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

[Srrme]

Hi ladies! Does anyone know how likely it is to be ovulating once periods have returned? I mean is it probable or could I be having periods without ovulating due to bf? I have had 3 periods/ 2 cycles. First cycle was 52 days but second was 29 which is back to normal for me. What do you think my chances of being fertile are?! Also, LO still feeds a few times overnight, is this bad for fertility?

TIA for any answers!

You should be ovulating! I became pregnant right away, even while feeding my oldest every hour - two hours at night, and frequently during the day.

 

[Celesse]

So I've no cycle, DD is 13 months, no sign of cycle returning yet.
We want to TTC. Do we just wait it out?

Is she STTN yet? That made the difference for me.

She's STTN 5 nights out of 7, would it need to be constant?

It took about a month of STTN consistently 7pm-7am for me to ovulate (with DD) and for AF to return (with DS). Its hard to tell as we are all unique, but I would guess that every time she feeds at night it pushes your breastfeeding hormones up and your fertility hormones down so its harder to reach the threshold to trigger ovarian cycle.

 

[lauraclili]

Hi, can I ask some advice?

My daughter seems to have self weaned at just sort of 14 months and I found out today that I'm pregnant again, about 6 weeks. Is it likely the two are connected? Whenever I offer now she just latches on, bites me then comes off and shakes her head. :/

 

[TigerLady]

It could be self weaning, but is more likely a nursing strike at that age. Your milk doesn't usually change until second tri. Search the KellyMom site for nursing strike and read up on it. Only a little time will tell.

Congrats on the pregnancy!

 

[ssjad]

My son self weaned before i knew i was pregnant again.

 

[freddie]

Hi ladies! Does anyone know how likely it is to be ovulating once periods have returned? I mean is it probable or could I be having periods without ovulating due to bf? I have had 3 periods/ 2 cycles. First cycle was 52 days but second was 29 which is back to normal for me. What do you think my chances of being fertile are?! Also, LO still feeds a few times overnight, is this bad for fertility?

TIA for any answers!

You should be ovulating! I became pregnant right away, even while feeding my oldest every hour - two hours at night, and frequently during the day.

I really hope so... I have been doing OPKs this month and so far no positive I'm on CD17 now and feel like it should have happened already... So I am worried now that I am either not going to ovulate or it'll be really late and mean that my LP will be too short... Boo hoo Had been BDing every other day this past week as presumed I would be leading up to my fertile time but now I am wondering whether to leave it til I get a positive result, otherwise we'll be tired of it if it goes on too long ha ha! But then I'll be worrying we haven't done enough... Oh dear I need to stop over thinking this... If only!

 

[DrGomps]

I guess I need to wean and tandem feeding is out for me as I am expecting quads...struggling with weaning though!!!

 

[freddie]

I guess I need to wean and tandem feeding is out for me as I am expecting quads...struggling with weaning though!!!

Quads?!?!? OMG!! That's amazing!!

 

[Celesse]

I guess I need to wean and tandem feeding is out for me as I am expecting quads...struggling with weaning though!!!

I'm not an expert, just a mum who's breastfed through pregnancy and tandem breastfed. Random thoughts for you.....

It's ok to breastfeed during a "normal" pregnancy, but once your uterus starts getting bigger you start getting contractions when feeding. Once I was third tri the contractions were as bad as early labour. So the first thing that popped into my head when I saw you were expecting quads is that contractions + crowded uterus probably wouldn't be a good idea.

I've heard of people breastfeeding triplets. I'm sure quads is possible too. My understanding of feeding 3+ babies is it involves a bit of rotation. Older nursling can be vastly different in how much they nurse, so maybe once or twice a day would still be possible?

My second baby was ill and unable to nurse for a while. Having a toddler still nursing was great in helping the milk to come in. I guess some NICU stay with quads is likely and having a toddler nursing after expressing could bring milk in and supply up a lot quicker.

 

[freddie]

Just been reading this - quite interesting so thought I'd share! https://www.keeperofthehome.org/201...eastfeeding-vs-return-of-menstrual-cycle.html

 

[DrGomps]

celesse thats a good idea...my drs have adviced me to wean...we are down to one feed a day...I feel sad about.....she gets really upset...but less so now...we are still cosleeping....so thats the next step...

but I wonder if she will start nursing again when the babies come...we will probably get a hospital grade pump...rental most likely...I def am going to try and nurse them all...I love it!!

there is a chance we could end up with triplets...as one was measuring small and had a weaker heartrate...we will see what my scan friday shows...

 

[steph.]

well i officially dont belong on this thread anymore. Lo last breastfed 3 weeks ago today. I made the decision to wean for several reasons, but even so it was sad to say goodbye to it. At least now I can sit down on the couch without her constantly throwing a tantrum that she wants boob, I am happier and so is she.

Dr Gomps i dont know which feed your lo is still having, but mine was having a mid morning one. When she asked for it, i would give her a really good treat like an ice lolly or icecream and she would get distracted. She was a massive boob fan but forgot about it surprisingly fast.

 

[qpaulina42]

hello ladies,
hoping for some advice from those who did tandem nursing. Did you like it? Was it worth it? Would you have done it differently in hind sight? I've planning to tandem nurse if that's what LO1 wants but people keep telling me it will cause so much friction/rivalry between her and LO2. Would love to hear some stories! Thanks.

