Breastfeeding when pregnant Chatter Thread

[*Ash*]

Hi UntoldAngel, I have noticed that I am really sore on one side when DS feeds. Not sure why only one side hurts. I should be thankful for small mercies.

HotI, hi! I am experiencing the same concern as you. DS is feeding a lot at night. He keeps changing sides too. I assume my supply has dwindled. Damn. It hasn't happened to me this early in preg before. I hope it is a temporary 'glitch'. I would be devastated if our bf relationship ended now. My ms is pretty horrid at the moment and there are times when I just can't eat. I'm sure that isn't helping my supply.

[HotI]

I am almost at 12 weeks and i think my supply has picked up again the last few days (yay!) Still got sensitive nipples but most of the time feeds are ok.

hope your ms eases soon Ash

[*Ash*]

That is good news HotI

[HotI]

i am now 20 weeks pregnant. DD is 16.5 months old. From when i first got pregnant, dd has cut feeds down from about 10-12 feeds/24 hours including a few night feeds to 3-4 feeds most days with no night feeds. She is eating a lot more solid food and the new regime seems to be working ok for both of us. I never used to have a routine for feeds, but now it is usually one after breakfast, one after lunch and hopefully leads to a sleep, maybe one in the arvo and then after bath before bed.

I have a couple of questions, the morning feed will go for hours if i let it. I feed on both sides, and i'm pretty sure she isn't getting much after awhile, but she gets so cranky when i take her off. Have others had this too? Any suggestions for ending the feed without a tantrum.

The night time feed i don't have enough milk to get her off to sleep. i just end up with sore nipples and frustrated bub. SO i have been giving her up to 100ml cows milk at night. Still working out whether it is best to do cows milk or breastmilk first.

Before pregnancy, i could always make more milk when it was needed. i have been wondering how much is pregnancy (hormones) and how much could be changing to more structured and less frequent feeds.

probably overthinking again.... anyway, things are going ok here. How is everyone else?

[Heaven]

HotI just quickly- with DD1, when I want her to stop I tell her I will count to 10, then I count to 10 in an excited voice and at the end say 'Yay! Lets go!' And we jump up and do something fun. Works all the time now, she just comes off and says 'Yay!' when I get to 10

[HotI]

HotI just quickly- with DD1, when I want her to stop I tell her I will count to 10, then I count to 10 in an excited voice and at the end say 'Yay! Lets go!' And we jump up and do something fun. Works all the time now, she just comes off and says 'Yay!' when I get to 10

thanks heaven! this is working most times here too. i do a countdown and then 'ta da!'. The other day DD was having a feed overnight, and was pretty much asleep. i quietly did a countdown and in her sleep she came off and said 'Ta da!' very cute.

[OceanPrincess]

Hey gals

Guess I can join in here now - my little booby boy is still going strong and showing no signs of stopping! He currently has between 2 and 6 feeds in 24 hours. Mostly just 2-3. He will have an early morning feed (between 1 and 5am), then sometimes a second morning feed and feed to sleep at 7pm.

If he's a bit cranky, upset, sick, tired, sometimes he will feed during the day (when I worked at the ABA tent at our town fair on Sat he had two feeds, while I was on the tent - I was like "Here's a demonstration" ) but most of the time its just first and last thing and then at least one or more overnight.

I'm surprised I managed to fall pg - he's feeding a fair bit more than DD did at the same age. She self-weaned at 15mths, when I was 32wks pregnant with DS. I think for her it got a bit hard feeding around the belly and there was just so much other stuff happening in her world!

DS is much more reliant on it than she was so it'll be interesting to see how we go. So far no sore nipples or dip in my supply ( ) but its still very early days for me.

HotI - are you still concerned about your supply? And cows milk/breast milk order? Very cute about DD saying "ta-da!" in her sleep

[Eenee]

Hi girls just joining in here too. DD 8mths is still breastfeeding every 2-3hrs or more always has. Had sore nipples the other day but seems to have gone now, hoping that still means everything is ok! Just over 5 weeks pregnant and just wondering when everyone noticed a drop in their supply considering DD is still mostly BF and doesn't have much in the solids department.

[Mumtastic]

Hello, I'm sorry I'm not pregnant (am ttc though..shh) but I have fed thrhough two pregnancies - I just wanted to say EM - I've got pregnant when I've had a 4.5 mth old baby twice, both times I got them through the pregnancy fine (tandem feeding now actually).

I think I noticed a drop in supply at some point around 4 mths and then *really quickly* it bounced back - however from 5-6-7 mths on it would slowly decrease. However this is the same time that baby is sort of getting established on solids so the baby just compensates with more solids. Always had milk left at the end of pregnancy/

Anyway - so from my own experience, you'll definitely have enough milk to get your baby easily through to 12 mths (going by your ticker) and there may be a drop after that, it's different for everyone though. After 12 mths she wont be so dependent on milk.

I think also that people need to be prepared for the fact that it can be really uncomfortable at the end and you may find yourself actively avoiding feeds.... I found I had to go right back to perfect attachment, trying not to let feeds stretch out too long, and making sure I was really comfortable before a feed etc because if there's any discomfort anywhere it can bring on this horrible irritation. Talking more about at the end here.

Good luck I wish I'd had a thread like this when I was preg & feeding!

[OceanPrincess]

Em, when I fell pg with my DS, DD was only 7mths. She was onto solids but still having 4-6 feeds during the day and 1-2 overnight. I fed her right through til she was 15mths, so about 6wks before DS was due.

I never noticed a drop in supply - or I must have had a really patient baby who just kept feeding without getting upset if my supply had dropped.

