Pregnant and Breastfeeding

[dancing_mamma]

I am nearly 4mths pregnant- still breastfeeding and would like to continue until my son is ready to wean (definitely not ready.) However- I was quite sick for first 3.5 months- and ended up having to supplement with milk ( up until then he only had breastmilk/ water to drink) b/c I couldn't keep up. I think that I was a bit dehydrated from nausea/vomiting, and tired- that it might have caused my milk to drop. I am feeling better lately- son is nursing 1-2 times, having 2 bottles of about 5-6 ounces of milk... he likes to have milk at nap and night, nurses in the morning, sometimes during night, and in afternoon... I think my supply has really dropped, and would like to get it up as I don't want it to dry up. Will nursing 1 or 2x keep it going, or should I stop supplementing with the bottle... when he nurses seems like he sucks and sucks and isn't get much (not a lot of swallowing) so he can get frustrated.

He is 18 mths and has now become really clingy to me... only wanting mama if he wakes in the night, for bedtime (as we had been using a bottle of milk last few months) and really attached in the day. Not sure if this correlates to the lessened nursing, or age...

any kind of advice/ experiences about nursing pregnant/ tandem nursing... would appreciate. Thanks

[tinkentinken]

I actually have no experience tandem nursing (yet). We are trying to conceive and I would like my son to continue nursing as long as he needs it, which is why I was looking for tandem nursing threads and stumbled on yours.

However, your question about keeping your milk supply up caught my attention. I think, if you want to increase your milk supply for him, letting him nurse more frequently and skipping the milk supplementing is essential. In my opinion, you can only benefit from continuing your nursing relationship with him. Best of luck to you!

[jeannie0603]

I am almost 8 months pregnant and still breastfeeding my 28 month old. Alot of times your supply will drop just because you are pregnant. But, like the PP said, I think I would drop the milk. If you want to up your supply, I would make sure that you are staying super hydrated and eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast (that has always been a huge supply booster for me).

And by the way, good job for breastfeeding for 19 months! What a great gift you are giving your little one!

[ramama]

Well, my milk "dried up" no matter what I did, and I was in about the same boat as you, with DD2 born when DD1 was 23 months old. DD1 nursed about a dozen times a day and still I went back to colostrum. I thought that's how it always happened, as your body goes into the preparing-for-a-newborn mode. I never considered that you can produce straight-up milk all the way through a pregnancy. Interesting. I'm not saying at all that it's not possible, or is possible, just that it never crossed my mind...I would imagine that eliminating the supplementation could only be good for your supply.

Anyway, what I really wanted to say is that your DS may continue to nurse whether he gets milk or not during your pregnancy. I can totally see why the health benefits are important, but just wanted to say that it's not the end of the world if your milk dries up, as the colostrum has value and maybe he'll totally chunk-out on the newborn milk when it's time (mine did! ).

And I second the oatmeal recommendation!

[pbjmama]

Milk during pregnancy is hormone controlled - other than staying hydrated and eating right there is nothing you can do. You don't have to do milk/bottle, feed him good high fat foods, keep offering nursing. Many children keep nursing through no matter if there is milk. Good luck!

[Tjej]

My milk dried up during my pregnancy. I had thought we were going to be tandem nursing, but a few months before DS was born, DD just decided that since there was nothing coming out she just wasn't interested anymore. And after DS was born she decided it was for babies and not her (she was 22 months).

There's a book - Adventures in Tandem Nursing - that I read from the library that I found helpful.

Tjej

[Cersha]

I'm four months and my milk is G O N E. There is just NOTHING. But, he still nurses. I hope that he continues until they can tandem....cause if he quits in a month, I'll be upset because I've been struggling through the pain to keep him nursing. He is sleeping more in the night and not nursing though. Poor kid.

[dancing_mamma]

thanks

thanks for the responses. I am trying to increase our nursing times during the day... there is still some milk in there! so that is promising.

will try the oatmeal :-)

[tree-hugger]

There is an herbal supplement made by Mother Love called More Milk Two, and it is designed to increase milk supply during pregnancy.

According to Adventures in Tandem Nursing, physical changes make the breast more resistant to let-down. I have been having some success by visualizing let-down. If I concentrate on the milk letting down, I hear a lot more swallowing action.

I am only 6 weeks pg, and my DD is a little older than your child (21 mo), but I have noticed some of the same behavioral changes. She has become extremely clingy. She wants to nurse at least once an hour for at least 20 minutes at a time, even though there is not a whole lot of milk coming out. She wants me to hold her hand all the time at the playground. She wants me--not Daddy--to do every single thing for her and with her. It is tough being pregnant and having her need me more too at the same time. I don't know why she has become clingy. Does she know that I am pregnant? Is it because of a change with the milk? It would be interesting to know if other mothers report this behavioral change too.

Also, there is a yahoo nursing and pg support group.

Good luck!!!!

[LilMomma83]

Hang in there! My colostrum came in around 6mos and kept increasing until DS2 was born, then my milk was FULLY in within 48hrs.

My DS1 reduced his nursing a good bit (in fact going days at a time without nursing and I thought he had weened on more than one occasion) but as soon as the colostrum came in he started nursing like a newborn. He was very excited lol.

Tandem nursing- it takes time to get a comfortable "routine"/boundaries etc for tandem nursing but then it is so great! I liked being able to have that connection with DS1 to help him adjust to the new baby, and now I still enjoy it and my fave is when they nurse at the same time and laugh/smile at each other..so sweet!