Pregnant & breastfeeding

[WDWJess]

Hi I posted in the sticky thread but it appears nobody really posts in there!

We've just discovered we're pregnant with number 4. Complete shock, guessing I'm about 10 weeks on already! Currently nursing our youngest who is just 9 months.
He's been really fussy on the breast for weeks now pulling off and on regularly, making my nipples sore. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to make sure this isn't the end of his breastfeeding journey? My daughter self-weaned the same time I fell pregnant with my youngest when she was 19 months. Would feel so sad if this pregnancy causes my 9 month old to stop!

Any advice would be welcomed gratefully x

 

[jessmke]

It could be that your milk supply is starting to decrease. My daughter starting doing this when I was about 3 months pregnant (she was 12 months old), we managed another month or so before she stopped nursing completely. In that month though there were clearly times when she was frustrated at the breast so I don't think she was getting much milk. Luckily she was older than you LO so I could just give her food or pumped milk from my freezer stash. Keep an eye on your LO's weight, if gain stops/slows then your supply is starting to dry up and you'll want to look into supplementing with formula. Or you can try offering formula when he gets fussy and see if that helps settle him. I think supply starts to come back for most women in the third trimester, so he could dry nurse while getting formula in a bottle, then when your supply comes back he could go back onto the breast exclusively.

 

[WDWJess]

Thanks jessmke. Had a really bad night with him last night so was thinking I might introduce formula for his bedtime feed and see if that helps but was worried it might make my supply issue even worse?! He eats loads of solids through the day to be fair so him losing weight really isn't an issue. I have his next developmental check up in a couple of weeks so will mention it then.

Love your photo by the way. I grew up with a golden retriever. She was 7 months older than me and she is in all my baby photos!

 

[6lilpigs]

I was breastfeeding my toddler, 2, when pregnant with my last, and he would go onto the boob and then let go and tell me, 'Spicy' or 'Sour'. He started to only take from one side. So the taste of the milk becomes spicy or sour to a babies palate rather than the sweet their used to, this could be the reason why babies usually self wean at this point, my others also self weaned when I became pregnant previously but they were too young to tell me the reason lol

 

[WDWJess]

I was breastfeeding my toddler, 2, when pregnant with my last, and he would go onto the boob and then let go and tell me, 'Spicy' or 'Sour'. He started to only take from one side. So the taste of the milk becomes spicy or sour to a babies palate rather than the sweet their used to, this could be the reason why babies usually self wean at this point, my others also self weaned when I became pregnant previously but they were too young to tell me the reason lol

Bless him. That's interesting to know. Really don't want this to be the end of our breastfeeding journey for my baby though

 

[becsboo]

doesnt have to be the end you can continue to bf and tandem feed

 

[aidensxmomma]

I'm still breastfeeding my 13 month old and I'm 8+6 weeks today. My son goes through times where he wants to nurse but then constantly pulls off and other times where he seems okay. I know my supply has decreased and he's not nursing as much now, but we're still sticking with it. I don't have much advice, but you're not the only one going through this

 

[WDWJess]

I'm still breastfeeding my 13 month old and I'm 8+6 weeks today. My son goes through times where he wants to nurse but then constantly pulls off and other times where he seems okay. I know my supply has decreased and he's not nursing as much now, but we're still sticking with it. I don't have much advice, but you're not the only one going through this

Congratulations to you. I'll hopefully be joining you in May Marvels but as I'm completely guessing my due date based on when symptoms started I'm waiting until my first scan to be sure. Will be lovely to share this pregnancy & breastfeeding journey with you x

 

[Teaplease]

I fed my then two year old throughout my last pregnancy. I was lucky. I kept producing milk until about 30 weeks then I could really tell I was dry. It hurt. Then colostrum came in at 33weeks and my two year old got "colostrum poops". It was pretty weird feeding them both once my youngest was born. And I got horrendous nursing aversion when giving night boob to My older nursling. I guess it's Mother Nature. But that past and she's still having night boob at nearly 4 but down to just three minutes. Trying to stop it.

I'm now very early pregnant again and having sore nips. Let down seems to be taking longer or maybe I'm imagining it.