Confused...weaning before next pregnancy?

[EmFriend]

HI, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice.  I am currently breastfeeding my 13 month old daughter, Violette.  She has been drinking cow's milk, rice milk, and soymilk as well, from a cup, for about 2 months and enjoys a very wide range of foods.  She has recently begun to show less interest in the breast as she just wants to be moving and playing and exploring all the time so lately she only nurses in the morning, in the evening (not at bedtime), and sometimes when I offer it during the day (although most of the time during the day she will gladly accept it and only suck for about 3 seconds before she's off to do something else). :) My question is about weaning her before my next pregnancy.  In an ideal situation, I would probably try and breastfeed my daughter until she absolutely doesn't want it anymore, but the problem is, I want to have at least one more child.  I have been told that I need at least two years in between pregnancies for my body to build up its store of nutrients to support a fetus. That means waiting until December of this year to get pregnant.  But I've also always been told that breastfeeding depletes your stores of nutrients as well so I'm not sure where that comes into the picture. Do I need to wean now to allow my body the recoup time by December?  I had Intrauterine Growth Restriction with Violette due to high blood pressure and am high risk already because of that and because of my age.  IUGR makes it hard for the baby to get all the nutrients they need and causes their growth to be restricted.  Violette was born one month early at 4 lbs because of it. I don't want to add any more risk to the new baby who will most likely also have to contend with IUGR.  I was wondering what anyone thinks of weaning at 13 months because of these circumstances.  My mother is a breastfeeding consultant and lactivist and she always advocates letting the child wean themselves, but I don't know if that is the right way for us.  Any advice would be appreciated. :)

[zoe77]

If I were in your shoes I would eat a very nutrient dense diet and continue to nurse my baby.  I'd also do a little reasearch on soy milk (http://www.wholesoystory.com/index.php).  The Weston A Price Foundation has a good preganancy diet on their website.  I also recommend the book Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck.

[dejagerw]

I suggest reading "Adventures in Tandem Nursing" by Hillary Flower. It's got lots of research based evidence about nursing while pregnant, and nutritional stores and what not.

From what I recall in the book, breastfeeding does not reduce your nutritional stores. In addition, those that nursed past one year had greater calcium stores that those who weaned earlier. Basically your body will build itself back regardless of you continuing to nurse. The only people who should be concerned are those who are malnourished, but the average person, does not need to worry.

[frogurt]

I would let her nurse as long as she needs and just make sure you are eating well.  Would you consider waiting until she is 2 to start TTC?  This might give her more time to cut back and you more time to build up nutrient stores.  And in my experience, my kids really needed to nurse that second year of life with all the toddler frustrations and teething, so she could end up increasing her nursing again before she weans.  All kids are different, though.