Nursing while pregnant?

adventureolive · August 2013

DD is 7 months old and we are still BFing her. We've started introducing solids but BF is still her main form of feeding. We were planning to BF to at least a year and use no offer no refuse method to wean. I'm 6 weeks pregnant, and though I haven't noticed any changes with my milk supply, I was wondering if other mom who have been through this could chime in. Did you notice any changes while you were pregnant? Were there any special ways you accomodated breastfeeding while pregnant a second time?

bookworm982 · August 2013

First off, get a copy of Adventures in Tandem Nursing. It will answer all of your questions and a few you probably won't think to ask.

That said, I found out I was pregnant again when DD was 5.5 months old. She's now almost 13 months old and I'm 36.5 weeks pregnant. Since my BFP I continued to nurse DD as planned, and she is still nursing. For some women, pregnancy changes nursing. Thankfully, I didn't have supply issues until the past few weeks, so I just continued to nurse DD like normal. Now that my milk is almost gone, DD still nurses in the morning (and sometimes at other times), but she drinks a lot of water. I'm not weaning DD before DS comes, so I'll soon be nursing two babies.

VABride2008 · August 2013

I did notice over time that my supply started dwindling. I have also heard that pregnancy can make the milk taste different causing early weaning. My daughter was ready to wean by the time I was 20 weeks and she was a year old then.

SparkySharky · August 2013

My supply started tanking almost immediately. I actually noticed it before I even confirmed I was pregnant. I'm lucky to be able to pump 8-9 oz in a day now. I still feed him at least once a day - twice on days I don't work, but usually have to supplement with about 4 oz of formula. It's also a little uncomfortable now, b/c of the increased sensitivity, but that's not a major deal for me.

DS seems to vacillate between wanting the breast or the bottle. Sometimes - hungry or not - he won't go to bed until I nurse him. And sometimes he doesn't even want to bother nursing and just go straight to the bottle. We have him on solids - around 14-16 oz a day maybe? But mostly we use formula to pick up the slack on BM - which combined is maybe 32-36 oz a day.

I expect that we'll packing in the BFing altogether in another 2-4 weeks. If I'd known how it would affect my milk supply, I would have been so much more careful to wait before getting pregnant again...

studyinpink · August 2013

My supply tanked immediately and was the first sign that I was pregnant. DD was 18 months when we weaned. We weaned due to sensitive nipples. It was so painful!

I second reading adventures in tandem nursing. I planned on tandem nursing in the beginning and it just didn't work out with the decrease in supply and pain.

bribri5285 · September 2013

I found out I was pregnant when my son was 7 1/2 months. I was bf and pumping while at work. A month or so after finding out I was pregnant I noticed I wasn't getting as much pumping as I had been before, but was still getting enough for my son. Although I know I was not drinking nearly enough water either. Then when he was 9 months I wasn't hardly getting anything pumping and we had to supplement with formula. When he was like 10 1/2 months I stopped pumping altogether, although I was nervous how it would effect my supply since I was still nursing when I was home with him. He is now 15 months and I am 35 weeks pregnant and he is still nursing. There have been times when it has hurt and when I can tell there was no more milk and he still wanted to nurse - but we just pressed on and worked through it. At this point I am just going with what he wants and have no intention of weening him. Good luck - drink lots and lots of water!

MuddyInsignia · September 2013

I was exclusively breastfeeding (no pumping or bottles) and found out I was pregnant when our 5 month old daughter was losing weight and dropped to the 9th percentile. Although I HATED the idea of formula feeding, I had to introduce it to her as my milk virtually dried up due to my pregnancy. I had always wanted to BF at least through a year, though, so I did a few daily feeding at the breast, hoping I could keep up the meager supply I had left--but I dried up completely after a few more months. I still did a morning feeding just for comfort measures (and to keep her familiar with the process so I could do tandem nursing after my second was born)--but when she would only try to chew on my nipple with her razor sharp teeth, rather than suckle, I had to finally cut her off. (sigh) I hope to nurse my next one through a year--but I better stay not-pregnant longer if that is going to happen...

Candace52309 · September 2013

I got pregnant with DD2 when DD1 was 10 wks old. I had an oversupply so feeding really wasn't affected. It started to affect me more around 20 wks pregnant. I wasn't able to pump as much, but was enough to feed her and still freeze about 16 oz a week.

My supply dropped when I was around 35 wks pregnant, but DD stopped nursing. My milk had changed. I could see the difference in color. I had enough milk frozen to last her 10 wks (past her first b-day). I still have an over supply with this baby, so small I still give DD1 BM everyday in her cup.

Just keep feeding (and pumping) as long as you can. Stash your freezer just in case. And as far as the sore nipples, I had periods throughout where they were more tender. But its the same with this baby. They have been sore the last week. It seems that they get sore anytime she goes through a growth spurt, so the soreness last time may not have been all pregnancy related.

Nursing while pregnant?

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