Nursing through Pregnancy? - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[MayasMama88]

Well, we've reached a bittersweet end to my 3yo DD's nursing. This past Monday she turned 3 years old, and I made the (unsure) decision to stop nursing her. I think a lot of it is I felt pressure from DH... he has felt for awhile that she should stop... that it was becoming a "problem." Now, he is actually all for breastfeeding, and he didn't mind that I nursed her beyond the "common" 6 months to a year, but for awhile I was getting super frustrated at the amount of times she was nursing once she was past 2 years old. It was just like she was a newborn! Every hour or two she wanted to nurse!

So anyway, once I got pregnant my breasts and nipples started hurting quite a bit, and whenever she latched on it was too much to deal with. And, while I am not exactly opposed to tandem nursing, and probably would do so if A) I was a single mom, or B) my DH supported it. But since those aren't the cases, I stopped.

The way we did it, was on her birthday we nursed that morning. Then at some point during the afternoon I said, "Maya!! You are 3 years old today! You know what that means? It means we don't need to nurse anymore!" And she was excited about it for the rest of the day, even boasting to gramma and papa about it. Then nighttime came, and it was a different story. I must say, she has done very well for the most part. There have been a couple moments where she cried because she wanted to nurse, and it really got to me to the point where I almost gave in.

I do miss holding her sweet little self and sharing that special bond with her, but I think in the long run it is better this way. We still snuggle a lot, and we give eachother plenty of hugs and kisses and love, so I don't feel like I am "depriving" her in any way I guess. *sigh*

[revolting]

I tandem nursed my first and second child, and I hated it. I've had two pregnancy losses this year, and with both of those pregnancies, I encouraged significant nursing decreases. At this point, my 2.5 year old only nurses a couple of times a week. I won't encourage it any further, but I expect him to wean soon. Even if he doesn't, I expect the need to nurse after the baby comes would be far less than my eldest did, who even during pregnancy nursed half a dozen times a day and then when the baby came wanted to nurse more than the baby!

[MyName]

I'm still nursing my 19 month old DS as often as he wants. He nurses quite a bit throughout the night still and several times throughout the day and during his nap. I don't have any nipple soreness and I didn't with my last pregnancy, so I'm hoping I won't. I am a little worried about my supply since my son loooooves to nurse and would be pretty upset if my supply tanked, but I'm sure he will just dry-nurse through it until the colostrum comes in. I had colostrum last pregnancy at 16 weeks and it stayed throughout the whole pregnancy, so I'm hoping for the same and that my supply won't be affected too bad this pregnancy.

[BabySmurf]

Originally Posted by MayasMama88 

Well, we've reached a bittersweet end to my 3yo DD's nursing. This past Monday she turned 3 years old, and I made the (unsure) decision to stop nursing her. I think a lot of it is I felt pressure from DH... he has felt for awhile that she should stop... that it was becoming a "problem." Now, he is actually all for breastfeeding, and he didn't mind that I nursed her beyond the "common" 6 months to a year, but for awhile I was getting super frustrated at the amount of times she was nursing once she was past 2 years old. It was just like she was a newborn! Every hour or two she wanted to nurse!

So anyway, once I got pregnant my breasts and nipples started hurting quite a bit, and whenever she latched on it was too much to deal with. And, while I am not exactly opposed to tandem nursing, and probably would do so if A) I was a single mom, or B) my DH supported it. But since those aren't the cases, I stopped.

The way we did it, was on her birthday we nursed that morning. Then at some point during the afternoon I said, "Maya!! You are 3 years old today! You know what that means? It means we don't need to nurse anymore!" And she was excited about it for the rest of the day, even boasting to gramma and papa about it. Then nighttime came, and it was a different story. I must say, she has done very well for the most part. There have been a couple moments where she cried because she wanted to nurse, and it really got to me to the point where I almost gave in.

I do miss holding her sweet little self and sharing that special bond with her, but I think in the long run it is better this way. We still snuggle a lot, and we give eachother plenty of hugs and kisses and love, so I don't feel like I am "depriving" her in any way I guess. *sigh*

  It sounds like you made a choice that is hard, but right for you and your family.  That is so excellent that you were able to give that gift for 3 years!  She will adjust fine, I'm sure, and your relationship will develop in a new way.  And if you don't want to tandem, then it's good that she isn't going to relate weaning to having a new sibling...I feel like that would be a much more difficult transition.  Hugs, mama!

