Doctors Recommend Weaning When Pregnant? - Page 2

[Yulia_R]

I have a 50% of normal size uterus. I was too advised to wean (this is a dumb general advice ignorant doctors give to everyone). I bought a book "Adventures in Tandem Nursing by Hillary Flower and it had alot of great explanations why weaning during pregnancy is absolutely unnecessary. I went to 41 w 3 days and had to use herbs to start the labor (so much for nursing LOL!).
Today is my son’s birthday, he turned 3 and is still nursing! My daughter is almost 19 months .

[Yulia_R]

Congrats on your pregnancy!

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[purplepaisleymama]

I have tandem'd through of my pregnancies. I had what the doc's called pre-term labor with my first and he ended up being one day late and induced. I nursed through the first 5 months of my second pregnancy and weaned due to horrible advice and a desperate search for less nipple pain and exhaustion, neither of which were solved by nursing, it is something I will regret doing forever ( there have been long-lasting health issues for my ds that I feel would have been lessened if I had continued nursing). With my thrid I nursed my daughter throughout the pregnancy and until about a month or so before my 4 child was born, so with my 4th pregnancy I nursed two children. I will say that my 4th child was born about a month early but he had no issues and was a whopping 7lbs 10oz ( so much for nursing making him smaller!) I nursed for the first 3 months of my 5th pregnancy and weaned my son not because of anything pregnancy related but because of the relationship between he and I ( it became quite a control nightmare because of ptsd for him) and I feel that weaning was the only answer at the time, it was the best decision for both of us (he was 2). My 5th was born 5 weeks early ( remember that this was the pregnancy that I nursed the least !) I know that the reason I went into labor early was related to stress, we were living with my in-laws at the time trying to get the tenants who were living in the house we were buying to move out, that took an extra 2 months or we would have been livin gin our new house by the time Finn was born.
I have been nursing for 10 years and I don't think that there has been any negative effect on my pregnancies from the nursing, there have been some very positive effects due to my being able to get the youngest asleep fro naps and me being able to rest more. I would recommend finding someone as your provider that will respect your decisions regarding your body.
laura

[veganf]

Hah! The 1 pregnancy I nursed through completely I went to 43+ weeks. If you're healthy there is no reason not to keep breastfeeding for at least another year.

[earthmama369]

Originally Posted by Keeper at Home

I am 8 weeks pregnant with Baby #2. My 12 mo DD is still breastfeeding. I went in for my first prenatal appointment yesterday and was immediately told I "had" to start weaning her off completely "within a month."

Doc said it was because it could cause me to go into preterm labor.

Is this something OBs often/always recommend? Is there any good info out there that I can utilize should the issue come up again? (Thankfully this doc was not my regular OB, but now I wonder if this is something I'll be told regardless.)

This is not true.

If you have a history of preterm labor, then you would want to consider weaning. If they're telling you "no sex," "bedrest," etc., then you should be concerned about contractions caused by nursing. But if you can have sex, you can certainly breastfeed. The uterine contractions caused by orgasm are MUCH stronger than the ones caused by breastfeeding.

I got pregnant with ds when dd was 10.5 months old. While my doctors didn't see any problem with me having a vegetarian pregnancy, nursing during pregnancy, etc., I had all sorts of strangers, including a WIC nutritionist, tell me gems like "You're killing your unborn baby by nursing. He'll be malnourished and will starve." :

I nursed through my entire pregnancy. My "malnourished" newborn weighed almost 2.5 pounds more than his big sister did at birth. I didn't experience any preterm labor with him and had a very healthy pregnancy. Nursing dd while I was pregnant did get challenging at times, but we worked through it, and having her on hand to nurse when I got engorged was a real blessing. I was so much more comfortable, and ds had a much easier time learning to latch, with an "expert nurser" to help us out with my oversupply and overactive letdown.

[snowgirl]

I don't think it really matters. I know several people who have nursed during pregnancy. I am 15 weeks pregnant and nursing my almost 4 yo. My Ob/Gyn asked if Anna was nursing and if so, for how much longer. I said yes, and I am planning on clw(for the most part). That was the end of discussion. Not sure why she asked.

I agree with some earlier posts that most doctors are quite ignorant when it comes to lactation. If you are really unsure, contact an IBCLC.

[EBeth0000]

I'm also nursing a 14-month old, and I'm about as far pregnant as you are, perhaps a couple of weeks more. My DS nurses quite a bit and we haven't had any problems. I have had to struggle to eat more and keep my blood sugar more stable, though. I am reading Mothering Your Nursing Toddler which I borrowed through a LLL meeting. If you haven't already, hook up with a LLL in your area--go to a meeting! Right now there are several moms who are pregnant while nursing or even tandem nursing. It's really fun because many of us have been going since our first babes were born! It will help answer a lot of your questions and give you much needed support that you are not alone, and weaning is NOT necessary in most normal situations.

Just so you know, my ped. recommended weaning at my son's 12-month appt. before I knew I was pregnant. She said it would be easier now than later. When I told her I didn't mind nursing and planned to continue until DS was finished, she said "oh, well, a lot of moms tell me they wish they knew how hard it would be to wean at 18-months or they would have done it much sooner, and I just don't want you to regret it later" Like it's easier on a 12-month old?! Argh. And yes, we're shopping for a new pediatrician

[theboysmama]

when I got pg w/ #2 my dr asked if I planned on nursing throughout my pg and I told him yes. He said, good, that is how the rest of the world does it. I nursed ds1 through my 2nd pg then tandem nursed for 14months and ds1 weaned then became pg again and had 2 m/c in a row continuing to nurse ds2. Both my family doc and my midwife assured me that nursing was not causing m/c. It only causes a problem later on if you have a history of early ctx / pre-term labor. I continued to nurse ds2 all the way through my pg w/ ds3 and am now 11wks pg and nak right now. He is making loud swallowing noises. No need to wean at all. Good luck.