Nursing moms

[sarahn4639]

I've noticed there are a few of us. Come check in! How are you doing? Any changes in supply? Any changes in your nursling? Are your breasts sore? Are you planning to tandem? Anything else you want to share?

[sarahn4639]

Well my nipples have been very sore. I am already discouraging night nursing and hadn't planned to do that for several weeks. It just hurts too much and I can't sleep through nursing anymore. I am still nursing if she insists but I try several other things (cuddling, water, rubbing back) before resorting and then I cut it short and try not to let her fall asleep on the breast anymore. I am doing okay during the day but it does get hard if it takes her a long time to fall asleep for her nap. I haven't noticed any changes in my supply (can still express some after she nurses). I haven't noticed a difference in DD as far as maybe having a different taste or anything. I am open to tandem nursing and I think I'd be pretty suprised if DD weaned during pregnancy, she is pretty attached to her num nums!

[ColesMommy]

Now that I see this thread, I'm feeling sad that my son and I are done.

When Cole was about 18 months old, I was getting tired of breastfeeding. I'm not a touchy feely person and Cole is a child who loves his boob and wouldn't dream of a quick snack so it was starting to wear on me. I decided that we would try to slowly wind down our nursing relationship, hoping that by the time he was about 2, he'd be weaned.

It's been an up and down process but about a month ago, he stopped waking up for his midnight snack. Around the same time, he stopped falling asleep for the night while nursing - he'd nurse and then snuggle with me or my husband for awhile then go to sleep. Last Friday, he didn't ask for boob before he fell asleep and on Saturday, he went to sleep at my parents' house while they were babysitting. He usually lets me know that he wants to nurse by grapping his Boppy and bringing it to me so on Sunday, my husband put it up. He asked a little bit but was then content to just snuggle. Today marks a week since he last nursed.

I do wonder if me being pregnant played a role in his willingness to give up his beloved boob.

[MCKH]

Sarah,
Just wanted to drop by and say congratulations!!!!! I am so glad that you graduated from the TTC while BF board Yay!!!! DD and I are still nursing strong, not that it hasn't been without its low points, but here I am at almost 11 weeks. You can do it!

Maureen

[azyre]

MY 4yo DD still feeds to go to sleep at night and she has claimed my milk has been gone for the last 18 months or so! I'm pretty sure there hasn't been much there for a long time, so she might get lucky and get something in the next few months

Given we are the real end of our breastfeeding relationship, I can't imagine I will be facing many of the issues most pregnant and nursing mothers do. I just hope she hangs in there with her 30 second feeds for 9 months so I have a feeder that is easy to communicate with should I need any help with engorgement LOL And have one boob still used to being fed on! (She had weaned off the right ages ago.) I reckon I deserve some tandem feeding perks having fed this long LOL

[ellymay]

I AM! LOL I am 5wks no sore nips my bbs feel very heavy and full all the time though and I feel letdown alot more than I did and dd is still nursing a million times a day but she has been extremely gassy every since I have been preggo. I hope that ends soon bc she isn't sleeeping well bc her belly hurts.

[flapjack]

I am- but I don't think we're going to make it all the way through this pregnancy. My milk supply is a long way down, she's asking less frequently and is sleeping through the night. She's maybe nursing 2-4 times a day, something like that?
In the end, CLW has never been a big goal for us. Skye is making the choice between frustrated boobie/no boobie, and I'm happy for her to figure out the tradeoffs.

[Jlcampbellkidz]

I nursed my 2nd daughter all the way through my pregnancie with my 3rd. Definetly had pain and challenges but it was worth it. It also helped the morning i went into labor. Gabi was only 18 mo. at the time and still in my bed so she wanted to nurse. It helped speed up the proccess I think and 4 hours later I had my new baby. She started wheening about 4 months ago.
Krisalyn (15 mo) is still nursing. I am not home during the day usually so it's only morning and night now. But I don't see her wanting to give it up anytime soon.
Yes starting to feel some discomfort while nursing but still totally manageble. It's also a nice tool to practice relaxation for the pain of contrax.

[Mama2-4]

My little guy still nurses, but not that much. He nurses at nap time, he nurses for comfort maybe 1-2 times per day and then at bedtime. And he prefers 1 breast! So, I am not sure how much milk is really there, but it keeps him happy.
Andrea

[JJJJBlue3333]

My 16 month old nurses ALOT. I really hope we make it through the pregnancy. When he latches on I feel sore initially but that has just started the last 2 days. I'm worried about my supply. How do you keep it up?

[Ivan's Mom]

Ivan will be 2 on June 10. He loves nursing and it is so painful for me. He nurses a lot during the night, which is difficult. He is restless during sleep, so he stirs often and wants to nurse each time he stirs.

I still see some milk when he nurses.

What do we do when during labor and hospital stays? Ivan and I are so attached, he cannot sleep without me. Anybody else have plans for what you are going to do with your nursing toddlers? We have decided that my mom will be with me for labor and delivery, so that dh can be with Ivan. I am so afraid that he will feel abandoned otherwise.

