TTC/Pregnancy while Breastfeeding and Tandem Nursing: Information and Support

[NDH]

Anyone else have really sore nipples still at 18 weeks pregnant. We still nurse twice a day morning and night but is sooooo sore everytime she first latches Im flinching in anticipation everytime. Will it get better?

I had a biter from before I fell preg to 19 weeks so I was always flinching in anticipation. Hard to say I'd they would have been sensitive enough without the biting.

 

[Dk1234]

Mine are just getting sore at 16 weeks. Ouch

 

[Tacey]

So today DD is 3 and I've stopped nursing her.

Hopefully, the sudden reduction in nursing will give m fertility a chance to return..... though not until middle of April as I don't want another Christmas baby. A January baby would be much better!!! That said DS is back co-sleeping due to some nasty teeth giving him bother so he may be enough by himself to keep fertility at bay!!

Good luck with ttc, happy birthday to your dd, and congratulations on the end of your nursing journey - well, with her at least!

 

[LuckyD]

Mine are still sore - have to prepare myself every time she latches on!

 

[purple_kiwi]

So I am breastfeeding we have been ntnp for a couple months now, as I want all 3 close in age and it will most likely be our last one. She sleeps through the night and feeds through the day off and on and then before bed and naps.
Last time I breastfed for 18 months and the month I stopped I got pregnant that same month (we were ntnp for a bit also at this time). I have only had 2 periods and they started again in january I'm not sure if I've ovulated though as we were just trying a ntnp attempt so didn't pay to much attention. I am kind of feeling that it will be another of me not getting pregnant till I fully stop feeding. I don't really want to wean though to get pregnant again though. So any tips? or helpful links?

 

[emmalg]

I was TTC for 5 months but didn't think i was ovulating so decided to check by monitoring my BBT, it's the only way you can confirm ovulation has taken place. Despite being up at various times of the night and having a really spiky graph I was able to see when I ovulated (which I had) and time BD accordingly. I got pregnant the first month!

 

[dinosaur2010]

Hi, just looking for advice if you think this will work to jump start my period:
Had my first period in Feb and nothing since- this didn't surprise me though as my dd has been teething and feeding way more often.
She's back to her usual self now and I've stopped breastfeeding her during the day- I have started to give her a morning feed while we are still in bed, then when we get up- I pump as much as poss and give her that throughout the day in her sippy cup (along with her meals and snacks).
Then I give her a bedtime breastfeed and breastfeed her in the night if she wakes (usually about 3 short feeds)
Do you think this sounds enough of a change to kick start my periods again? I hear that the more sudden the change, the more your body reponds? It's been a pretty sudden change from about 5-6 breastfeeds/day up until yesterday- then today 10 hour stretch with no breastfeeds!

Just to let anyone know who is thinking about trying this- I started on Friday and Tues morning (today) AF arrives! So it def works. I had been adding in one afternoon feed to this too so it did the trick! This was a 40 day cycle for me in the end!

 

[mumandco]

Someone please tell me that nursing agitation won't rub off onto my newborn I'm really really not liking feeding Zack at the moment most of the time he has an awful latch and it hurts and feels awful. I'm praying I don't dislike feeding the baby

 

[Tacey]

Someone please tell me that nursing agitation won't rub off onto my newborn I'm really really not liking feeding Zack at the moment most of the time he has an awful latch and it hurts and feels awful. I'm praying I don't dislike feeding the baby

In my experience, it was almost miraculously different. I didn't get any issues at all nursing Arthur, and the feeing nursing Alice was much better after the birth too. Hang in there!

 

[roomaloo]

My nips are getting progressively more sore since 12 weeks. Ouch!

 

[mumandco]

Someone please tell me that nursing agitation won't rub off onto my newborn I'm really really not liking feeding Zack at the moment most of the time he has an awful latch and it hurts and feels awful. I'm praying I don't dislike feeding the baby

In my experience, it was almost miraculously different. I didn't get any issues at all nursing Arthur, and the feeing nursing Alice was much better after the birth too. Hang in there!

I hope so,I feel so bad right now but I mentally can't allow him to feed from me and when he does it has to be in short bursts otherwise I can feel myself getting fidgety and hating it. He's more or less weaned now probably due to me not allowing him to feed as much,he hasn't minded though thankfully,will be interesting to see of hel start back up again when my milk comes in

 

[Celesse]

My nursing agitation was very specifically aimed at my older child even when nursing both children at the same time.

I could look at my baby and thing "aww he's so cute", then look over at my daughter and think "spit out the boobie, please spit out the boobie, PLEASE get off me now!!!!!!!".

 

[emmalg]

I think this is probably quite a natural reaction when a child reaches a certain age or a pregnancy or birth of another child occurs.

