Nursing Mamas?

[xekomaya]

Who are you? How are you feeling about nursing right now? How old is your nursling? Do you plan to tandem?

I'm nursing my 20 month old ds. It feels like he's chewing on me already so I'm getting a little nervous. He's food allergic and although he's a great eater, I feel obligated to get him as much breastmilk as possible, for as long as possible.

[ladyelms]

i'm taking it one day at a time, mama. not feeling any breast tenderness atm.

my youngest is 19 months, and he's quite the booby monster.

[tanyab]

I feel some serious pain when my 20 month old latches but it subsides after a minute or two. Fully intend to tandem if she can stick out the drier spells that are to come. I hope so cos the thought of depriving her breast milk makes me so sad.

[momtoalex]

My DS is 3 and still nurses quite a bit. I am not sure if this is phsycological but I have felt like I don't have as much milk now. I don't really have a plan and just want to let things be as they may. We will see!

[lightheartedmom]

I am still absorbing the fact that I'm pregnant again. No one, and I do mean no one, besides my husband knows yet...but MDC DDC's were such a good support for me last time, I figured it was worth showing up here.

I have two girls, 3 1/2 and 8 months (yeah, oops). I'm due 10/2. My 8 month old still nurses every 4-6 hrs during the day and night. She's on solids as well, about 3x a day.
My 3 1/2 yr old nursed until I was 25 weeks pregnant w/ #2...I am PRAYING my milk supply holds out that long. I really want to nurse #2 longer and at this point (I may decide I am absolutely crazy later), I would even tandem nurse if she'll keep it up...she's a very impatient little nursling though, so we'll see how that goes.

If my milk supply does evaporate around 20-25 weeks like it did w/ pregnany #2, I am not sure what to do. She'll only be...13 months (at most) and I am not willing to put her on formula...I don't know what I'll do. Raw milk? I'm w/ you tanyab, the thought of depriving her of breastmilk makes me really sad! I feel most conflicted about this pregnancy because of her age, I feel like I'm giving her the short end of the stick, while her big sister got 2 1/2 years of breastfeeding on demand.

I'm not even 4 weeks and have no breast tenderness...I didn't have it with my last pg either, so I'm not sure that will develop. I do feel some mild contractions after she nurses for a long stint though...I did experience that last time and it never had any long term effects.

[desamom]

I just got my BFP this morning! This is #2 for us. I have one DD who is almost 22 months old. She is still nursing a lot during the day and a couple times at night.

I think I am just going to go with the flow in terms of weaning, tandem nursing, etc. I don't think I want to tandem nurse, but I am sort of going to play it by ear. I do assume my mlik will go away part way through this pregnancy and if my DD weans at that point, I think I will be okay with it. If she continues to dry nurse through the pregnancy, I will cross that bridge when I get to it!

Since I got my PPAF, I have had extremely sore nipples for the 10 days leading up to my period. I understand that's pretty much what it's like to nurse through a pregnancy (i.e. sore nipples). We'll see how that goes. It's not too bad right now, but I suspect it will get worse.

[NortheastSuperstar]

My DS3 is 3.5 years old and still nursing to sleep and in the mornings and during the day if he needs comforting.

When I got pregnant with him, my DS2 was 19 months and ended up nursing through the preganancy and about two months after DS3 was born. The experience was overall positive because I know he still needed my milk, but had its very difficult moments.

I'm hoping he will wean himself before October since he's a bit older and doesn't nurse all that much anyway. It is a bit uncomfortable now, but not that bugs-crawling-on-skin aversion type feeling, which was really difficult to get through last time around. I hope it doesn't turn into that, because the GUILT of feeling like that toward DS2 nursing was the most difficult part.

ETA: Mine didn't stick. H&H pregnancies to everyone, though

[gottecat]

Hey I was in your DDC last time I am nursing DS 20 months and plan on nursing untill he is ready to stop and I would like to try tandem nursing.

some nipple sensitivity but nothing bad yet.

[Aimsley9]

I am nursing my 9.5 month old. He still nurses about every 2-3 hours. I am hoping that my milk will be enough for him. Since he is so young I would like him to nurse through the pregnancy and then tandem. So far I have no soreness and have not noticed any change in my supply, but it is still early.

I nursed throughout my last pregnancy and tandemed nursed for 5 weeks. My dd was 20 months old though when I got pregnant with my ds. I am more nervous this time because my ds still really needs the milk. He doesn't eat solids hardly at all. We offer, but so far he is not very interested.