[sarahn4639]

Maureen!! I'm so glad things are going well with you guys. I'm glad to be here too! Thanks for the congrats!

I'm glad to see there are so many of us.

Ivan'smom-those are good points. We are planning a home birth so I won't have to leave her but I do worry about her seeing me in birth. We are going to talk about that and watch her birth video and things towards the end. She still sleeps with us and nurses through the night. I am trying to start night weaning and we are planning to move her to her own bed too. I want her night weaned first and then we'll work on moving her. I just feel like it will be good for me to be able to use lots of pillows and move around and go to the bathroom without waking her and all that in the end of pregnancy. Plus once the baby is here I don't want him/her to wake her and her start night nursing again! So that is our plan for that, I hope it works itself out!

[crbyard]

My dd is 16 months and is still going strong. She nurses quite a bit still at night and probably 4 times during the day. I haven't noticed any changes in my breasts at all so far. I am hoping to tandem, at least, I am hoping that the pregnancy doesn't cause her to wean prematurely.

[flapjack]

Hey, Christina, I didn't know you were here too!
Ivansmom, this kind of worry is why lots of people start considering homebirths- what do you do with your child? How do you cope with missing them? With worrying about them missing you? Other than that, I'd think about a shorter hospital stay.

[ellymay]

Originally Posted by Ivan's Mom

What do we do when during labor and hospital stays? Ivan and I are so attached, he cannot sleep without me. Anybody else have plans for what you are going to do with your nursing toddlers? We have decided that my mom will be with me for labor and delivery, so that dh can be with Ivan. I am so afraid that he will feel abandoned otherwise.

I have been thinking about the same thing BUT I am going to have dd there well I always have all my kids in there and my mom will be there w/ her but I was more worried about an overnight stay which I will have to do and I am not ready and don't think I will be ready then for her to be away from me at night so I guess I am going to be interviewing hospitals I guess you could say and find out which one will allow me to have my dd stay w/ me at night since my dh is there anyways so he can help.

[Ivan's Mom]

Thanks for the replies about the hospital stay. I am trying for a VBAC, so I am definitely not going to have a homebirth. We are over 40 miles from the hospital that our doctor practices at also. It took a long time to find him since he is basically "holistic."

I will ask about Ivan being able to stay with me. I did not see any small children there when I gave birth to Ivan though.

How does one night-wean? I have the book "Adventures in Tandem Nursing." But all seems difficult. Ivan keeps me up so much at night with nursing and calling out in his sleep.

[flapjack]

I hear a lot of good things about the No-Cry sleep solution for toddlers. Other than that, dd just did it herself- all my kids did at around this age, actually, but the night feeds were generally the last to go.

[mama_nym]

I'm definitely pregnant and nursing - I'm actually pregnant and triandem nursing, so this should definitely be an interesting journey! I'm about 5 weeks pregnant and don't have any soreness, have plenty of milk and breastfeeding is going smoothly. My 20 month old continues to nurse many times a day, my almost-5 year old nurses a couple times a day and my almost-7 year old once a week or so. It will be interesting to see who is still nursing by the end of my pregnancy!

[lovetobemama]

Hey mamas! It's great to have so many mamas who are nursing and pregnant to share this trip with!!!!

DS is 18 months old. He is night-weaned, and nurses at wake-up, after nap time, and at bedtime. However, after learning about how much work it can be to keep your supply up during pregnancy, I have actually started encouraging a bit more nursing at times when he might lean towards asking for it anyway, like after a scraped knee or something.

So far I haven't noticed any difference, but I am feeling my let-down more than I have in months. Don't know what that is about.

I am really hoping to continue on and tandem, at least for a bit. I hated getting started nursing, and I hope that if DS keeps me from going completely dry, it will be much easier to establish nursing with #2. Also, my best friend tandemed her two kids, and it seemed very healthy for both of the kids. The older one adjusted well to the baby nursing, and I think that the fact that she still always got her turn had a lot to do with it. And, lastly, DS is SERIOUSLY addicted to his "milk", and I would hate to see him loose that

[eilonwy]

Miss Bella is still nursing a lot, she's 14 months old. Bean nurses when he's sick (like last week) or when people around him are about to get sick (it seems like the nursing prevents it for him a lot of the time). He's 4.5. I do CLW, so I've nursed through pregnancy twice now.

I expect Bella to nurse the whole way through; unlike her sister, Bella nurses for comfort as well as her primary source of nutrition (BooBah self-weaned at 15 months. I know, a lot of people don't believe that, but having a 3 year old who was still nursing when the 15 month old weaned, don't you think I'd know? ). Night nursing was always preferable to me (baby nurses and sleeps, rather than playing around and popping off) but it will probably get to the point where I need to limit daytime nursies. I will do so with distractions-- offers of food and libations.