Hi, and questions- Irish twins and BF

mrshudson618

I found out a week ago that I am going to have #2 around #1's first birthday. Any advice on EBFing while pregnant? All dr. google can tell me is about non-exclusively nursing a toddler, but my LO is only 4 months old and I still want to EBF as long as possible.  I only got a couple of responses on the bfing board, and they basically said that I was doomed and was going to end up supplementing with formula at the least. 

Anyone have any success with this or is it really a guarantee that my supply will not last enough to not have to supplement, at least not until he is 8-9 months? i would be 5=6 months along then. 

TIA 

LindseyH033

Congratulations! In my case I found out I was pregnant with DD2 when DD1 was 6 months. I EBF DD1 and continued to do so until she was 10 months old. At that point my supply had dropped considerably and she just seemed done with breastfeeding. My pedi told me to put her on goats milk (easier on their stomachs) instead of formula since she was almost a year old anyway. She loved the goats milk and transitioned to whole milk around 13 months without a problem. My breast milk supply definitely suffered as a result of being pregnant and DD didn't seem to enjoy it as much either, which makes me think the taste changed too. Im glad I was at least able to do it until she was 10 months. GL!

spinsoffresonance

By the time DD was 6months old I wasn't pumping enough at work to keep up with her so we had to send 1 bottle of formula to daycare per day. So even when not pregnant you might end up supplementing. But as long as your baby is growing you're doing great.
I'm sure some moms nurse throughout pregnancy with no issues and end up tandem feeding 2 babies while other moms dry up. I don't think you can predict how it will go for you. I'm 11 weeks pregnant now, DD is 11 months old and refused to nurse last night at bedtime and this morning when she woke up. So she hasn't nursed in over 24 hours and my boobs still feel empty, I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end for us.
ETA if you haven't yet check out kellymom.com

bookworm982

My LOs are 13m1d apart. I nursed DD throughout my whole pregnancy with DS. I didn't experience a supply dip until around 32-34 weeks which coincided almost perfectly with DD's first birthday. A few weeks later I had another major dip and DD was only getting a tiny bit of milk a day. DS was born at 37w1d, so DD didn't have to go long without milk.

We tried to introduce WCM at 11 months, but DD wanted nothing to do with that (and still doesn't care for it). Instead, we had to just offer water and then give lots of whole fat dairy...at least 3 servings a day. I am fortunate that our peditrician is married to our la leche league leader, so I had a great support network to keep both babies healthy during my pregnancy.

As of now, I'm tandem nursing my babies, and aside from dealing with oversupply everything is going great. DD only nurses once a day since I'd like to wean her before another pregnancy, and we're still giving her lots of whole fat dairy since she still hasn't taken to wcm.

Pick up a copy of Adventures in Tandem Nursing if you can. It will be frustrating that so much of the book is focused on nursing a toddler while pregnant, but there is still tons of useful information. If you want to nurse both babies after #2 is born, it will also have a wealth of helpful information.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help or any questions I can answer. Nobody can predict how your body will react to nursing and pregnancy, but some women can nurse through a pregnancy. It's hard to just take things one day at a time, but that's what I had to do. Good luck and congratulations!

mrshudson618

Thanks for giving me some more hope!

bribri5285

I found out I was pregnant when my son was 7 months old.  For the first couple months my supply was about the same. Then slowly I started not getting as much when I pumped at work.  I think it was when my son was 9 months that it started dropping.  By 10 months I was still pumping and nursing when home with him, but we had to supplement one, sometimes two bottles with formula (or half formula).  When he was 11 months I stopped pumping because I wasn't getting even enough for one bottle. We continued the formula for a couple weeks then switched to whole milk. But he wa

I was able to successfully nurse him all throughout my pregnancy without my supple completely drying up.  He is now 17 months and am tandem nursing him and my month old.  He still very much interested in nursing.  Even more so the last week now that he is teething. 

My biggest suggestion would be to really be drinking a ton of water/fluids.  I think that was part of my decrease in supply.  But as other posts have said unfortunately everyone's body reacts a different way.  Good luck to you!!

hminer4

I am only 6 weeks pregnant with #2 but I am still nursing DD. My supply has definitely dropped but my biggest complaint is sore nipples! I am trying to get to 1 year with DD which is only a couple more weeks so I can deal but I'm glad there is an end in sight!

orangecurls

My supply dropped at the end of my first trimester / beginning of my second trimester. Baby started eating a lot more food and we had to start supplementing. My kiddo still wanted to nurse, but I just wasn't producing enough . Eat healthy, drink lots of fluids and cross your fingers. I do recommend watching baby's weight.