Anyone else pregnant and breastfeeding?

[MrsHuxtable]

Would be nice to exchange experiences!

[lilstar]

I will be! This is my second baby and it never occured to me not to breastfeed. The first time I only breast fed for three months though, this time I hope to do it longer. I'm not due until end 27th Novemeber so a bit of time to prepare yet :-)

[lilstar]

Just realised you might mean you are currently breastfeeding while pregnant in which case I can't compare experiences lol

[CurlyKiwiControl]

Waves - me, im nearly 18 weeks and bf my 17 month as :)

[squidgeberry]

Yes, although am 40 + 11 so not for much longer! My Dd1 is nearly 3 though and only has a couple of feeds, sometimes none, so it hasn't been too taxing. It did dry up for a few weeks, but came back about 24 weeks and she became a bit keener to feed then, even asking for feeds in the day which she hasn't had for ages. I presumed it was the tasty colostrum?

[MrsHuxtable]

Haha, lilstar, yes I meant pregnant while still feeding the previous child!

Hello CurlyKiwiControl and squidgeberry!
I'm only 5+4 and feeding DD who is 15 months. She is still a total milk monster (feeds 2-3 time during the day and around 3 times at night). My milk supply has stayed the same so far but it'll be interesting to see what happens further down the line. Ideally, I want to feed her til she's 2 but DC2 is due just before her second birthday so I can't imagine she'll want to give up the boob when her new sibling gets it all day long. So I might end up tandem feeding.

Do you plan to tandem feed Kiwi?

[lilstar]

I am so blonde! Either that or it's the "baby brain" setting in lol. Good luck with your breast feeding whilst pregnant though, must be demanding and adding to the tiredness I imagine.

[Midori1999]

Yes, I am. 19 weeks pregnant and nursing DD, who is 23 months. Although since my milk dried up a couple of weeks ago she is only nursing to sleep at night, with the odd 'feed' during the day if she fancies it. I'll be interested to see what happens when the colostrum comes in.

[MrsHuxtable]

Did your DD nurse during the night before your milk dried up, Midori?

[Midori1999]

Not really. She's slept through since about 10 months old, although she wakes occasionally. If she does she will nurse, even now, but it's very rare she wakes.

[MrsHuxtable]

That's a shame. I was hoping you'd say yes and your DD stated sleeping through once there was no milk!

[FredKiller]

Hello. I was up until 13 days ago!

I'm 21 weeks now and over the course of my pregnancy, DS has gone from a total boob obsessive to not having fed for nearly two weeks. Suspect he has weaned. I am kind of relieved as I was a bit nervous about tandem feeding, but mostly feel a bit weepy about it. Damned pregnancy hormones.

The only bit I pushed him into really was night weaning, as I was just too tired to wake up 5+ times a night. We used the jay Gordon method and it was so easy and gentle. Dropping the rest of the feeds all followed quite gradually.

[louisianablue2000]

I'm not currently pregnant but have BF while pregnant twice. I would say don't make any plans for how long you are going to feed, just see how it goes, some people love it, some get the heebie jebbies. There's a LLL book about tandem feeding which is suppose to be useful (I've not read it, mainly because I didn't really think of myself as a tandem feeder when pregant with DD2), kellymom also has a lot of information.

I had just 18 months between my DDs so obviously was feeding very regularly during early pregnancy. I found it very hard to express milk from early on in that pregnancy but DD1 didn't complain about a drop in supply. She was an enthusiastic eater of solid though which probably helped, I have a friend who only has a year between her DC2&3 and she had to supplement with formula thanks to her pregnancy. I BF DD1 until I was 6 months pregnant and loved it the whole time, she just refused to BF a few nights in a row so I offered her some cows milk and that was it, very stressfree weaning, although younger than I'd have liked. She didn't show any interest in BFing when her sister was born good thing because that would have freaked out my mother

DD2 was a complete boob monster, but had a great latch and was a very efficient feeder from birth so it was a joy to feed her. She was 31 months when I became pregnant with DS and only feeding a few times a week which was not enough to maintain my supply and so she weaned when I was 3 months pregnant. At that age I had a running commentary on how much milk I was producing, first one boob stopped (the least favoured) and then the other, she still wanted to BF but it was painful for me so I said no after a couple of weeks. By the time her brother arrived she couldn't remember having milk which was sad.

