Breastfeeding while pregnant?

[UmmAli]

I have a 6 month old baby and i would really wish to try for another one in few months but i am concerned about breastfeeding my first child. I am planing to nurse at least 2 years but i have read that i could easily have a miscarriage because of breastfeeding. Is this true? does anyone have experience with that?

[AFWife]

I wanted to bump this because I wanted a BTDT too...

please? lol

[Jenivere]

I've breastfed through three pregnancies with no issues and no m/c. If you have a history of m/c there could be a concern but typically it's not anything to worry about. But I have four healthy kids now if that helps at all. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/tandem/index.html

[russianthistle]

There are a lot of these threads hanging out in the breastfeeding beyond infacy and the breastfeeding forums. I say search about for more btdt answers.

[cdmommie]

Miscarriage is not a real concern unless you have a history of preterm labor. Loosing your milk however is likely. I wanted mine close together too and I got pregnant when DD1 was 10 months old. My milk was GONE by the time she was a year old. I wanted her to nurse to 2 years and she is has, she is still nursing at 26 months. BUT she did not have milk, just comfort nursing (only a couple times per WEEK) for a good 6 months and I feel really guilty about that. She lost weight from the dramatic change and then didn't gain any for months. I would recommend waiting until you are sure you would be okay with weaning. Nursing through pregnancy was pretty rough too. I mean.... REALLY rough. But everyone is different. Not everyone looses their milk, but you should be prepared incase you do. And if it happened before the baby was a year old would you be able to live with yourself for having to use formula just so you could get pregnant sooner?

[Peony]

Having a miscarriage isn't the real problem, but losing your milk supply like others mentioned. If you are ok with having to use formula then that is one thing, but if you aren't then maybe waiting. Most women will experience a decrease in milk, it could just be a decrease or you could completely lose it. There is no way to tell what will happen and nothing you can do to prevent it.

[AFWife]

We didn't want to start TTC until he was at least a year. I want to see how he's doing with solids and how often he BFs when that time rolls around. If I'm still his main source of nutrition (and I'm thinking I will be because he's almost 7 months and shows NO interest in solids) then I'll probably say wait.

[nicoolmama]

Think through...

Hi mama!

I, like you, wanted my babies close, close together. I certainly got my wish and am one lucky,lucky mama however if I could go back in time, I would wait until my baby was at least a year before conceiving.

I got pregnant when my 2nd son was 7 months old. I met with a lactation consultant almost immediately and she told me how likely it was that my milk would change(to a saltier taste) and baby would self-wean or that it would dry up and baby would self-wean. I think it changed taste bc my baby would start sucking, then get this funny look and stop. He became fully formula fed at that time.

Being newly pregnant(nauseous, over the TOP exhausted)while trying to care for an infant was HARD. Even harder was caring for a toddler while my body got bigger and bigger and my exhaustion climbed too. My babes are 16 months apart. My 2nd son does NOT understand AT ALL that when the baby cries, Mama has to feed him right away. He is the baby as far as he is concerned. It has been, and continues to be a very difficult transition and adjustment time for myself, my 2nd(AND 1st son(he is 5))and the baby. I can't give the attention I want to give to the baby, same for my 19 month old, same for my 5 year old, NOT TO MENTION my husband. This has been incredibly hard on our marriage as well.

I would strongly urge you to reconsider conceiving when your baby is so little. If you want them close together, wait until a year. Then you will have at least bf for a full year and 19 months is a bit easier than 16 months to introduce a baby. All of my friends that have 2 year olds and new babies had much easier transitions, since the 2 year old is likely to understand more than a 16 month old.

I wrote a post on here a while back(before conceiving my 3rd son)about how to know when ovulating while bfing. A woman responded with, you don't ovulate regularly while bfing because your body is trying to keep you from getting pregnant, in an effort to ensure your baby gets what he needs. Oh, how true that was and is.

Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE and ADORE my boys. I just wish I would have listened to that wise woman and waited a little longer. Good luck with whatever path you choose!

[fruitfulmomma]

I've nursed through 3 of my 5 pregnancies without complications. I didn't have any loss of milk the first time, the second two times it got really low toward the end of pregnancy.

This site has a lot of really good info http://www.kellymom.com/bf/tandem/index.html

[velveeta]

nicoolmama made some great points. My biggest concern is also losing milk, which I have both times. And my nurslings were 3 and 2 1/2. I don't have milk right now, although I anticipate its return in March, and my younger DS loves to talk about when the milk is coming back, so I know it is important to him. He has been nursing a lot lately because he's been sick.

Being pregnant is so hard, and of course I don't regret it at all. My boys are 3 1/2 years apart and are insanely close. Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide. I just wanted to add more info for you.

[sunnygir1]

I was still breastfeeding my toddler when I got pregnant, but we had night weaned. I breastfed her until I was about 4 months pregnant, and never lost my supply. It was, however, quite uncomfortable to breastfeed at that point. It wasn't exactly painful, but it made me feel claustrophobic, creepy-crawly, like I wanted to jump out of my skin.

My dd was 2y 7mo when my ds was born. And throughout my pregnancy and postpartum period, I have been grateful that dd was old enough to climb into her car seat by herself, climb up onto my lap by herself, get up and down from the toilet, etc. She still wants my attention when the baby needs me, but she can bring me things, like a snack or a book, that I can then help her with while I'm breastfeeding the baby...I think it would be really hard to have a one-year-old and a newborn.