On Our Way... any advice for BF'ing while Pregnant?

RyanandManda

Just found out we're expecting #2!  I'm still EBF'ing Emmaline and am looking for any advice or wisdom about BF'ing while pregnant.  We've got a couple more months at least before she weans and I'd like to let her wean herself whenever she's ready, even if that means tandem nursing after #2 comes.

 I'd love to hear any insight you have!

orangecurls

My advice is to really watch her wet diapers and make sure she is getting enough fluids.  Encourage her to start drinking a little water from a cup (regular, straw, sippy).  Many women (myself included) have a huge drop in supply around the 2nd trimester, but some women as early as 6-8 weeks.  And some lucky women don't get a drop in supply at all.

Eat a lot of protein, whole grains and drink lots of water.  Good Luck! 

RyanandManda

orangecurls:

My advice is to really watch her wet diapers and make sure she is getting enough fluids.  Encourage her to start drinking a little water from a cup (regular, straw, sippy).  Many women (myself included) have a huge drop in supply around the 2nd trimester, but some women as early as 6-8 weeks.  And some lucky women don't get a drop in supply at all.

Eat a lot of protein, whole grains and drink lots of water.  Good Luck! 

Thanks!  We cloth diaper so I'm sure I'll notice if her output changes.  She already loves to drink water and eats 3 meals plus 2 snacks of solids each day (she's a big eater on top of nursing 5-6 times/day!).  I know I need to work on drinking MY water each day!  I'll get on that right now!

 Thanks again!

TempNewSN

I'm still BFing LO, but not EBFing.  I have already noticed a huge decrease in my supply.  Last week I was producing about 12 ounces per day, and now I'm down to 4 ounces per day, if I'm lucky.  Although LO only BFs twice per day, and is on WCM and water.  I plan on weaning LO soon, since LO is 13 months.

NavyPilotWife

Drink a lot of water and up your calorie intake.  I started weaning DD1 around 11.5 months.  I needed to cut out night feedings anyway, so she'd STTN.  The last thing that I needed was two kids eating during the night.  I had some nipple pain, but did not have any supply issues.  We quit nursing completely, when I was around 18-20 weeks pregnant.  I had PTL with DD1, so my doc thought that it would be better to wean sooner rather than later.  I never noticed any contractions, while nursing.  It is hard on your body to nurse, while pregnant.  I hardly gained weight, until DD was on whole milk.

RyanandManda

TempNewSN:

I'm still BFing LO, but not EBFing.  I have already noticed a huge decrease in my supply.  Last week I was producing about 12 ounces per day, and now I'm down to 4 ounces per day, if I'm lucky.  Although LO only BFs twice per day, and is on WCM and water.  I plan on weaning LO soon, since LO is 13 months.

 Oh my goodness!  That's such a dramatic drop in supply!  I'm really hopeful that we'll make it without formula so I'm eating lots of oatmeal and legumes and such.  I may add a pumping session too just to be on the safe side until DD is 1 year.

RyanandManda

NavyPilotWife:

Drink a lot of water and up your calorie intake.  I started weaning DD1 around 11.5 months.  I needed to cut out night feedings anyway, so she'd STTN.  The last thing that I needed was two kids eating during the night.  I had some nipple pain, but did not have any supply issues.  We quit nursing completely, when I was around 18-20 weeks pregnant.  I had PTL with DD1, so my doc thought that it would be better to wean sooner rather than later.  I never noticed any contractions, while nursing.  It is hard on your body to nurse, while pregnant.  I hardly gained weight, until DD was on whole milk.

Funny, I've been working so hard to lose the pregnancy weight (BF'ing didn't help me at all!) and I'm 20 pounds away from pre-preg weight (I gained 60 with Emmaline!) and now I'm pregnant again.  I'm hoping to continue running through this pregnancy (I stopped with Emmaline) and use the extra weight I already have on me to reduce weight gain this time around.  Still, it's hard to change my mindset from cutting calories to now being sure I'm eating at every little hunger pang!

The job I think I've gotten (eesh...  so stressful...) is 3 12 hour nights per week.  Emmaline typically nurses around 4am so i was planning on pumping once at work (DH will give her a bottle when I'm not home) to keep my supply up.  If we can make it to 1 year, I'll be happy and waaaay less stressed. 

Thank you so much for the advice and knowledge!!

bootsnbananas

Definitely watch your supply and do everything you can to help it.

Jules was only 4 months old when i got pregnant again and my milk changed then my supply tanked and she was refusing to nurse (she had pumped milk a few times a day so she just wanted bottles) I was exhausted and gave up and it hurts my heart everyday. 

My midwife also warned me about possible contractions and it becoming a problem but we didn't last long enough for it to be a factor. 

RyanandManda

bootsnbananas:

Definitely watch your supply and do everything you can to help it.

Jules was only 4 months old when i got pregnant again and my milk changed then my supply tanked and she was refusing to nurse (she had pumped milk a few times a day so she just wanted bottles) I was exhausted and gave up and it hurts my heart everyday. 

My midwife also warned me about possible contractions and it becoming a problem but we didn't last long enough for it to be a factor. 

Thank you for sharing your experience!  I'm researching ways to keep the supply up now!

BrittKav

I got my BFP when Annie was 6 months old. We were EBF and I knew I wanted to continue BFing until she was at least 1 year. I had a bit of nipple soreness in the beginning, but nothing major and it went away after a week or so. Some babies notice a change in the taste of the milk and want to wean because of it. Annie never seemed to notice a change.

Around 25-30 weeks pregnant my supply started tanking, and nothing helped it stay up. There is a supplement you can take called More Milk Two, it's safe for use during pregnancy. You can also take Fenugreek in the first trimester. Anyway, by 32-34 weeks (when Annie turned 1 year) my supply was basically non-existent...she would get a swallow or two each time she nursed. She was down to 1 or 2 nursing sessions a day, because she wasn't getting much and was becoming less interested. I made it to 1 year of BFing without formula, so I was happy. But I wasn't ready to wean, and I knew she would want to nurse more when she saw me nursing DD2, so we kept it up.

When Hazel was born, Annie nursed much more often...5-6 times a day. That lasted a month or two, and then she cut back. She's now 22 months and nursing 2-3 times a day. Tandem nursing is going great, and is a lot easier than I thought it would be! Good luck! 

RyanandManda

BrittKav:

I got my BFP when Annie was 6 months old. We were EBF and I knew I wanted to continue BFing until she was at least 1 year. I had a bit of nipple soreness in the beginning, but nothing major and it went away after a week or so. Some babies notice a change in the taste of the milk and want to wean because of it. Annie never seemed to notice a change.

Around 25-30 weeks pregnant my supply started tanking, and nothing helped it stay up. There is a supplement you can take called More Milk Two, it's safe for use during pregnancy. You can also take Fenugreek in the first trimester. Anyway, by 32-34 weeks (when Annie turned 1 year) my supply was basically non-existent...she would get a swallow or two each time she nursed. She was down to 1 or 2 nursing sessions a day, because she wasn't getting much and was becoming less interested. I made it to 1 year of BFing without formula, so I was happy. But I wasn't ready to wean, and I knew she would want to nurse more when she saw me nursing DD2, so we kept it up.

When Hazel was born, Annie nursed much more often...5-6 times a day. That lasted a month or two, and then she cut back. She's now 22 months and nursing 2-3 times a day. Tandem nursing is going great, and is a lot easier than I thought it would be! Good luck! 

Great story!  Thank you so much for sharing!  Makes me feel much more positive about the coming months!