too!?

Thanks so much again for all the advice and sharing your experiences x

I breastfed DS1 whilst pregnant with DS2 and then tandem fed til self weaning for both of them.
I would recommend the book Adventures in Tandem Nursing by Hilary Flowers published by LLL. Unless they have updated it, it's a bit twee and outdated (and very American) but there's a lot of good information in there anyway.
I think one of the things you need to get your head round is that you don't have a huge amount of say in what happens. Mother Nature will do her stuff and you just have to accept that. Oestrogen suppresses milk supply - that's why you can't generally breastfeed whilst taking the combined contraceptive pill - and oestrogen rises in pregnancy. So your supply will drop at some point, to some degree, though both those things vary. And none of the usual measures to boost supply will change that. Plus at some point your milk will change to colostrum in readiness for the new baby, because they are the priority. You can't change that either.
Some older babies are not bothered and will continue breastfeeding but a lot will self wean due to changes in volume and flavour in milk. There's not much you can do about that either!
So I would say, arm yourself with as much info as possible but accept that you might not be able to continue to breastfeed your elder child even if you want to so be sure to have a plan B. Good luck!

It can be helpful to track ovulation; partly to check you are actually ovulating, but also because it's very common for breastfeeding mums to ovulate a wee bit later than usual. This can sometimes make pregnancy tricky, which is when you could look at leaving longer regular gaps between feeds, or night weaning.

Dc1 was 9 months old when I got pregnant with dc2. I returned to work part time at the same time. Dc1 continued to bf throughout my pregnancy, gradually reducing til it was just evening/night/first thing. Of his own accord and probably because I was working. He was down to 1 early morning feed when one day he slept til 7am and we just got up, no feed. That was it. Dc2 was born 4 days later.

Fell pregnant when my daughter was 5 months old ebf, hadn't had a period and fell pregnant with number 2 tandem fed then both til first was 2.5 then continued with baby for a while after

Periods came back about 5 months but wasn't able to get pregnant. Don't think I was ovulating. Have weaned off the breast at 11 months and now getting positive opks again. So not everyone can get pregnant breastfeeding even if periods are back.

I fell pregnant with DC2 when DC1 was 6 months, I was still breastfeeding but had started to wean DC1 so my breastfeeding had dropped, I had completely stopped by the time they were 9 months (I was returning from maternity leave).