Anyone breastfed 3 kids?

[teatoast8]

I have a 2 year old, near 1 year old and pregnant again. I'm going to wean my son off the boob before this one arrives.

Just interested if anyones breastfed 3? I love breastfeeding. I know I'm going to be sad when I wean my son, but know it'll be the right thing to do.

Tia x

My 18 mo son was only feeding before bed and if he woke up in the night. It became so painful, because I'm 24 weeks pregnant with no2 that i had to stop him and i think supply dropped too. One positive is that he now sleeps much better at night.

I had 3 and bf them all. I tandem fed 1&2 for the first year after 2 was born and tandem fed 2&3 for a shorter time.

I didn't really find it a problem except the first few feeds after the birth, when I got bad afterpains which might have been made worse by the stronger suck of the older child.

I was lucky my son has been a good sleeper since 11 weeks

Currently BF my third whose 8 weeks old

You might need to cut down with your oldest. Start by only offering the boob once per day (or whatever you think appropriate) before turning the tap off altogether. At the age of two, he will be fine.

I agree. The 2 year old and 1 year old don't need breast milk as they're eating food and drinking other liquids. Might be best to wean both toddlers off breast milk so the supply is solely for the newborn who needs breast milk or formula milk to survive. The toddlers could reduce the supply.

I'm sorry but I disagree and will be containing breastfeeding the 1 year old. It still benefits her.

Continuing*

Yeah that's what I'm going to do. X

Thank you for all the comments 😊 much appreciated x

Can someone enlighten me please - how does continuing to breastfeed older children affect colostrum? Is it still produced? Instead of milk or as well? Do the toddlers not drink it all while you're still pregnant?

Also, with your regular milk, when feeding multiples isn't it the first child who gets the free-er flowing milk, and the second the heavier stuff? Doesn't that mean that the OPs newborn will either end up thirsty, or not getting enough in the way of calories? Or is milk created that quickly that it adjusts to the infant's needs within that same feed? This stuff blows my mind!

Yes its still produced :) I was still able to feed my daughter when still feeding my son. Caused no issues. The milk is created to each individual child. My daughter got enough as a newborn

Colostrum is produced as normal. The body will always prioritise the new baby. Mature milk supply drops in pregnancy under the influence of rising oestrogen. It varies from woman to woman, sometimes it's almost right at the beginning of pregnancy, sometimes later, but virtually everyone will have a much diminished reply by the middle of pregnancy, which is why self weaning during pregnancy is quite common. Colostrum is produced sometime in the 3rd trimester as usual and continues to be produced until a few days after the new baby is born, just as in any other pregnancy. If you're still feeding an older child of course they will drink it - unless they don't like it which sometimes happen - and then you make more. There isn't a set amount of colostrum made that you have to "save" for the newborn. The only downside of an older baby drinking colostrum is that it is a natural laxative - that can be a bit of a shock if you're not expecting it!
If you are feeding children of different ages it's likely that the newborn will be feeding far more than the older child so they're the priority and it's generally recommended that you feed the newborn first. But milk is produced during feeding - a good description is that breasts are factories not warehouses - so if you are feeding more than one child your supply will adjust to that. I believe that mothers feeding twins sometimes use one breast for each baby to keep things "even" as it's likely that both babies will be feeding about the same amount, but I don't know of anyone with different aged babies who's done that. When I was tandem feeding I just fed the newborn as I would have done if he was the only one, and my older one just kind of fitted in around him. I never had any real supply issues - just a bit of oversupply in the early weeks.

A newborn needs breast milk or formula milk to survive. A 1 year old doesn't need it as they get their nutrients from food. Might be easier to get the 2 year old to wean off breast milk if they see that the same is happening to their sibling. Then the breast milk can be just for the newborn.

Just thinking about the research on how your breastmilk changes depending on the age of the baby. A newborn needs a different quality of milk than a 2 year old. Personally, I would stop breastfeeding the older child so that I could produce the right kind of milk for the baby.

It's my decision. I'll be feeding 1 year old and newborn

I'll only be weaning my son

Honestly don’t understand all these people coming on here to advise you to wean and stating breast milk isn’t beneficial after 1yr… complete lack of research!

I totally agree!

I breast fed my three when i discovered it put them to sleep like a dream.

Evidence please?

Please ignore everyone advising you to stop breastfeeding; especially your 1 year old. The WHO recommend 2 years and beyond. There's plenty of EVIDENCE based research to support the positive benefits of extended breastfeeding.

I would suggest seeing how you get on, but that's me! You have some time until baby arrives. Is your eldest night weaned?

You do produce the right kind of milk for the baby, and it does no harm to the older sibling.* *The new pregnancy "resets" milk production and prioritises the needs of the newborn. There's been one study suggesting that the milk of tandem nursing mothers may be slightly higher is fat and protein and thus a bit more calorific, but nothing that is likely to be detrimental to either child.
Considering that most of us consume, and feed our offspring the milk of another species without worrying too much about it I don't think there's really any need to be concerned about minor changes in breastmilk composition. I preferred my older baby to have milk that was probably marginally more tailored for his younger sibling than any of the alternatives.

Don't worry I am! I do. Only 19 weeks Wednesday. Yes he's night weaned. Sleeps through the night x

Yes I would like to see evidence too.