How will pregnancy impact my milk supply?

[Siouxsie]

I breastfeed my son, who is 8 months old, pretty much on demand. We have decided to have another baby and I'd like them to be pretty close in age. If I am able to get pregnant (I haven't gotten my period back yet so idk) what effect will that have on my supply? DS does eat some solids but gets 90% of his nutrition from breast milk. Should I put off TTC until he is a year old and eating more foods? My older son weaned around 15 months. I don't really have a nursing end date in mind..... I want another baby but I want to make sure DS gets his right start. 

[Kedrosami]

Yes, I would wait until baby is eating more solids. You may not completely lose your milk during pregnancy but it's a possibility. The figure that's coming to mind (but don't quote me on it!) is that about 60% of women lose their milk completely during pregnancy. Even if you never lose your milk, your supply will almost definitely be reduced, and the milk's composition will probably change.

I kept nursing my first baby all through my second pregnancy, and even though my milk was gone by about 20 weeks, we continued to "dry nurse" just for comfort, a couple times a day. Gradually the milk came back in the form of colostrum towards the end of pregnancy, then of course the new baby's milk came in after the birth and there was plenty for everyone.

I wasn't too worried about those few months of "dry nursing" when I had no milk because DS was 17-21 months and eating tons. I think waiting till baby is one year old before TTC is a good plan.

ETA: there's a lot of good info here: http://codenamemama.com/2011/09/07/bfing-pg-concerns-safety/

[JudiAU]

For planning purposes,  think you should assume that you will lose your milk supply by 20w which is pretty standard. From 0-20w nursing can be uncomfortable and/or annoying and/or painful.

Which is not to say that everyone loses their milk supply and you might not find it annoying at all. Some toddler will self wean and some will continue to nurse even without a milk supply.

But many to most women do and if you are planning and making choices those are good assumptions to make. Personally, based on my previous experience, wouldn't pregnant until after a year.

[tropicana]

yes most likely you will lose your milk and your baby, being so young, will give up nursing.

if on the other hand you waited until he was older, you would have a shot at him nursing to completion, even nursing through your pregnancy and then tandem nursing after the new baby is born.

this is one of the problems with spacing babies so close in age...

[liberal_chick]

I got pregnant when my ds2 was 10 months old (unplanned) and I was BARELY able to get him to 12 months still getting ANY breastmilk.  By the time I was 14 weeks pregnant, I was dry.  And it happened so fast: I was a superproducer and around the 11 week point my supply just hit the floor.

I would wait until your LO is 12 months old or older.

[Siouxsie]

Thanks everyone. I definitely would not want to wean him before a year! My older son self weaned very early at 15 months so we'll see what happens. After researching it I think we'll wait until April (when he's a year) before ttc. 

[holz]

I'm currently 26 weeks pregnant and DS is 16 months. My supply has dropped substantially, but he does still get milk and hasn't seemed to mind and changes in taste.

Other factors that may have played into this: DS has always been very into solid food, and is normally "too busy" to nurse during the day- we typically only nurse down for naps, during the night, and upon waking up; I'm not very good at making sure I'm drinking a lot of water; and since about 8 months we mostly nurse on the right side only (because of how we lay in bed)- now that side still produces milk, while the left is all colostrum.

From what I've read, though, some women are lucky and keep producing, while others just lose their supply and there's not much that can be done.

[CherryBombMama]

I love that my babies will be so close in age (ds1 and ds2 are 15months apart, ds2 and baby in the belly will be 19 months apart) but that meant that my milk only lasted for 11 months for ds1, which I feel so guilty about, and it lasted for about 13 months for ds2.  Ds1 was a good solids eater, though. Ds2 is still learning to eat solids, at 16 months. That means lots of dry nursing, supplementing with vitamins, frustration for him with solids (I don't think he was ready) and lots of worrying on my part. He refuses a bottle and will only drink water out of a straw sippy cup. So no coconut milk or even juice to add a few calories   I now think it is smart to have them spaced out a little bit more, just from a breastfeeding point of view.