I never though I would BF this long and I want to carry on up to the point it still feels right, but human social preconceptions about BF seem to swing from one extreme to the other, children should be weaned at "X months", FF, whatever or children should be allowed to self-wean.

Take a look at all sorts of other mammals, they don't go for "baby-led weaning", the mother gets up and walks off, earlier into the feed as time progresses, and she has no social preconceptions of what she is doing. Maybe her reaction is led by hormones.

Maybe you do feel less comfortable feeding your older child now (thank you for sharing as it is preparing me for what is to come), but you shouldn't feel bad about it. There must be other influences at work within your bodies making you feel that way.

Of course how you manage it is up to all of you as individuals, I just wanted to share a thought that might make you feel better for the way you feel right now.

 

[Celesse]

Ladies, Wobbles has kindly transferred ownership of the OP over to me. Is there anything or any information you would like or find useful in the opening post?

 

[gardenofedens]

Hi ladies! I am so glad there is a thread about nursing during pregnancy! I have a 7 month old daughter who still nurses on demand while we follow BLW. She still hasn't started teething either so we still do a ton of nursing. Anyway I found out this weekend I'm about five weeks pregnant and I'm pretty sure my milk supply has already decreased. She hasn't gained any weight in two weeks which is unusual for her. I went to a breastfeeding support group/lactation consultant yesterday and found it to be a complete waste of time since she just suggested pushing more solids to wean even though I said I wanted to keep nursing through pregnancy and eventually tandem nurse until dd is ready to give it up.

So, what can I do to keep my supply up for dd and still be safe for my growing baby? Thank you!

 

[Celesse]

It's normal for their weight gain to be less after 6 months and when they start solids. Breast milk is so nutritious that the extra space in their tummies used for solids can mean a dip in weight for some babies in the first few weeks of solids. And demand and supply usually match, so it could just be coincidence and related to starting BLW recently rather than the pregnancy.

From what I've seen the supply of women with younger babies (less than a yr) whilst they are pregnant do better than the supply of women with toddlers. I'd just keep nursing her as often as she needs.

I found first thing to go was my let down, rather than supply making it impossible to express from very early in the pregnancy even though my daughter continued to be able to get a decent meal from the breast.

 

[jcg0506]

Hi ladies! I am so glad there is a thread about nursing during pregnancy! I have a 7 month old daughter who still nurses on demand while we follow BLW. She still hasn't started teething either so we still do a ton of nursing. Anyway I found out this weekend I'm about five weeks pregnant and I'm pretty sure my milk supply has already decreased. She hasn't gained any weight in two weeks which is unusual for her. I went to a breastfeeding support group/lactation consultant yesterday and found it to be a complete waste of time since she just suggested pushing more solids to wean even though I said I wanted to keep nursing through pregnancy and eventually tandem nurse until dd is ready to give it up.

So, what can I do to keep my supply up for dd and still be safe for my growing baby? Thank you!

You can try eating a lot of oatmeal (or oats in any form) or try an herbal supplement called More Milk Two. Neither worked for me, but they do for some people. Of course, make sure you're eating and drinking enough. Most likely, if your supply is dropping, your lo will increase solids on her own, though if weight gain does become a problem (and pp is right about weight gain slowing down at this age) then you might need to supplement. My lo was 9 months when I got pregnant and lost a couple of ounces by 12 months. My doctor wasn't too worried, but I did decide to start him on cow's milk at the time. It was a really agonizing decision, and I felt terrible that I couldn't meet his needs on my own, but it was the best thing for us. My supply got very low but has never dried up completely and he continued to nurse. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I'll be tandem nursing. Good luck!
Ps. I too got tired of everyone, including a lactation consultant, suggesting that weaning was just the inevitable end. I think I really only got support from this thread to keep going. You can do it.

 

[gardenofedens]

I assume if I let her continue to comfort nurse as often as possible my body will know to make more milk so I've been getting her do that. Is brewers yeast safe in pregnancy? That helped increase my supply a few months ago when af returned. I'm not a fan of oatmeal but I'll give it a try. I'll do whatever it takes! Thanks for the help ladies, I really appreciate it!

 

[jcg0506]

I think the brewer's yeast would be fine. The LC I spoke with recommended something like that but I didn't try it. You can try nursing more but the whole supply and demand cycle gets messed up during pregnancy. You might as well try it all. And try oatmeal cookies if you don't like oatmeal cereal

 

[gardenofedens]

I think the brewer's yeast would be fine. The LC I spoke with recommended something like that but I didn't try it. You can try nursing more but the whole supply and demand cycle gets messed up during pregnancy. You might as well try it all. And try oatmeal cookies if you don't like oatmeal cereal

yep, I hid the brewers yeast in oatmeal cookies before so thats my plan again thanks!