[jdejong]

My son was two in September, and really only nurses to sleep at night anymore. I'm not opposed to tandem nursing, but at this point am honestly not sure how much discomfort I'm prepared to endure. I did leave him for a week-long business trip in November, pumped (drops) twice a day, and he returned to nursing immediately when I came home, so I can imagine, even if he does stop for a while, he'll want to start up again. The last few days seemed a bit more painful during latch-on already, but might just be my imagination (or tension, expecting the worst). Who knows what will happen, though, considering I tested very early and, am, oh, 12 days pregnant! If he does wean, or I need to help him along, we've had a good long run together and I'm confident that we'll be fine. Good luck to those of you especially who have younger babies, that must be tough!

[calihannah]

My DD is 2 years, almost 10 months. I'm feeling some nipple soreness, but it's tolerable thus far. Part of our TTC journey was cutting down a smidgen on her nursing, but we both seem really happy with the current arrangement (bedtime, wakeup, and maybe one other short session during the day). If she does nurse throughout this pregnancy, I'd be happy to tandem nurse (says the mama who can only imagine that right now...who knows what it will actually be like!).

Adventures in Tandem Nursing says that a third of nurslings wean themselves when mama is pregnant, a third keep nursing right on through, and a third are weaned by their mamas.

Thoughts on this?

[tanyab]

Originally Posted by calihannah

Adventures in Tandem Nursing says that a third of nurslings wean themselves when mama is pregnant, a third keep nursing right on through, and a third are weaned by their mamas.

Thoughts on this?

I will definitely not be weaning my LO, so does that mean there is a 66% chance she will continue to nurse through? I am thinking that of those who were weaned it is possible that 50% would have weaned themselves anyway, and 50% would have nursed through, bringing it to a 50% chance of a child nursing through pregnancy I guess. I really want my 20 month old to nurse through. I just am not ready for her to stop yet. I don't know how I would ever get her down for a nap or at bed time, and I feel like when she stops she is no longer my little baby.

[MamaFern]

not yet certain at all if i am actually pregnant, but my littlest dd nursling is NOT pleased with my boobs these days. she asks to nurse all day and asks for the other side right away. back and forth back and forth...never seeming to get enough. my supply seems to have dropped dramatically in the past week or so. also, my breasts have shrunk. i have this lovely black lacy bra that i love and that my nursey boobs generally POP out of and it fits nicely with some room. i have no idea what is going on...*sigh*

[calihannah]

Oh I hear you, MamaFern! My boobs have gone from a 38D as recently as August down to a barely-B. Hoping that this pregnancy boosts them back up, even if my milk supply will probably tank even more than it has recently... I was taking (am taking?) B6 to deal with prolactin/progesterone issues, which had the known effect of a little milk dry-up...but there's still enough there, according to DD. And according to her, it tastes like ice cream

[xekomaya]

Originally Posted by tanyab

I will definitely not be weaning my LO, so does that mean there is a 66% chance she will continue to nurse through? I am thinking that of those who were weaned it is possible that 50% would have weaned themselves anyway, and 50% would have nursed through, bringing it to a 50% chance of a child nursing through pregnancy I guess. I really want my 20 month old to nurse through. I just am not ready for her to stop yet. I don't know how I would ever get her down for a nap or at bed time, and I feel like when she stops she is no longer my little baby.

No, you would exclude the ones who were weaned, and make the others your full set (100%). If the percentages were different, you'd have to do a little calculation, but in this case it is just 50/50 But I'd rather 66% too b/c I want my little guy to keep going

[Jazzmin]

I am still nursing my 19 month old DD. When I was pregnant with DD I nursed her brother until the very end. I did not tandem nurse, I was glad that he was ready to be done because I did not like nursing an older toddler. I am not sure if I will tandem nurse or not, I will have to see how it plays out.

[momasana]

My DS is 2.5 and we are still nursing several times a day. He is a big-time comfort nurser and I think nursing will really help him with the transition. Deep down I secretly hope he will wean himself but I think it is pretty unlikely knowing how much he loves it. I am trying to keep my heart open to whatever happens.

[MamaFern]

Originally Posted by calihannah

Oh I hear you, MamaFern! My boobs have gone from a 38D as recently as August down to a barely-B. Hoping that this pregnancy boosts them back up, even if my milk supply will probably tank even more than it has recently... I was taking (am taking?) B6 to deal with prolactin/progesterone issues, which had the known effect of a little milk dry-up...but there's still enough there, according to DD. And according to her, it tastes like ice cream

aww!! your dd is a sweetie pie!
i can barely squeeze a drop from either breast these days. rue my baby still wants to nurse but gives up pretty quickly after a few back & forths. i have never had this happen except in pregnancy..so....

[calihannah]

Go POAS, MamaFern!!!!!!!!!

[gottecat]

I am still producing a quite a bit I think. I know its not as much cause even though my breasts are bigger they are really soft instead of having all the firm ducts. Sorry to you ladies who are losing your milk already.