Pregnant and Breastfeeding baby under 1

orangecurls

Anyone been pregnant and breastfed a baby under 1 year old? Or is doing this now?

How did it go?  Did you see a drop in supply?  Did you have to supplement or give more solids?  Any advice?

L&BK54471

I am BFing DD. So far things are going ok. I haven't supplemented yet and she is eating solids like a champ. I might need to supplement before the end of the pregnancy.

3/05bride

I am 15 weeks pregnant and BFing my baby who will be 1 in 2 weeks.  My milk supply dropped around week 8 and after using milk from my freezer I had to start supplementing with formula.  I made until about 2 weeks ago with one bottle/day but now he gets mostly formula (20 oz/day) and I think about 5-10 oz breastmilk.  My supply just really tanked the last 4-5 weeks.

monona9

I was pregnant and breastfeeding regularly for a bit there. I got mother's milk two that helped me going on for longer but my supply dropped a lot and I supplemented with formula. Now she's mostly on formula and does breastfeed only 2x a day (but more for comfort I think). Good luck!

BrittKav

(posted this on Breastfeeding board too, but didn't know if you'd see it)

 

I found out I was pregnant on my daughters 6-month-birthday. I was really lucky; my supply didn't start to drop until around 25 weeks. By 32 weeks, though, it was pretty much gone. 

My daughter didn't mind the taste difference, though some babies do. I had sore nipples for a week or so, but nothing bad enough to make me stop. I was determined to get her at least to 1 year of breastfeeding without supplementing. We made it, just barely. Most women have a supply drop earlier. I don't know that we really increased solids...we'd always offered her more than she ate anyway.

My daughter began losing interest when my supply tanked, and she was only getting one or two swallows per session anyway. We kept it up, though, because I knew she would want to start nursing more when she saw the new baby nursing. The baby was born when she was 14 months, and once she realized that there was plenty of milk again, she couldn't get enough. She's now almost 18 months and we're still going strong. 

karatechrissy

I'm so jealous of everyone that got to continue to bf. My supply literally dried up within a few weeks of conceiving, sadly. :-(

ak1234

By the time I was pregnant, I was already supplementing with formula while I was at work, and just nursing in the morning and at night, and on the weekends.  My supply didn't dwindle at all AFAIK.

orangecurls

Thanks for all the responses.  I just found out that I'm pregnant again and I'm worried about supply issues...

norbert5

I bf'ed DD while I was pregnant and she was under 1 for just a few months.  It worked out okay.  My nipples were more sore but that was about the only change I noticed until I hit 2nd tri.  Then my supply dropped and DD wasn't interested anymore.  So she just naturally weaned herself.

My advice:  Drink liquids like crazy, get liquid from your food (watermelon, soups, etc.)  I was exhausted but the more I drank the better I would feel.

AlliMarie

I have a 10-1/2 month old son, and am 11 weeks pregnant with LO #2.  One of the reasons I thought I might be pregnant in the first place was because my breastmilk supply went down -- way down.  I was nursing while at home, and pumping at work, as well as supplementing about a bottle a day.  I noticed that instead of 6 ounces per pump session at work, I could sit there for half an hour and only get 2-3 ounces.  I tried drinking more fluids, but nothing seemed to help, and I was getting really stressed about it.  Then, it dawned on me that I *could* be pregnant!  So, I took a test (or three) and it was positive!  It was a real relief to know the cause of my decrease in supply.  Now we're doing mostly solids, with formula almost exclusively, except at bedtime (and sometimes if he wakes up in the night).  I don't pump at work any more. 

My doctor says she's fine with me nursing until I'm about 24 weeks along, which is fine with me, since DS #1 will be about a year old then, and that was my goal.  I do know that I could keep nursing all the way through my pregnancy, and then tandem nurse both children, but I feel OK with not.  DS has naturally started to wean himself, and he seems OK with it, as well.  I guess we'll see what he thinks when LO #2 comes.

It's interesting to see how this situation affects people differently!