Breastfeeding when pregnant Chatter Thread

So, I just thought I'd start a thread for all of us out there who are breastfeeding while pregnant. I thought it might come in handy for anything that comes up, or if we want to share or ask anything :).

I found that breastfeeding made it harder to tell that I was pregnant to begin with. When I fell pregnant with DS I just knew, but this time round I had no clue! Also, I noticed lots of changes in my breasts when I was first pregnant with DS, but nothing this time round - I'm assuming because they're still in use!

Another thing I'm sort of concerned about is the possibility of DS weaning himself because I'm pregnant. I know it's fairly common.

Anyway, I hope someone else will come and talk to me :).

Hey

Im 10 weeks pregnant and still bf my 21 month old.

I totally agree:I found that breastfeeding made it harder to tell that I was pregnant to begin with. When I fell pregnant with DS I just knew, but this time round I had no clue! Also, I noticed lots of changes in my breasts when I was first pregnant with DS, but nothing this time round - I'm assuming because they're still in use!

My nipples are starting to change again though and are really sore,

Im actually hoping DS will self wean, He really went off the breast for a week or two, I thought we were done around week 7-8 of pregnancy,

but hes ravenous for them again
I definately want to wean him before I get a big belly.....

Sterla, I'm sorry I don't count, but I did bf while pg for 4 1/2 months. I was just like you - with DS1 I knew I was pg, just knew, before I even POAS. With DS2 I had no clue. DH knew as I was showing by 3 weeks (joys of falling pg again under a year), but I had no clue at all until he finally convinced me to POAS.

Sadly my DS1 was one of those toddlers who weaned himself. But the fact that I was working and he was already having fewer bfs wouldn't have helped either, and we still got half way through. I know many others who have got all the way through and been able to tandem feed so you have a good chance hun.

Thank you for starting this thread. It's a great idea. I'm going to move it into the breastfeeding area for you and let's hope we gets lots of people joining in!

Mum2Romone: Thanks for joining me :). Sounds like we've had similar experiences (you to MantaRay) with not knowing we were pregnant second time around.
I'm in two minds about whether I want DS to self wean while I'm pregnant. I think I'll be okay with it if DS is okay with it, but for now DS is so desperately dependent on his booby! I feed a fair bit through the day, especially in the morning, and I still feed him to sleep for his day sleep, and feed him to 'sleepy' when he goes to bed for the night. On top of that, I still feed him overnight. I would at least like to have DS night wean before 'Twinkle' comes along - getting up and feeding a toddler and a newborn through the night seems like far, far too much work!

MantaRay: Thanks for moving the thread, and you're welcome in here anytime to share your experience :D.

Oh can I join???

I did know I was pg straight away (because I saw my first ovulation signs and then felt all those twinges of early pg) but it took ages to show on the HPT. I have also had tender nipples on and off, so i knew something was up.

DD feeds to sleep and has two feeds in the day as well as a cluster feed session from about 5am. I don't know what I will do without the boobies!

I am in two minds about weaning. Part of me wuold love her to self wean, but only when she's over 2, because that was my goal. BUT I think its in the hands of the god/dess now. She is already saying "no milk" at some feeds, and I feel very empty. In fact my breasts are the smallest they've been in years (which is the opposite to my pg with DD when they were huuuge!)

The idea of her weaning makes me so sad, but there are some days/nights when I just want some peace and space! She is pretty obsessed though!!!

You're more than welcome Arcadia, come on in! :D I know exactly what you mean about being in two minds about weaning!

Oh great idea Sterla!!

I had no idea I would be pg either! I told DH 'I am DEFINITELY not pregnant this time' LOL.

I too was worried about DD weaning. I don't want her to wean before she would have chosen to if I wasn't pregnant. But I'm not so worried anymore. She is booby obsessed too and it hasn't seemed to have had any effect on her at all. My boobs have felt very empty too for a while but I have no idea if that means there was any less milk. DD is still happy and feeds exactly the same so I just assume there's no change. Lucky for me I don't get sensitive nipples or anything when pg so that hasn't been a problem.