[BabySmurf]

I am thinking that I am looking at tandem nursing for sure.  I hope that I don't hate it! But at this point I would be thrilled if I can have DS night weaned and maybe even stop the nursing to sleep thing.  That would be amazing...and if I could do it with some time to actually get some sleep, that would be ideal!  With DS being as territorial as he is (over me) I really think that I need to tandem in order for him to feel "okay" with things. 

[Bazile]

As of right now I'm still nursing my 20 month old DD, but we had already started working on weaning before I found out I was pregnant. I'd always planned on nursing until 18 months, and then to start gradually weaning and be done by her birthday. I think in a different time, culture, or place I'd be comfortable nursing longer; but as it is I think DH is ready for us to stop, and my mother lectures me every day on the fact that DD is too old to still be nursing. To hear her talk, sometimes you'd think DD was 12, lol. Though even without the pressure to wean, I'm not personally comfortable with the idea of tandem nursing different age siblings. I don't want DD to associate weaning with the new baby, so we're stepping things up into a slightly higher gear. She had been nursing when she first got up, nap time, bedtime, and then at night if she seemed to need it to fall back asleep. I cut out daytime feedings this week, so we're down to mornings and bedtime. She did okay on the days we were busy and she was distracted, but the days we stayed home all day were long fussy and sleep deprived. She's slept all night the past 3 night, which I'm enjoying.
Amazingly I'm not really having any breast pain this time around. I normally have some nipple pain while nursing during PMS, and last time it hurt to even think about touching my chest and I slept in a bra to prevent nighttime movement. I think my supply is decreasing since she went to bed Thursday (normal for us since DH puts her to bed on the night I have Bible Study though she'll usually wake back up about 11 to nurse) for DH and slept all night, and I didn't wake up engorged despite not nursing for 24 hours. I had also started leaking again when we started cutting down on feelings, and that's stopped. And I've noticed that while I still can, it's harder to self-express milk. I didn't leak colostrum while pregnant before, so maybe that's related.
Edited because I just realized if I'm going to post on my phone, I probably need to pay attention to auto-correct/complete.
Edited by Bazile - 10/29/12 at 3:08am

[OSUvet]

I am here also! Nursing my 20 month old DS whenever he wants, which is mostly bedtime, several times throughout the night, and sometimes at nap time. The last couple weeks latching has definitely become really uncomfortable, so if he gets in a groove where he is repeatedly latching too frequently for me (usually early morning hours) I will either get up and leave him with his dad and sleep in the guest room for a couple hours, or tell him that the milk is all gone (it usually pretty much is by that point) and he has to go back to sleep. He may fuss for a few seconds but thankfully takes it pretty well. Since that is going well I will probably night wean for at least big chunks of the night toward the middle/end of the pregnancy if he doesn't wean on his own so that we can all get a bit more sleep before the new baby. Also I would like to tandem but can't imagine nursing two all night, so DS will have to be pretty much done for that to go well I think!

[mamacatsbaby]

So how are you guys making sure your nutritional needs are being met? My DS2 nurses so much still and I would like to do my very best to make sure I don't get any major deficiencies. I'm not a big fan of vitamins and such but I picked up a couple of packets of "green food" powders yesterday while I was at the health food store just to try. I eat meat, lots of eggs, fats, bone broth, and veggies. I also get fresh veggie juices from the farmer's market when I can (need to replace our juicer asap). I just feel like I need some sort of insurance or some such thing to have all my bases covered though.

[BabySmurf]

I'm a big fan of paying attention to your body's signals.  My DS has multiple food intolerances, and some of the problems are passed on from me.  So I have spent a LOT of time going through my diet and thinking about how each food makes me feel (in addition to watching what the foods do to him).  I also realized that I have cravings for things, and if I look up what each food has in terms of nutrients, there is usually a common theme.  So my body is really good at telling me what's going on.  I think everyone's body is this way, if you know how to listen to it. 
 

I also don't take vitamins, since it's nearly impossible to find them without the laundry list of foods that we need to avoid.  I also feel like vitamins lack coenzymes and other nutrients that enable our bodies to actually absorb the vitamins....And a lot of them are fat soluable, yet you aren't supposed to take them with food...stuff like that. I do supplement with FCLO (but not every day) and eat a traditional whole foods diet (usually).  I think it's fine to pop a vitamin here and there to help boost nutrients that are hard to find in foods (I do keep certain specific things on hand), but I feel like too many people use vitamins as an excuse to not eat as well as they should, or think that the vitamins will "fill up a void" so to speak.  When I've asked doctors about the absorption of the vitamins, they all say that it's just a estimation.  And considering everyone's starting place is different and based on soooo many different factors.....I don' feel guilty not taking them. 

