Attachment Parenting
Reassurance needed re: BF'ing while pregnant
Hi, all. I know it is usually perfectly safe to nurse while PG, however is there a concern as to the frequency that LO nurses? We bedshare and DS nurses a ton at night for comfort. I can't help but worry in the back of my head that this amount of nursing could interfere with the developing baby's growth....TIA
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Re: Reassurance needed re: BF'ing while pregnant
Hello!
you should have no problems nursing LO on demand while pregnant. If you're really worried, you can always call your pedi or see if they have a certified lactation consultant on staff, and ask her.
this website has lots of great info on breastfeeding in general and on nursing while pregnant:
https://kellymom.com/blog-post/links-nursingpregnant/
Could someone make that clicky for me? Bumping from iPad...
Hi! Our first kids are about the same age, and our second will be too! I am also nursing a lot, though we just started night weaning (from 6 times a night to 2 for now).
I have done a TON of research, and it won't interfere with the baby's development. Just make sure you're eating a healthy diet and drinking lots of water (I could really be doing better in the water department).
The main problem I've heard from friends about BF while pregnant is sore boobs/nipples making it painful. Your supply may drop around months 4-5 and at some point your milk will change flavor and will turn to colostrum, but it is all healthy and fine for your first and your developing babe.
I have a good friend who is due in a few weeks and she has been nursing her almost 2 yr old a LOT during the whole pregnancy. The only problem she's had was when she first found out she was pregnant she became really stressed and her supply dipped for about a week. She said it's been great since and her baby is doing great!
The hardest thing I'm finding is the interruptions at night interfere with my sleep, and while an unrestful night has been the norm around here for the past 13 months, I'm way more tired now and would just DIE for 4+ hours solid of sleep.
A perk has been that nursing has eliminated the sore swollen breast symptom for me - when they're sore or swollen, he nurses and then they feel normal again.
This article helped me when I was wondering the same thing: https://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbjanfeb08p32.html
Sorry I'm all over the place - DS is on my lap trying to type!
Interesting, nursing has eliminated the swollen, sore breast symptom for me as well. I had that bad with DS. Question, what method of night weaning did you do?
Thank you for the reassurance/info!
More Green For Less Green
I didn't follow any method (though I had planned to do the Dr Jay Gordon method).
Basically, I just started only nursing him every other wake-up instead of every time he wanted it. I expected him to throw a major fit, but all I had to do was say "ok honey, lie down, I love you) and he did!
Since he was ok with it I decided, ok I won't nurse him from 11-5am (adapted from dr gordon). And he was fine. In fact, for the first time since he was 3 months old, my husband went in to soothe him back to sleep and he didn't get MORE hysterical - he went back down!
Now I have been trying to nurse him only his first wake-up, which sadly is still about 2 hours or less after he goes down, and then not again until 6am. I'm really engorged by 6am so I sometimes nurse him earlier. He's doing great, and I think it's working b/c I followed his cues!
Your fine, I continued breast feeding my 22 mon old throughout my pregnancy and just had my LO Oct.24th, 2012 she was a nice 7.9oz and 19in. Exactly the same measurments and weight as my 22mon old when she was born w/o me nursing at that time. Now I am trying to master the Tandem nursing. Only been a couple days thus far but a lot harder than I anticipated.
The fetus is extremely good at just pulling what it needs from you...follow your cravings, eat healthy, take your prenatal, and you will both be fine.
My problem was my supply disappeared in second tri...
You will be fine to nurse on demand. DD and I made it about 4mo into my pregnancy before she got utterly ticked off at either my lack of supply or change in taste or both. She would latch on and get all worked up that it didn't work the way it used to. Eventually, I had to stop letting her try because she was more understanding when I told her they were "broken" than if she latched on and nothing came out. She was about 22mo when we quit nursing. While I hated that I felt like I "pushed" her into it, I was 100% over nursing. I had a rough early pregnancy, and 1st tri nursing was REALLY painful, and I started to resent nursing even though I pushed through for DD. So, sad to know she has grown up that much but physically I was ready for it to end.
What I'm mostly curious about is what is going to happen after the baby is born and is nursing. Will she want to try to nurse again? Will she remember that she nursed before? Guess it won't be much longer before we find out!
I'm still nursing my 14 month old and am due with baby #2 in 5 weeks. Baby is big, strong, and healthy from everything we can tell
It'll be okay!
One thing that I hadn't counted on is that it has made night weaning actually pretty easy over here. My extreme dip in supply around month 4-5 made it so that he was pretty uninterested in nursing overnight and offering him a cup of water instead was an easy peasy way to get him to go back to sleep without a problem. He nurses before bed and when he wakes up, but is totally content overnight without it now - and we bedshare! I joke that the next time around I'll be completely clueless how to night wean since I'm not planning to "use" this "method" again
Good luck, mama!