Breastfeeding and pregnant - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[writeonyogamama]

manachu my son used to twiddle the other nipple while he nursed and it bothered me so much that I googled it. Some people are able to divert the behavior by putting their little one's hand on their own belly button instead. For me what worked was to just gently move his hand off and block it with one of my own hands. He got upset at first, but it didn't take long for him to understand and move on. It helped me keep going with the nursing relationship at a time when it was really starting to get under my skin.

[mom2son]

Sorry I haven't been active on this thread for awhile. I'm finding it rather difficult nursing my newborn son, and as I have written before, my five year old who is still insisting he wants to nurse. My time really, has not been mine!! I'm beginning to be concerned about my five year old, who has once weaned, now actively insisting he wants to nurse again. I know myself, that a five year old should be over wanting to nurse, especially one who has weaned, then when I gave birth, carrying on so much, that I'm almost at my wits end. Granted, he is only asking in the mornings when he See's me nursing my youngest. I have tried getting him to play, or watch one of his DVDs, but nothing has worked. I really don't know, if it is the jealousy, or if he has reverted back to needing to nurse. I'm just not the type to ignore him, or raise my voice to him, at least not about this. My real worry is that he will increase his nursing, and my milk supply will suffer. My little one, is an around the clock nursling, and will be increasing his nursing needs as time goes on. HELP!!

Jillian

[tank]

I am still nursing my son as well.  He is 17 months.  I probably won't wean until he is ready but it has been hard since I work full time and when I get home it is all he wants to do.  I did stop pumping at work which seemed pointless because I was only getting 2oz.  I think that has helped my sanity a lot.  I feel because I work I can't nightwean because that is the only time he gets to nurse and it really helps him sleep.  I am hoping he does nightwean by the time the new babe comes though!

[Caitlin0919]

mom2son: Your 5-year-old is probably just wanting extra attention since there's a new baby around, plus the increased milk supply is probably fun for him. My daughter was down to nursing 2 or 3 times a day and almost weaned during my last pregnancy because my supply completely disappeared, but once my milk came back in after my son was born she wanted to nurse almost as often as her brother. It ended up being just a phase and she got over it after a few weeks. I also would only nurse her for a certain amount of time, 10 minutes or so, and I would explain to her that the baby needed the milk for food because he couldn't eat anything else and that she could eat other things because she was a big girl. That seemed to help her understand why she couldn't nurse as much. I also started offering to read her an extra book at night before bed instead of nursing and that worked well for us too. You'll get through it mama, just hang in there!

[mom2son]

Thankls so much for your encouraging words!! I'm going to try both of your sauggestions. For the few times he does nurse, it really doesn't make much sense to me, but who am I, only his mother!!! At one time, I had consider it to be comfort nursing, but I beleive he's too old for that.

[Emmecat]

Well, I think I have weaned DD2   I feel pretty stink about it, she's not quite 2.5 and really wasn't that keen (although she was down to pretty much 1 bf per day). I couldn't handle the pain anymore and my milk had started to well and truly dry up as well. It's what I wanted but still feeling kind of sad that our BF journey has come to a close sooner than it would have had I not been pg.  Plus I fed her sister til she was 3.5 so 2.5 seems so....little. It's all relative I guess! Maybe my hormones are playing up.

[Ablemec]

Oh Emmecat, I know how you feel! I just weaned DS who is only 18 months. It was such a hard decision, and I felt so guilty for even thinking about it, but I know I made the right decision for us. It was so much sooner than I had ever wanted, but I really was hating it.
It actually ended up being a lot easier than I thought. There was one day of unhappiness, but then it went pretty smoothly. I know we're both happier now. I wish it had worked out for longer, but it is what it is.

[Emmecat]

You're probably right Ablemac. It's so hard though isn't it? Part of me wishes I was just less tired or more willing to try tandem feeding again...but I did that for nearly 2 years with my girls and it was hard work. I'm just that much older again now (39) and really don't want to do it. Ah well it's the end of an era for DD2 but I guess at least she got a good innings lol