[CurlyKiwiControl]

Interesting Midori - I haven't noticed mine drying up? Does everyones? DS doesn't seem to have noticed any change and is showing no signs of weaning - loves feeding.

Mrshuxtable in just playing it by ear tbh ... What will be will be I suppose :)

I don't really know much about tandem feeding? I'll just do what feels right

[CurlyKiwiControl]

Fredkiller did your DS just stop wanting milk one day or was it slightly more gradual.

Tbh, im getting a tad fed up with the comments "ooooh you'll have to stop feeding him now"

All said by nice and well meaning realtives I hasten to add, but still slightly annoying

[Badgerwife]

I'm still breastfeeding and coming up to 36 weeks. DD1 is 22 months. I have no idea how much milk I have on offer but she's been steady in asking for it throughout, although she has naturally weaned herself off nighttime and bedtime feeds during that time so it's now one big morning feed and regular requests during the day

The most difficult for me has been and still is skin sensitivity. There were times when it was painful in the first trimester (presumably hormones-related boob changes). Even now, although it doesn't generally hurt, my skin everywhere is very sensitive and ticklish and I struggle with her wanting to touch me so much! I sometimes hide under the covers in bed so only my boob is out so that she can't touch me otherwise it makes my skin crawl. Poor thing, she's very tactile. Hopefully it will get better once I've given birth.

[ChasingStaplers]

I BFed through both my pregnancies with DS 1 and 2 (and co slept). It was quite tiring and towards the end of pregnancy it was hard work.

The only thing I'm annoyed about is I got through the pillow biting agony of sore boobs/the co sleeping and SPD/damaged coccyx agony and they both decided to stop after all that (the little buggers! :) )

[FredKiller]

It was fairly gradual, he stopped asking for as regular feeds in the day. And then the morning feed became fairly on an off. The last feed to go was when I feed him off for a nap. TBH he has half heartedly asked me for this a couple of times in the last week, but it's really painful for me now so I just distracted him with a story. He didn't care.

I genuinely never thought he'd ever wean, and that I'd eventually be the star of my own channel 4 shockumentary about feeding a 30 year old! I think my supply must have pretty much dried up though, or he would have put up a bigger fight. I can't really tell as I was always hopeless as expressing anyway.

[CurlyKiwiControl]

Hmm we shall see then!

That must have been easier, a gradual wean rather than a sudden stop? Emotionally for you I mean! I remember sobbing my eyes out during my DDs last ever feed (she's 4 now)

I've been finding it a tad sore lately too, don't know if its just pregnancy or DS and all his teeth - he has 8 all came in at the same time poor thing!

Does the bump get in the way badgerwife? I'm not sure of the logistics wwhen I start getting larger!

[sillyoldfool]

I'm 19weeks pg with dc3, bfing dd2, I bf dd1 throughout my last pregnancy too. I've been bfing or pg or both for nearly 7 years now
Both times my milks dried up around 16 weeks but both dd's have wanted to feed just as much. Dd1 stopped feeding for a few weeks when my milk came in after dd2 was born, I think it shocked her! She came back though and I tandem fed for a while.
The gap between dd2 and the new one will be smaller than the gap between dd1&2, so I'm hoping to tandem feed for longer this time.

[sillyoldfool]

I didn't find my bump a problem last time, dd1 was 3, and knelt up on my lap/beside me or we lay down to feed

[Badgerwife]

I'm not finding the bump a problem, DD just seems to wrap herself around it well enough!

[LeeshaG]

I had to stop :-). Was happily breastfeeding and my dd kept getting a bit hysterical at feeds which is one of the reasons I did a pregnancy test. Turned out I was pg and my milk had started to dry up and taste different. I persevered for another few weeks but it wasn't worth my dd getting stressed. To be fair I had dropped to a bed time feed only. I miss it like mad. Was mummy and daughter time and found it to be a comfort to both of us. She still slaps ny boobs every now and then and I feel so sad. But in 8 weeks or less I'll be able to start feeding my ds when he arrives! Yay!!

[agendabender]

nice to see you on this side MrsH! Still breastfeeding DS 2yrs 3/4, 7 weeks pregnant I think. I'm waiting to borrow a copy of "adventures in tandem nursing" from a friend, because all of the sources of info seem to point to it as the only reference for tandem feeding/feeding in pregnancy. I'm finding it really painful, and have cut DS down to morning and bedtime feeds, but that's making me really full and sore from that. It's difficult!