Would you tandem nurse WHILE pregnant?

[kungfumoose]

I just found out I am pregnant.
I have a 3 yr old, and a 19 month old.
I believe in CLW, and have not weaned either of my children, but I wonder about
being pregnant and nursing two, and then eventually nursing three. It breaks my heart to think of weaning my daughter, and I won't wean the 19 month old. Would you tandem during pregnancy? How would you feel about three nurslings?

[bc1995]

I would and have nursed two during pregnancy. When I got pregnant with my 3rd ds1 was 3yr 9mo and ds2 had just turned 2. Ds1 ended up weaning on his own just past his 4th birthday, so I did not nurse them both for the whole pregnancy. I would not of had a problem with it if that had been the case though.

[mommajb]

Like a pp I would and did. They are are now 7, 4, and 2. It was irritating many times. I was trying to wean dd2 but not dd3. Dd3 would take the hint but not my super-needy one. All the gentle ideas were tough for me (don't sit down, don't offer don't refuse, limit times) because I was pregnant and to let one and not the other... felt wrong. It was the mental, hormonal irritation not the physical for me.

You do what you can and remember nursing is a relationship between (at least) two people. It has to work on some level for everybody. Take it one moment at a time and it is okay to re-eveluate at any point.

I don't mean to only mention the negatives but you know your positives. Also the tried but true wisdom that weaning doesn't mean a child's need for his mother goes away remains true.

[1babysmom]

..........

Edited by 1babysmom - 3/17/13 at 6:57pm

[tnmom66]

My oldest 2 are 15 months apart. I nursed throughout my 2nd pregnancy--though my milk decreased substantially and we were pretty much just nursing to sleep at naps and bedtime for a while. Worked great. When my son was 15 months old, and my daughter 2 1/2, he weaned himself during an ear infection, and I took the opportunity to wean my daughter--I was needing to go on some medication and was waiting for the kids to wean. I felt like 2 1/2 was old enough. I have a 16 month old now (born 10 years after my son) and I really am in no hurry to wean her. My mother nursed my youngest brother (now 29) for 3 1/2 years.

[redpajama]

I tandem nursed through my 3rd pregnancy--my kids were 3 years 9 months, and 24 months when I got pregnant with my third.

By a few months before my youngest was born, my oldest was down to nursing once a week or so, and declared at that point that he was "weaning...until the baby comes out; then I'll unwean."

And that's sort of what he did. He nursed 2-3 times in the last 2 months of my pregnancy, then about once a week for a month or so after she was born. Then he was back to once a month until he nursed for the last time about a month before his 5th birthday.

My second child was 2 years, 9 months when her sister was born, and she nursed through the entire pregnancy and now, at 3.25, still nurses a lot.

For me, nursing 2 through a pregnancy wasn't so much different from nursing 1 through a pregnancy, although, clearly, my oldest wasn't nursing a ton during my third pregnancy, especially in the second half.

[Thandiwe]

Not sure. I was really excited about tandem nursing before my last lo was born a month ago. Now that I am tandem nursing, I'm not so excited. It's tough because my older child has two busted front teeth from an accident a year or so ago, and his jagged teeth hurt. He seems to have a really tight clamp, even after adjusting his latch, and it hurts. So I find myself not wanting to nurse him as often (he wants to nurse often, whenever he notices his brother nursing). He's almost 2.5 yo, and I do want to let him self-wean. It's tough. It's also becoming more difficult to find positions that work. And dealing with the impact from our family/friends. NO ONE in our family nursing to our past a year, so this is WEIRD to everyone we know.

I admire you for wanting to. I would say try it. See what happens. If it works, great, if you have a hard time, try cutting it down more. Your milk most likely will drastically diminish or leave soon, too. Mine did between 4-5 months into my pregnancy.

[broodymama]

I tandem nursed DS and DD1 during my pregnancy with DD2 with no complications. DS weaned when DD2 was about 6 months old.

DD1 weaned during my first trimester of this pregnancy (at ~40 months), so I'm now only nursing DD2 during this pregnancy.

[averlee]

I only have 1 baby, so ignore me if I obviously speak from inexperience! I'd say, yes, I would tandem nurse through a pregnancy and then have 3 nurslings if they were all so little and close in age. But I'd be really, really careful to take care of myself very well. I drank a nutrient-rich tea during my pregnancy, mostly from red clover, as well as taking prenatals, and on days I'd skip I definitely felt less nourished. I also had to give up being vegetarian because I just could not get enough food into me unless I ate meat. So I'd guess you'll probably need a very high calorie, high protein diet. Eat lots of eggs and drink whole milk, something about those animal fats is sustaining and sticks to your ribs. Eat tons of fruits and veggies- seriously, 10 pieces of fruit a day would be reasonable. Keep your excersize very gentle, it would be awful to have an injury with 3 life forms depending on you. And get tons of rest! And, maybe most important, help yourself be happy. Subscribe to your favorite magazine, spend time with people who support you and give you joy, splurge on a few favorite movies on DVD or a totally gorgeous nursing dress or a once a month housekeeper. As a side note, I am in total awe of your fertile fecundity...you have a lovely earth-mama thing going!

[annettemarie]

Moving out to Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy, since this isn't strictly a CLW issue.

[prothyraia]

I have a three year old and a 20 month old. If I fell pregnant right now, I would probably try to wean my oldest (assuming nursing while pregnant felt the same kind of irritating/icky as last time, that is) and continue to allow his younger brother to nurse.

That's just my best guess, though, based on how nursing felt last time and on their personalities and readiness to go without nursing. Realistically I'd see how it felt for me, and for them, as the pregnancy went on and decide based on that. I certainly don't think there's any compelling reason not to nurse all three children if that's what you want to do.

[zoie2013]

I'm currently 27w pg and I'm tandem nursing my 3y9mo and 1y10mo. It's been both challenging and rewarding. The bond and awareness that my two have of each other, me and their new sibling is amazing. They are already talking about new baby having mama milk first, etc. I don't know how I'll manage to nurse three, but I'm going to give it a try and see how we do.