Breastfeeding?

Elizabeth043086 · June 2012

Ok, so I have an almost 9 month old and I just found out I am expecting again. He has only had breast milk, no formula and I was hoping to keep it that way for at least a year and was really planning on letting him self wean when he was ready. So how doable is pregnancy and breastfeeding. I was hoping to have my kiddos close in age but I am struggling thinking about my baby weaning.

celiabwatson · June 2012

It's entirely possible to breastfeed through a pregnancy and beyond (I'm doing it now). It's also possible that your supply will tank due to the hormones etc. It's also possible that the taste of the milk will change and your baby will self-wean early. At this point you just have to wait and see what your body does.

I can tell you that your doctor may suggest weaning and you can tell them that you don't plan to force weaning and it's perfectly safe to breastfeed during pregnancy. Drink plenty of water and an additional 500 calories over what you were doing before and you'll be fine. Your body feeds the pregnancy first, nursing second and your body third. So if you're hungry you should eat.

Elizabeth043086 · June 2012

Thanks. I have my first prenatal appt on the 17th of next month, same day ds has his well child visit. I was planning on asking about it then, just wnated to see if it worked for others. I suspect ob/gyn will suggest weaning, but I suspect ped. will support my decision. Trust me, I eat like a teenage boy, I ain't cutting calories, so I will be fine. I am going to have to work on drinking more water though.

spunkyprincessmande · June 2012

Yep, bfing during pregnancy is totally doable. My lo self weaned when I was 7 months pg. I think he would have done it earlier but I wasn't ready.

LollyBug18 · June 2012

My OB suggested weaning but only because she assumed my supply would tank. DD was 9 mo when I got pg. When I went for my first prenatal appointment and was still nursing, she was happy for me but made sure to tell me to drink extra water, get as much rest as possible and to make sure I eat when I'm hungry, like PP mentioned. I ended up starting the weaning process on my own because it was completely exhausting for me so DD had about 2 months where she got 1-2 bottles of formula a day and I was still BFing the rest of the time. She's still nursing 1x a day now and we're not having a problems. GL!

juepnunes · June 2012

My OB said it would be too hard on my body to try to feed 2 babies at the same time, even if I ate and drank more water.

amtrak18 · June 2012

My little one just turned 1 and we were planning on weaning him anyway at 1 so timing was perfect for us. With that said when I went in to my OB he asked if I was still breastfeeding. He just advised me that the sucking motion can potentially cause you to have contractions leading to a possible miscarrage. I have also many friends who have breast fed while pregnant and are fine.

celiabwatson · June 2012

juepnunes:
My OB said it would be too hard on my body to try to feed 2 babies at the same time, even if I ate and drank more water.

I respectfully disagree. Unless you have something wrong with your body so it's harder on you than others. Our bodies are made to grow and nurse babies and as long as all the right nutrients are going in there's no reason your body can't do it.

Also, to the other person who was worried about contractions from nipple stimulation. My midwives said that there might be more braxton hicks while nursing but that nipple stimulation wouldn't put you into labor (or miscarriage) unless you were already starting labor (or miscarriage). I had strong regular contractions while nursing my son for a week before actually going into labor (full term).

NavyPilotWife · June 2012

I got pregnant with DD2, when DD1 was around 9 months. I continued breastfeeding until she was 12 months. At 11 months, we started introducing whole milk, which her pedi was fine with. DD1 was still waking at least twice per night to nurse, so I knew we needed to wean around a year anyway. I think that I was around 20 weeks, when I stopped nursing her. I did have some preterm labor at 33 weeks with DD1 (she was born at 39 weeks), so I didn't want to nurse too far into pregnancy because of that.

Most doctors aren't very knowledgeable about nursing during pregnancy. Kellymom had some good resources on the topic.

MouseInLux · June 2012

All my OB said was that I may want to reduce feeds because "you dont want to be feeding two". To that I told her that I am happy to feed too

I've also recently heard that it helps LO1 with the transition to being a big subling.

Aimes78 · June 2012

DS#1 was 10 months when I became pregnant & I was still nursing. I nursed until almost 13 months & weened because we were both ready rather than anything to do with the pregnancy. I knew if I hadn't eaten or drunk enough as I would dry heave whilst nursing! Good luck, and don't worry, your body is amazing and will cope just fine.

FusionLMT · June 2012

I got pregnant around the same time and I was unable to continue after about a month. My milk dried up and I also started feeling the heebie jeebies from it at the same time. I don't think my body is equipped to try to support two people at the same time and was telling me not to. Once I quit I felt 10X better physically as well (not as nauseous or tired). For this reason we are putting off TTC again until DD is a year old. I put my son on organic formula for the last couple of months. Some women are able to do it though! It never hurts to try.