Milk gone due to pregnancy ... dry nursing? How long until lactating again?

[starling&diesel]

Hi mamas ... I'm about ten weeks pregnant, and my milk has dried up.  DD says there is no milk, and my nipples are quite dry and cracked making me think that they're not being lubricated by the milk anymore.  She tries on both sides, and is devastated when there is no let down.  She's very upset, and so am I.  I had been doing okay with the pain, pushing through it, but now it looks like we have no choice. 

Has anyone dry nursed until their milk came in again?  Is that feasible?  I had super low supply with dd and ended up with donor milk via the Lact-Aid sns, so it was a long battle to get this far (dd is 26 months) and I would've loved to have nursed for a while longer even though I doubt I'll have enough for both.  DD and I aren't ready! 

[Tamera]

My milk changed to colostrum a few weeks ago (I'm 20 weeks now) and I was planning on dry nursing for the remainder of the pregnancy. My DD lost interest though. I don't have a lot of experience with this, but maybe you could try something like Lansinoh to help with the dry/cracked nipples?

I also wanted to mention that I had SO many problems with latch, low supply, etc with my first child. My DD (second baby) was born a breastfeeding champion and I never had any supply issues with her. I hope it works out the same for you!

[sosurreal09]

I have no experience with this but I wanted to say try and get a better lanolin. You can get 100% pure lanolin (it's deep yellow colored) on etsy.com or if you have any local diapering stores or farms that sell it. I know the clear lanolin says it's 100% pure too but IDK why it's clear...and I have had better luck personally with the yellow stuff.

I am pretty sure you won't get any milk/colostrum in until the mid-late pregnancy. Even if DD gives up she may want to tandem (maybe just limit it to once a day b/c of supply)

Good luck and congratulations!

[starling&diesel]

Thanks for the replies!  I did get some lansinoh (I looked for and found deep yellow stuff, thanks, sosurreal!) and it has helped.  DD still wants to 'check' that there's no milk, so she is still dry nursing a couple times a day (I've managed to redirect the naptime one). 

Tamera ... Oh, how I hope and pray that this second babe will be a nursing dream and that my supply will be abundant!  I keep hoping that the low supply was partly due to some undiagnosed latch or suck issue with dd. 

[rebecca_n]

my milk dried up very early and my ds dry nursed until i started making colostrum around 30? weeks. he was very stubborn lol. i had milk supply issues with him but am now happily tandem nursing a 2 month old and my ds who nurses alot. i did use some more milk plus for my dds 6 week growth spurt. if you end up tandem nursing make sure to eat and drink ALOT. good luck and congratulations!