And don't forget one of the best ways to increase your supply is to just let baby feed as much as they want

[Mumtastic]

Yes - neither of mine ever gave a stuff about how much milk was there.

My basis for concluding a reduction in supply was that it became very hard to express any milk by hand (like, to get a squirt). WHen I'm ont pregnant, it will come out striaght away, by the end of pregnancy it can take me some time to get a flow started by hand (not that I express, just to test I mean) - so something changed.

I think very often women perceive a bigger problem re supply than there really is - ie think it's dropped more than it has. But for most women, supply will be affected by pregnancy to varying degrees and if that happens it's usually unresponsive to your usual methods to regain supply. It's simply a hormonal change in which the milk suppressing hormones of pregnancy are overwhelming the hormones to produce milk.

But I really wouldn't worry, because if you do experience a drop in supply your baby will be old enough to just up solids intake.

[~ Mylitta ~]

My supply starting decreasing a bit at around 5 weeks with this pregnancy. I'm now 11.5 weeks pregnant and my DD is 8 months. She's still feeding on demand 24/7 and my 2 year old DS still feeds 2-3 times a day, but he always has the more empty side, and generally after my DD has fed. It's more of a comfort thing for him.

A doctor recently put me on maxolon and I've found that it's boosted my milk supply greatly. He actually put me on it for the morning sickness. It doesn't seem to make much difference to the morning sickness, but I'm going to ask my Ob for another prescription tomorrow more to help with my milk supply if needed at any stage.

Oh, and with the solids, my DD is now really getting into solids. She's quite enjoying it and usually has 1-2 solid feeds per day.

[OceanPrincess]

Mylitta - does that mean you are tandem feeding while pregnant? That is an awesome effort

[Mumtastic]

Yep Mylitta I am relating.. You know the difficulty is it's so hard to wean the older child if you are tandem or triandem feeding? I *really* want to wean the eldest feeding but I feel like I'm psychologically traumatising him because he can see his little sisters feeding on demand. It drives me insane sometimes. I have cut him down as much as I possibly can but on occasion he seems so upset I relent. Bit worried about how I'm going to get out of this one..

[HotI]

HotI - are you still concerned about your supply? And cows milk/breast milk order? Very cute about DD saying "ta-da!" in her sleep

If i (and dd) keep feeding, supply is ok but if she has less one day it is hard to get it back. I work one day a week, and until pregnancy, it wouldn't impact much on the next days supply- dd would have a feed before work, and a huge feed after work, and then after dinner, overnight..... but now, it is harder to get back to levels after each work day. Similarly, she mainly feeds at home now, and so if we are out i feel like my supply is just going down. It's not the end, but it is more work now, when it used to be easy to just make what she needed.

THis week she doesn't want any cow milk (throws it and chucks a tanty if we get it out). Didn't really get a 'routine' happening, sometimes she wanted bf first and then cowsmilk, other times she would go reverse. just going with the flow as always.

[OceanPrincess]

HotI, its a bit of a tough time hey... I know when DD self-weaned when I was 32wks with DS it was pretty tough for me. She was fine But I was a bit sad.

Its going to be interesting to see how DS goes, he is much more reliant on it than DD is. I feed him ATM in my bed around 5am and he just seems to want to feed and feed and feed... I take him off after he's been on for about half an hour and he has this little tanty in bed, for about 30sec, then he generally calms down and goes back to sleep. But the little tanty is pretty full on, he throws himself around, almost rolls off the bed if I don't keep an arm on him while I am getting up to put him back in his cot. Screams at me - I've decided its pure frustration, "You took me away from the BB!"

So we'll see how we go for the next few months... maybe I will get to experience tandem feeding...

[UntoldAngel]

Hi girls! and welcome to the club OceanPrincess and em..

OP - my DS is the same when I take him off the boob after soo long, except it isn't a 30second tanty, it generally goes for 10mins and he won't go back to sleep. i'm jealous!!

Well I'm 31w+5d and DS (15months) is still going strong. Actually he has been feeding a LOT more because he has been sick. It has been quite draining on me physically (and mentally sometimes) but I know that he needs it. I did though end up with massive blisters on the nipples because he was feeding soo frequently and for soo long. They've cleared up now but the nipples are still super sensitive to touch, so I have to be super attentive to his attachment - especially given he is cutting his 14th tooth and likes to chomp rather than suck. I actually think he has managed to get my supply up because they are getting heavier, and I actually started leaking the other day when he was screaming, which I haven't done for ages... probably not a good indicator but it's nice to know I do have something in there
On a not soo great note, nausea whilst feeding is at an all time high, particularly if it is an early morning feed (say 2am). I'm wondering if my BSL are too low?

[OceanPrincess]

He doesn't always go back to sleep! But he generally screams at me while I carry him back to his cot, then as soon as I lie him down he grabs blanky and calms down. Funny boy

Ouuccchhh on the nipples!!! TBH I'm a bit worried about something like that happening to me... I'm so lazy with his attachment now, esp at 5am, I just get it out and on he goes. I can't even see, its all dark still. We could be in trouble if I have to start paying attention!

Last night the cheeky monkey was feeding to sleep, half way there and I sneezed, he pulled off with a big start, looked up at me with big eyes and then relaxed and went "ah haha" and bit me as he reattached Cheeky boy.

I can't believe you've got 14 teeth! DS I coming up to 15mths and he's only got 5!!

You've done well to get so far - keep it up!

ETA: Can you keep some dried fruit or something near where you do the night feeds?? Might help?