Who's Still BFing another child?

[MandyB]

Just curious if anyone else is still BFing another child and planning on continuing to do so throughout the pregnancy?

I am still nursing my almost 22 month old daughter, Ellie and plan to let her self wean whenever she's ready. We're pretty much just playing it by ear. The last week or so she has changed her nursing schedule from 2-3 times a day to more like 6-7 times a day though. I think she would nurse all day long if I was down for it! It seems early in my pregnancy for her to change so drastically because if that.

If you ARE still nursing a toddler, have they changed their nursing habits since you found out you were pregnant?

[gr8tfulmom]

My little guy is 13 mo. and is a super boob dude. He has been nursing more since we found out, but I think my supply has dipped a bit so the increased nursing is probably in response to that.

I plan on letting him self wean when ready/ tandem nurse w/ the new kiddo. I had a mc this summer, he was nursing then of course, so I'm a bit fearful of that again, but there is no way I can take away his booba.

[Ellarae]

My dd is only 7 1/2 months, so she's still breastfeeding, pretty much exclusively. I'm a bit worried that my supply will decrease. No problems so far, but it's still so early. How soon does that start? She'll only be 16 months when this babe arrives, so I'm sure I'll be tandem nursing for awhile.

Gr8tfulmom, does bf increase the chances of a mc? You scared me a little with that.

[2much2luv]

My 33 month old is nursing only once a day, at bedtime, and I have no idea if we'll continue with that through when the baby comes or not. On the one hand it it such a nice easy way of putting her to sleep, and that might be very handy with a new baby/tired mama. On the other hand I'm scared that she'll really push to nurse more after the baby and the milk comes, and I have no desire to tandem nurse. I'm going to have to do some thinking on it.

[trmpetplaya]

Originally Posted by October

My dd is only 7 1/2 months, so she's still breastfeeding, pretty much exclusively. I'm a bit worried that my supply will decrease. No problems so far, but it's still so early. How soon does that start? She'll only be 16 months when this babe arrives, so I'm sure I'll be tandem nursing for awhile.

Gr8tfulmom, does bf increase the chances of a mc? You scared me a little with that.

I've heard that supply doesn't really diminish till the second trimester and it doesn't do that for all women either (I've heard that about 20% lose their supply completely). I'm nursing my (almost) 1 year old dd and plan on eating oatmeal all day long and drinking gallons of water every day if I have to to keep my supply up. She's still nursing for at least 85% of her nutrition... and is sick right now too so she's been nursing almost constantly the past couple weeks... and refusing food. She's nursing right now, actually. :

Bfing does NOT increase the chances of a mc. The uterine contractions from bfing are not nearly as strong as the contractions from having an orgasm. So... having sex would increase the chances more and unless you were prone to mcing then there wouldn't be any reason to limit sex and even LESS of a reason to limit bfing! If you're going to mc (and don't have a specific reason for being prone to mcing) then you would mc regardless of whether you were nursing/having sex or not. My midwife is totally cool with me nursing/tandem nursing eventually and has no concerns other than that I'm eating enough and drinking enough water (I'm prone to UTIs...).

https://askdrsears.com/faq/pr2.asp

Kellymom.com and the LLL website have more info as well

love and peace.

[Lissybug]

Ds is almost 19mos. He's been nursing like crazy lately- I think it's since I've been pregnant, don't know if it's a supply issue, or what. Maybe he senses competition is on the way My midwife says she hears all the time about nurslings picking up on nursing when their moms get pregnant.
At this point I'm seeing how it goes. I'm not particularly into tandem nursing, but I'm really playing it by ear. I'm feeling very ready to quit nighttime nursing, but not sure how to go about it. My friend the other day reminded me that by the time you get your plan all worked out your kid is usually onto a new stage anyhow. Maybe James will reach the "sleep-all-night-without-kicking-off-our-covers-and-nursing-erratically stage" soon. (drifts off into happy sleep fantasy)

[gr8tfulmom]

Originally Posted by October

My dd is only 7 1/2 months, so she's still breastfeeding, pretty much exclusively. I'm a bit worried that my supply will decrease. No problems so far, but it's still so early. How soon does that start? She'll only be 16 months when this babe arrives, so I'm sure I'll be tandem nursing for awhile.

Gr8tfulmom, does bf increase the chances of a mc? You scared me a little with that.

As trumpetplaya said there is no evidence, but after hearing it from many relatives, who believe wives tales like they were written in stone, I have a little nagging voice in the back of my head no matter what I read.

As for the decrease in my supply, it's happened with every pregnancy, in fact the last time, it's why I tested. Lots of oatmeal and water here too.

[snugglebug14]

I'm in the same boat...nursing my 22 month old ds. Ever since I got pregnant (even before I had a bfp hpt), he's been nursing NON STOP!! or at least wanting to. We were working on weaning him anyway...he's only allowed to nurse when he's going to sleep or during the night. But now, he wants to nurse all of the time.
I have heard that when you get pregnant the taste of your milk changes. I don't know when that is supposed to happen. But, I was thinking maybe the taste changed and he really likes it! who knows?