However, in the last couple of weeks my boobs have grown heaps!! I'm not sure if they've grown due to pg or that I'm making more milk all of a sudden. It feels like more milk though, I can tell which side I fed off last again and they feel full. Odd! I have heard of supply decreasing when pg but not increasing!

DD is down to 3 or 4 feeds in 24hrs now. One for bed, one between 4 or 5 am and then one for her nap and some days another in the afternoon. I remember when she turned one she was still having 8 feeds in 24hrs!! But she has been gradually cutting them down herself and I haven't noticed it's had anything to do with being pg, just age and eating more. I would like to feed her until she's two and the next bub is due pretty much exactly when she turns two. So I could be tandem feeding I guess. I'm just going to go with the flow, working for me so far!

Hey Heaven, I was hoping you'd find this thread! :D
Lol about saying you were definitely NOT pregnant!
It sounds like you've developed a great attitude to the weaning issue! I think my main thing is wanting to get DS out of feeding to sleep, and perhaps having DH be able to get him to bed and get up to him in the night so I'm not getting up to two. Other than that, I am happy to tandem feed :).

Sterla- we night weaned DD VERY gradually I think starting at about 14 months. It took a while but I wanted to do it very gently. I just kept extending the time between feeds. She must have been ready for it bc it wasn't difficult at all and it made a HUGE difference to her sleep. She now sleeps through EVERY NIGHT!! And you know that for us that is a bloody miracle. She sleeps from around 8.30 to 4.30 then has a feed and goes back to sleep until 6am. But also it has helped her to go to sleep without a feed! I still feed her to sleep at night and for her nap but if she doesn't go to sleep during the feed then I just lay with her and tell her to lie down and close her eyes and she cuddles up to me and eventually goes to sleep. And if she does happen to wake up in the night we can just put her in with us and she'll roll around and get comfy and go to sleep without a feed at all. So much easier. So it can be done and you don't have to wean or anything! I think age has helped a lot too, she really gets the whole sleep thing now. She knows you have to lie down and close your eyes and she looks forward to going to bed at night. Anyways, just wanted to give you some hope!! lol. I thought we would never get to this stage and was worried about what would happen when the next baby was here!!

Oh and I had my first hospital appt last week. They were asking me how I had fed my DD and I said BF and she's still breastfeeding. And the midwife replied 'oh good on you! That's great! That's no problem, when the new bub comes along the only thing you have to do is feed them first and you can still keep BF no problems'. I thought that was pretty cool! Wasn't expecting negativity but not such a positive response either!

Heaven: Thanks for all that advice regarding night weaning. That is so amazing that your DD sleeps so well now!!! I think once I've reached the 12 week mark and know for sure this is all happening (yes, I am still in denial, lol) then I'll go about starting to night wean. DS is already becoming easier to get to bed for the night anyway. Most nights now, I give him a feed before bed but he doesn't actually fall asleep - then I take him to his cot, put him down, put his covers over him and leave the room. I then go and turn the monitor on and can hear him move about, maybe talk a little - but he falls asleep all on his own, so I know we are certainly on the way!
And that is so, so awesome that the midwife was so positive about b/f when pregnant and tandem feeding! How great to have such a positive response! :D

We are still going well - I think my nipples are starting to become a little sensitive though. When DS latches on it sometimes makes me jump a little, lol.

How is everyone else doing?

Another thing I was going to mention...

So far, every time I've told some one I'm pregnant they have asked what that means for breastfeeding -everyone seems to assume that I have to give up breastfeeding while pregnant. I'm glad I can educate them :).

ugh, now we're missing heaps of posts :(

So, how's everyone going?

Hi girls!!

Sterla just pointed me over to this thread :D

I just found out we're expecting #2 and we're very excited!! :hooray: having a May bub!!

