how to handle breastfeeding with baby no 3 on the way

ursulamar

I have two children, boy 2 and girl 9 mos, I I choose to breastffed till 12 mos old and did so wiht my son and was/am going to with my daughter. But we just found out that I am pregnant with our third (surprise). So when this baby is born my daughter will be 18 mos. So since my body is going into prepare for baby mode, how do I handle breastfeeding? Can I wean my D off at 12 mos as planned or should I continue to the new baby's here and then stop with her? Will my breast get the concept of stopping feeding even tho I'm pregnant and it's trying to make milk. Advice please

CopperT0p

Many women nurse two children at the same time, it's called tandem nursing.  I'd recommend looking it up on the internet.  I personally have not done it, so sorry I cannot give any experience.

 

Qmommy

It's totally up to you if you want to wean or continue to nurse.  IF you plan on weaning I would do it before the new baby arrives so you're not sending a mixed message to your DD.

I chose the tandem nursing route and currently nursing DD1 (18 months) and DD2 (1.5 weeks).  It's actually a lot easier to tandem nurse than I thought. I have even nursed them at the same time without trouble!!  (Okay I'm super proud of that! hehe)

Things you may want to think about is your DD may self wean before your next arrives because a) your milk can change flavors b) most women notice a significant decrease in supply in their 2nd trimester and c) your DD may not like the flavor of colostrum when it starts to come in. 

With that said, DD1 didn't care when my milk supply diminished to practically nothing around 19 weeks.  She also didn't care when she started getting colostrum.  Note:  Colostrum is a natural diarrhetic so you will notice your DD's stools will be somewhat like newborn poop again until your supply changes back to milk after the baby.  

If you plan on continuing to nurse while pregnant I highly recommend reading Adventures in Tandem Nursing.  Even if you decide to wean before #3 arrives the book covers nursing while pregnant extensively!  It's an easy read and extremely helpful. 

kami1977

It's totally up to you if you want to tandem nurse or wean at 12 months.   You have to do what's right for you and your family.   Personally, I am 17 weeks pregnant and DS is still nursing at 20 months.   We will continue to nurse until he decides to wean.   That said you will eventually experience a supply decrease, my DS seems to have no problem with that. 

ursulamar

Thanks ladies for your advice. I'll prolly go ahead and wean my DD around 12 mos then. I think it would better fit for my family to have one to nurse specially since I'm also to start up my Web Design business in Jan. At home business is great when your a mom And I will look into the fore mentioned book also.