Jonah is our first baby, he is 7m.o. now.
My husband and I want to have at least one more child (maybe 2). And we think that it’d be really a good idea to have age difference between Jonah and our next baby not more than 24 months, so it’d be more interesting for them to play together and also this way we hope to avoid the issue of jealousy. At the same time I want to continue breastfeeding Jonah AT LEAST until 1 year of age (ideally the more the better).
Having said that, trying to understand when it’d be a good idea to begin trying for another baby, I have been doing some research about a possibility of breastfeeding while being pregnant and frankly haven’t found a strong confident opinion about this issue this way or another.
While most of time people say “yes, you can breastfeed while being pregnant” somehow they do not cover the issues that are brought up here and there. For example, I have read that progesterone which is high during pregnancy causes milk to change taste and many babies wean themselves because they do not like the way milk tastes. Or that progesterone and some other pregnancy hormones can be not too good for the baby. Or that the fetus will not have all necessary nutrition because they will go into milk. Some sources would say that breastfeeding will not stimulate contractions for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy or so and other sources say that it will.
I also have some ideas about making a really strong effort to continue breastfeeding Jonah after a pregnancy break (assuming I do get pregnant and deliver a baby). I have been thinking that perhaps it’d be possible to get him receiving some breastmilk after another baby is born. For example, this time I had so much milk for at least first four months that I was ready to blow up pretty much all the time, day and night; I think I could nurse exclusively at least 3 babies. Assuming that I will have that much milk with the second baby, I could probably express a lot of it and give it to Jonah in a cup. Or maybe (that is my dream) he would be already in this age when I could explain him that mom’s boobies are SO full that they could definitely use his help to feel better and my dream is that he will start nursing. I don’t know, maybe all this ideas are way too naive and when I try them the reality will tell me that it’s absolutely impossible to have a toddler nursing or even having breastmilk in a cup once he/she is weaned. That would be so very sad though…
What do you guys think about it? Did anyone have an experience of breastfeeding during pregnancy and how was it. And have anyone ever tried to get a toddler back to breastfeeding after weaning? If yes, was it a success?
I’d really appreciate every comment and opinion!
Thanks!
My husband and I want to have at least one more child (maybe 2). And we think that it’d be really a good idea to have age difference between Jonah and our next baby not more than 24 months, so it’d be more interesting for them to play together and also this way we hope to avoid the issue of jealousy. At the same time I want to continue breastfeeding Jonah AT LEAST until 1 year of age (ideally the more the better).
Having said that, trying to understand when it’d be a good idea to begin trying for another baby, I have been doing some research about a possibility of breastfeeding while being pregnant and frankly haven’t found a strong confident opinion about this issue this way or another.
While most of time people say “yes, you can breastfeed while being pregnant” somehow they do not cover the issues that are brought up here and there. For example, I have read that progesterone which is high during pregnancy causes milk to change taste and many babies wean themselves because they do not like the way milk tastes. Or that progesterone and some other pregnancy hormones can be not too good for the baby. Or that the fetus will not have all necessary nutrition because they will go into milk. Some sources would say that breastfeeding will not stimulate contractions for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy or so and other sources say that it will.
I also have some ideas about making a really strong effort to continue breastfeeding Jonah after a pregnancy break (assuming I do get pregnant and deliver a baby). I have been thinking that perhaps it’d be possible to get him receiving some breastmilk after another baby is born. For example, this time I had so much milk for at least first four months that I was ready to blow up pretty much all the time, day and night; I think I could nurse exclusively at least 3 babies. Assuming that I will have that much milk with the second baby, I could probably express a lot of it and give it to Jonah in a cup. Or maybe (that is my dream) he would be already in this age when I could explain him that mom’s boobies are SO full that they could definitely use his help to feel better and my dream is that he will start nursing. I don’t know, maybe all this ideas are way too naive and when I try them the reality will tell me that it’s absolutely impossible to have a toddler nursing or even having breastmilk in a cup once he/she is weaned. That would be so very sad though…
What do you guys think about it? Did anyone have an experience of breastfeeding during pregnancy and how was it. And have anyone ever tried to get a toddler back to breastfeeding after weaning? If yes, was it a success?
I’d really appreciate every comment and opinion!
Thanks!
My son was born healthy and my daughter nursed faithfully through the whole pregnancy. On the down side, my milk dried up within the first trimester. Had dd been under a year, I would have worried about HER health since she did not eat solids until 14 months. We are not planning a 3rd child, but if we were, I'd make sure to wait to ttc long enough for my nursling to be on solids for nutrition (rather than for fun) since my milk dried up the first time....just in case.
Fortunately, I had great support from DH, our midwife who birthed ds2 at our home and my LLL leader and other breastfeeding friends.
, but wasn't really sure if it could be done). And now I’m so happy that it CAN be done 
. I had to clench my teeth and fists to not scream or push him away every time he did that. That was quite an experience. Bottom line, I guess we just never know how our body will react whether it’s just one baby or two.