 

[Tacey]

hello ladies,
hoping for some advice from those who did tandem nursing. Did you like it? Was it worth it? Would you have done it differently in hind sight? I've planning to tandem nurse if that's what LO1 wants but people keep telling me it will cause so much friction/rivalry between her and LO2. Would love to hear some stories! Thanks.

Barring a couple of months when Alice stopped, I've been tandem nursing for a year now. For me, it wasn't the easiest thing. I had quite a bit of aversion when Alice nursed, and I cut her down to two feeds a day (actually, I made that rule when I was pregnant, the aversion actually improved a lot after Arthur was born.). I have such special memories though of Alice stroking Arthur as they nursed together, and even now they still hold hands, or break their latches to laugh at each other!

It's been nothing but positive for Alice. It's allowed her continuity of comfort, and I think an unspoken permission to still be my baby, even though her brother is here too. We've never had any sort of rivalry, which I'm sure is down to multiple factors, but I think tandem nursing has helped.

So yes, in short, it's been tiring for me, but fantastic for both of my children, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Edit: On a purely practical note, toddlers are very handy for the early days of nursing! My milk came in very quickly, Arthur didn't lose any weight, and when I had overly powerful letdowns, Alice could take the edge off before Arthur fed. She also sorted out a blockage I had after Arthur had a big growth spurt. I think any nursing mother needs a toddler

 

[qpaulina42]

Tacey, thanks! I know you also answered the same question in the toddler section for me.
on a sidenote, what other factors would you say contributed to less/no rivalry? I am keen to minimize rivalry if at all possible probably because I remember the horrible rivalry between my sister and I.

 

[Tacey]

Tricky to say, as I'm sure a big part of it is personality. Alice was also nearly 3, and very independent, which I think worked well. On the milk side of things, we emphasised that the baby could only have milk, where as she could have biscuits and pasta etc. to explain why she was limited, and Arthur wasn't. We talked a lot about babies and how much time they take up, and how she could help. We tried to be very laid back about her interacting with Arthur, and only stepped in if he was clearly unhappy. I also made sure to have one on one time with just her. Not always easy to manage, but I think it helped.

Hopefully your two will just click!

 

[DrGomps]

steph...mainly the night feed...we have now gone 24 hrs... so engorged...I know its for the best...I would have tandem fed if it was just one on the way...

 

[Celesse]

hello ladies,
hoping for some advice from those who did tandem nursing. Did you like it? Was it worth it? Would you have done it differently in hind sight? I've planning to tandem nurse if that's what LO1 wants but people keep telling me it will cause so much friction/rivalry between her and LO2. Would love to hear some stories! Thanks.

I think it causes less friction, or at least it did with us. Two children, two boobs. DD was 21 months when DS was born and when he was feeding she would come and join in and have the other boobie. She wasn't jelous as they had a side each and she wasn't bored or lacking for attention as she was part of the nursing. I would imagine it is a lot harder with a toddler who wants to play and is bored by the fact mummy is sat there hugging the baby instead of playing with them.

 

[steph.]

hello ladies,
hoping for some advice from those who did tandem nursing. Did you like it? Was it worth it? Would you have done it differently in hind sight? I've planning to tandem nurse if that's what LO1 wants but people keep telling me it will cause so much friction/rivalry between her and LO2. Would love to hear some stories! Thanks.

Barring a couple of months when Alice stopped, I've been tandem nursing for a year now. For me, it wasn't the easiest thing. I had quite a bit of aversion when Alice nursed, and I cut her down to two feeds a day (actually, I made that rule when I was pregnant, the aversion actually improved a lot after Arthur was born.). I have such special memories though of Alice stroking Arthur as they nursed together, and even now they still hold hands, or break their latches to laugh at each other!

It's been nothing but positive for Alice. It's allowed her continuity of comfort, and I think an unspoken permission to still be my baby, even though her brother is here too. We've never had any sort of rivalry, which I'm sure is down to multiple factors, but I think tandem nursing has helped.

So yes, in short, it's been tiring for me, but fantastic for both of my children, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Edit: On a purely practical note, toddlers are very handy for the early days of nursing! My milk came in very quickly, Arthur didn't lose any weight, and when I had overly powerful letdowns, Alice could take the edge off before Arthur fed. She also sorted out a blockage I had after Arthur had a big growth spurt. I think any nursing mother needs a toddler

Tacey i had never heard of breastfeeding aversion before, but i think this is what I had. Sometimes i was fine feeding her, and other times I would just want her off and would get really restless. I would pull her off before she was done, or wouldnt let her feed and inevitably she would get really upset. In end i thought I wasnt being fair on her by letting her feed sometimes, but not others and completely stopped. She has completely forgotten about the beloved "booo"(as she called it) but I feel a bit guilty.

 

[freddie]

I've been doing OPKs this month as am not sure what my cycles are up to at the moment... I was getting complete negatives until today when there is a bit of a second line so I'm *hoping that means I will ovulate in the next couple of days. However, I am now on CD23 and am wondering if it is a problem to ovulate this late? I don't know what my luteal phase is as this is first month using OPKs since pre pregnancy... If there was a long enough luteal phase, would ovulating late matter?

I will be happy to see a positive opk as it will mean I'm ovulating, which is a start but I'm just worried now that it's happening too late to make pregnancy viable

Anyone have any knowledge/ experience of this?