DD is 19mo and has about 3 feeds during the day and 1 feed for bedtime (although lately she isn't really needing that one anymore, its very quick!!) and occasionally one during the night around 4am but generally she is sleeping through now!!! :dance: which is wonderful. We night weaned her at 14mths and she was ready and it only took 8 days, did it gently and she would only wake for a cuddle and back to sleep.....
So about 4 feeds in 24hrs now we are down too lately!! Which is working well.
I'm only feeding from one side now, DD weaned herself from L side at 14mo :( which was sad but it was always hard for her as it's a flat nipple she never liked it and we always had breast refusal on and off on that side anyway. So thankfully my boobs don't look uneven as we only feed from R side :lol:
Because we only use one nipple it can get tender now that I'm pg so that's been another challenge lately but we'll get there, we always do ;) nothing stops us!! We have overcome so many BF challenges to be where we are today, soooo proud of DD and me!! Just hope it eases up soon..... its only really uncomfortable at the start of a feed.
DD has always been a boob-a-holic and I think will be for some time...... no signs of slowing down really. She loves her milk.

Chat to you all soon!

Thought I should pop in here and see how everyone is going?

No signs of DS slowing down here - nothing in the breastfeeding department feels different yet, not really. I will admit I've been struggling a bit while suffering with morning sickness. Being nauseous or bloated all the time for weeks on end is having it's toll, and I some nights when I'm feeding DS to sleep I really don't want to be doing it. Plus. I'm finding I have less tolerance when he's trying to do the toddler breastfeeding gymnastics :rolleyes:. These feelings come and go though, depending on how crappy I feel that day, or how tired I am. I just can't wait for the second trimester so I can feel normal again!
I still haven't made any attempt at night weaning, but you know what - recently DS has done a few sleep throughs! He had never done this before, ever, and now he's done it 3 or 4 times in the past couple of weeks! With any luck he could just start sleeping though, so night weaning wouldn't be an issue! I can dream anyway :).

I have my first scan tomorrow, so am quite nervous and excited about that. Maybe this whole pregnancy will finally start feeling real!

I hope everyone else is doing well, and I hope those we may have lost when BB crashed find us again!

Hi everyone!

We're still feeding here, but my nipples are tender again this week. DD is also night weaned, but she wants boob as soon as she wakes up in the morn, which is EARLY these days...like 5:30am! She is so hungry in the morning and I know I basically have no milk, because she feeds and then wants a drink and then starts asking for cereal :(

We're down to 3-4 feeds now, which suits me, but some days I would happily give it away...but then I love being able to put her to sleep instantly, and its my secret weapon against whinging/meltdowns.

Needless to say I am feeling very meh about feeding atm...but we'll plug on because I know its actually best and easiest for both of us.

Hi everyone, how are we all going?

I'm not 100% sure yet, but DS may be weaning :cry:.

Thread here: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ng-146589.html

I guess the next few days will tell me what's going on, but if he is weaning it is very sudden and unexpected, and I'm not quite ready to be honest. I guess we'll see.

I need a serious pep talk. Poor DD is asking for boobie a lot at the moment and I just.can't.bring.myself.to.say.yes! We currently feed to sleep (so nap and bedtime) and then I USED to feed her in the morning and for comfort when hurt etc. Now I have stopped the morning feed ("mummy doesn't want to" :() as well as all comfort feeds. Heck I am even struggling with the feed to sleep stuff (meaning I have been using the pram for sleeps almost every day of late.

Now its started for her bedtime...she is sooo tired some nights and would fall asleep in a few minutes if I could handle it, but I grit my teeth and swear and then take her off...Argh!

Its a combination of tender nipples and just feeling over it!

Gah, I don't know. She is 2 in December, and I think part of me feels like I am failing if I give up so close to my goal (2 years). But then again I don't WANT it to end like this. I don't want to stop feeding her, or providing that comfort. I also don't want to come up with another way to get her to sleep at night (yes I'm slack).

I also feel the growing pressure from my family to "do something before the new baby comes"...including moving her out of my bed (its never going to happen).

Thanks for reading if you got this far. Just a pity party really....