My problem is that before getting pregnant I was grain free.  In order for my cycles to start again, I tried adding in some rice/more carbs so that I could gain some weight....and it worked.  I have been craving carbs like crazy though, and it has actually lead to a disintergration of my diet.    Both DS and I are paying for it AND some of the nausea/ms has appeared again even though it stopped weeks ago.  Soooo, I am on a rapid fire diet clean up starting now. 

I also attribute my lack of overt pregnancy symptoms on the fact that I am well fed (I do know that's not the only thing that effects the symptoms though...although, I do keep dropping things, and Hollywood would for sure be jealous of the INSANE dreams I have.....)

But I guess to answer your question...I eat A LOT all day long.  From what I can tell, there are days where I will go crazy for meat, or fat, or fruit, or veggies, and then not be able to stand the sight of them a few days later...I feel like that's pretty normal...you are low in a nutrient, your body sends the signal to eat, deficiency cleared, on to the next thing!

[mamacatsbaby]

BabySmurf we seem to have a lot of similarities going on. I've been grain-free for most of 2012 and brought DS1 and DS2 into the mix a few months after I started. We've never been low-carb though (except for a couple of weeks when we did GAPS intro). I feel great! I am in the process of incorporating some grains back into our diets though for various reasons. We also deal with quite a few food allergy/intolerance issues. DS1 has the worst deal there (although he's stopped reacting to a couple of newer foods where he'd developed reactions so that's awesome; it's something!).

Before going grain-free I had major carb/sweet addictions. Craved baked and sweet things constantly along with a host of other issues. Now these things are no longer problems. In fact, yesterday I had a croissant and it was glorious . Haven't had anything like that in forever and will indulge ever so often. We also eat a pretty whole foods diet most of the time.

I don't get cravings for anything anymore. Sure, things sound good but actual cravings? No. And this feels so amazing. We also eat a lot and all the time so hopefully I'm good to go. I've been going to a lot of fruits the last few days (apples, grapefruit, grapes, oranges, etc.) after not really having fruit for months and months so fruit is talking to me right now .

I've had nutritional deficiencies hit me pretty hard in the last few years and I've been doing pretty good at ironing them out the last year I think. Sure don't want to fall into that hole again!

I'm sure there was something else I wanted to mention but the children will have none of it so, I'm off!

[BabySmurf]

Yeah, the low carb thing for us was more a consequence of food intolerances rather than a conscious choice.  I have always been a carb-a-holic, and I definitely have some GAPS symptoms, which have definitely been alleviated through changing my diet.  It really is amazing....I have noticed that there is a big difference (at least for me) between a sugar/junk food craving, which is definitely more psychological, whereas cravings that I have for nutrients are much more visceral.  I also do a lot of probiotics, so I know that I went a little too far because I have been having some die off...so we still have some healing to do.  I have to be really careful from now on to keep things balanced. 

I feel like more and more people are noticing that eating a traditional diet is amazing.  I blogged about our journey (mostly just family reads), and several family members and friends started up going grain free and have had huge improvements in their health. 

It is really hard to do this with kids....although I am glad that we are starting young, before DS gets a "taste" for things.  But I have seen that older kids do notice a difference too, and when they are old enough, they will make healthy choices because they know what the consequences are if they don't. 

I hope that we both (well, all of us really!) get enough of what we need!
 

[mamacatsbaby]

So the "OMG!!! Owww!!!" feeling I was getting when DS2 latches on seems to be getting better. Not exactly sure how I feel about that though .

[kitteh]

Mine is actually getting WORSE. My nipples are on fire even when DD is not latching on, though. Lots of soreness, but now growth. >:(

[tambelina]

We are still nursing - just once a day to get my little man to sleep.  He is 3 years and 3 months.  I'm the only one of my friends still nursing (all the others are nursing their second babies now and their first all weaned during pregnancy).  After relatively plain sailing, I have my first milk blister!!  It is good to hear about others nursing still and I'm happy being in your company.  Just stumbled upon your Mothering today when googling milk blisters...  Great to be around like minded mums 

I feel ready to stop now but I'm not sure our son does, he has been just feeding once since last Christmas.  I am pretty exhausted, got constant nausea and have had a sickness bug the last 2 days.  Worried about getting dehydrated.  And I work full time too.  Feel a bit sad as I always wanted him to self wean and have always been proud of our bfing relationship, but don't want to get to the point where I resent it.  

He was so cute last week.  My husband and I went out for dinner for our anniversary (first time since he was born) and when my mum was reading his bedtime story he asked if she had any "grandma milk" and when she said no he patted her chest and asked if she was sure!!