[Lissybug]

Originally Posted by snugglebug14

I have heard that when you get pregnant the taste of your milk changes. I don't know when that is supposed to happen. But, I was thinking maybe the taste changed and he really likes it! who knows?

That was one idea my midwife had as well.

[Ellarae]

Originally Posted by trmpetplaya

Bfing does NOT increase the chances of a mc. The uterine contractions from bfing are not nearly as strong as the contractions from having an orgasm. So... having sex would increase the chances more and unless you were prone to mcing then there wouldn't be any reason to limit sex and even LESS of a reason to limit bfing! If you're going to mc (and don't have a specific reason for being prone to mcing) then you would mc regardless of whether you were nursing/having sex or not. My midwife is totally cool with me nursing/tandem nursing eventually and has no concerns other than that I'm eating enough and drinking enough water (I'm prone to UTIs...).

https://askdrsears.com/faq/pr2.asp

Kellymom.com and the LLL website have more info as well

love and peace.

Thanks! I wasn't planning on stopping, I had just never heard that before. I feel better now!

[trmpetplaya]

My dd has had a fever for the last couple days so she has been refusing any food at all : It's really hard to stay hydrated and eat enough when I can't put her down for more than two seconds! So maybe she was nursing last week because I was pregnant, but this week I think it's because of her fever. It's much lower today and she's acting like she feels better now, thank goodness

love and peace.

[goddessjulia]

my ds is almost 4 and is nursing twice as much as before, at least! I'm only 5 weeks and I think he would nurse all day if I let him. he did this when I got pregnant 2 years ago too (mc'ed that one). then I thought it was because I was so exhausted and less available to him, but now that it's happening again it must be something about the milk itself.

[imgr8ful]

me! my little dude is 13.5 months and wants to nurse anytime i am sitting down.

[pwit]

my first is almost one and is still nursing, I hope to nurse throughout pregnancy and tandem nurse if she wants, I have noticed since my AF came back though (8 months post partum) supply has dropped a lot.

I'll be making some oatmeal cookies soon!

[MamaSpruce]

I'm nursing my almost 20 m.o. and plan to tandem. He has increased his nursing since I became pregnant, which is not easy when you nurse all the time already. : Seriously, he nurses maybe a dozen times a day and 5 or 6 times at night. He increased when I was pregnant a couple of months ago too (miscarriage at 7 wks).

It is starting to be a little painful, but mainly when he first latches on (and more so at night). I may night wean at some point in the next 8 months, but I don't feel he is ready yet. I'm hoping he just slows down on his own at some point.

[trmpetplaya]

I found out what dd had this week... she had roseola which is why she was exclusively nursing and refusing all other food all week. On the bright side, I know that my supply is still fine because we're ECing and dd has still be peeing plenty

love and peace.

[tatermom]

DS is 20 months and is nightweaned-- down to nursing just 3x per day... but like many of you, he's been asking about "milkies" a lot more in the past few days. And nursing is already getting uncomfortable, so I'm not so excited about upping the nursing since I really don't want to tandem nurse (we are not doing CLW). DS is so sweet, though, it's really hard to refuse!

[ChelseaG]

I am still nursing my almost 16 month old dd. - She is nightweaned - but wakes up at 5am ready to nurse! She has been nursing a lot more lately and my nipples are really sore - ouch! I love the idea of CLW - but not sure if I will have the energy to tandem nurse. I am kind of hoping she weans herself when/if my supply dwindles or dries up during this pregnancy. She is not a discrete nurser - always pulling my shirt up or down, switching sides a lot and she needs to be pinching or fondling the opposite nipple while she is nursing :

trmpetplaya - hope your dd gets better soon - my SIL's kid had roseola about a month ago - he was miserable - poor thing! And to top it off - my SIL got shingles from it! I hope you are all healthy soon!

[sleet76]

My son is 18 months, and still nursing a little. I'd wanted to nurse for a really long time, but he's really dropping off the last few months, and been really disinterested. The last few days, though, he's been asking a lot and I've been happily obliging. I expect that nursing him in on its way out, though.

[beana's mommy]

I'm still nursing my almost 15-month old. And she's nursing a TON lately. But, she's had a cold for a few weeks, and her canines are beginning to come through, so I think it has to do with that.

And I am STARVING all the time!

Oh, and ChelseaG, my dd wants to pinch and play with my other breast/nipple while nursing, too! I'm constantly holding onto my other breast to block her, and telling her they are not to play with! LOL

I'm not sure what we'll do once the baby comes. If my dd isn't sick or teething she'll only nurse at night. She loves to eat food. But, when she is either of those, she wants to nurse all the time - day and night.