I guess I have pretty mixed feelings about this just now.

[BabySmurf]

I think it's pretty normal to feel a little conflicted about things.  It's the first time that we have had to think about a new little being and that they are going to have to compete with the first child for your attention, time and energy from now on.  It's hard work nursing and growing a baby and it's no wonder that some of us feel a bit touched out or averted to it.  I think a lot of kids stop when (if) the milk dries up, so that may be a natural progression for your DC.  And I think that it's important to remember that this is a nursing relationship between mother and child, and it needs to be good for both of you to work.  If you are getting resentful, then that emotion probably transfers to your child, and that may be worse than just trying to peacefully end the relationship.  There is no right or wrong answer, we all just need to do what is best for our families, and it's awesome that we are able to support each other through this journey!

BTW, that is so cute about the "grandma milk"!!

Edited by BabySmurf - 11/15/12 at 2:36pm

[babies-n-bloom]

I am extremely conflicted at this point....I am nursing my 9 month old and would most definitely love to continue breast feeding through my entire pregnancy but my OB said something about having to quit around 26 weeks because it would make me contract. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I'm also concerned because apparently I'm at a slight more risk for preterm labor because my pregnancies are so close to one another.

I also have noticed a decrease in my supply which has led to increased feedings and giving DS a more solid diet. Should I be supplementing with formula?

I have noticed soreness but have just powered through so far. Ultimately my goal is to continue bf'ing and tandem bf.....so what should I do when my milk does turn to colostrum? Is that enough to nourish my 9 month old?

[BabySmurf]

Wow, that is a toughie!

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/breastfeeding/special-situations/breastfeeding-while-pregnant

My son's doctor said that I would have to wean soon too, but my MW wasn't worried at all.  Being that you are at a higher risk for preterm labor, this is something that I would definitely investigate more.  Although, your milk may very much dry up before then.  Some kids won't like the taste when your milk changes over to the colostrum, and others won't have a problem.  I would look into formula or milk sharing options so that if your DS does wean that you will have a game plan in place.  Hugs! This is hard for all of us, but it must be super hard with your DC being so young.  I believe that if we listen to our bodies, it will let us know the right thing to do...so be sure that you are honest with yourself if you start feeling that it's too much, and know that it's okay!  Maybe you could get into a routine with him that he just nurses once per day at a "special" time that you can keep when the new baby comes and that way you will be able to tandem, but it won't be such a strain on your body.

Maybe other mamas have more advice?

ETA: In terms of your DS getting enough, just look for signs that he is still hungry...he should let you know whether or not he is getting enough.  Also, at this point it might be hard for him to go to formula, so if you think that is a real possibility, maybe try giving him milk mixed with formula in a cup to see how he handles it? Since I've become pregnant my DS is eating a ton more too, but he is comfort nursing all the time.  So, I think part of the frequency is them sensing that something is going on, and just wanting to be near. 

[jr'smom]

Originally Posted by babies-n-bloom 

I am extremely conflicted at this point....I am nursing my 9 month old and would most definitely love to continue breast feeding through my entire pregnancy but my OB said something about having to quit around 26 weeks because it would make me contract. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I'm also concerned because apparently I'm at a slight more risk for preterm labor because my pregnancies are so close to one another.
I also have noticed a decrease in my supply which has led to increased feedings and giving DS a more solid diet. Should I be supplementing with formula?
I have noticed soreness but have just powered through so far. Ultimately my goal is to continue bf'ing and tandem bf.....so what should I do when my milk does turn to colostrum? Is that enough to nourish my 9 month old?

Really sounds like your doc is misinformed.  It is natural for women to nurse through pregnancy...especially pregnancies that are close together.  This is the 4th pregnancy I've nursed through.  (5 babies 8 and under by the time this one comes.)  It seems like you dry up, but I think the baby gets more milk than you think.  The baby will let you know if he's hungry.  You should be able to meet nutrional needs with breast milk even if there is less and supplement with healthy whole foods. 

[Tenk]

The only time I was told to wean by my OB was when I had a subcohorionic hematoma and was bleeding regularly.  If I hadn't had it when pregnant with L and then pregnant with O I wouldn't have stopped nursing.
 

[kitteh]

DD is still nursing regularly, but today I noticed that her suckle seems to have changed so I checked to see if I was still producing milk, and when I tried to hand-express hardly anything came out but a little colostrum. I was kind of expecting/hoping that DD would self-wean when this happened, but she doesn't seem interested in that. I'm extremely ambivalent about tandem nursing, though.