Has anyone here breastfed their toddler during pregnancy? Anyone's doctor recommend weaning? Just wondering what to expect. My daughter is almost 2 1/2.
Has anyone here breastfed their toddler during pregnancy? Anyone's doctor recommend weaning? Just wondering what to expect. My daughter is almost 2 1/2.
persimmon / 1322 posts
I continued nursing my kiddo until she weaned herself when I was about 18 weeks along. She was 19 months, and I think my milk must have changed. We were also down to only nursing at bedtime at that point. My midwife was totally fine with me nursing, she just recommended that I up my calories by about 300 a day.
My supply did drop a bit when I got pregnant, but kiddo also wasn't nursing a ton at that point, I think about 4 times per day.
Nursing while pregnant was painful for me, especially from weeks 9-14. Due to that, and just how tired I was, we night weaned and then just nursed at bedtime from 13 weeks until she weaned herself.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
I could not stay pregnant while breastfeeding. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence as I know many women successfully nurse while pregnant.
apricot / 488 posts
I nursed till I was 6mo pregnant then I think my supply dropped and LO1 self weaned
clementine / 770 posts
I nursed for 3 months while pregnant and weaned because I didn't want to nurse 2 and wanted there to be at least a few month gap before I was nursing a newborn to avoid jealousy.
apricot / 286 posts
I'm almost 37 weeks and still nursing my 26 month old right before bed. It lasts about 10 seconds per side, and I don't think she's getting anything. But she's very attached to the routine. I honestly can't believe we're still doing this and I never had any intention of tandem nursing. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do once the baby comes.
nectarine / 2821 posts
Me! I am currently 17 weeks and almost weaned. My son is 2.5 at the end of the month, my goal is to be done by then. I don't have milk anymore, he says "no milk coming out!" But he still likes to "nurse" for nap. It's gotten very painful for me now that I really am dry.
My ob told me she wanted me weaned by 20 weeks, but she said it is her preference, not like "you have to do this". I actually switched because she explained it better than my previous doctor who said it black and white. They want you to quit because of a risk for contractions, but I didn't feel that it was too concerning to me, since I had a term baby previously, and no early losses aside from one that just stopped growing (so I assume chromosomal anomaly).
I decided to wean because of a few reasons. I would have considered tandem nursing if my son was younger, but since he will be 3 when the baby comes, I didn't want to go that route. I also thought it would be better to wean with enough space before the baby comes and he sees me nursing again! And last, for at least a few months "break" before I go full throttle into nursing a newborn!!!
Once I found out I was pregnant, I wanted to cut it down to set sessions so I could slowly wean. I was ultimately hoping he would self wean, but no dice! I started by finally night weaning him fully, although I still would nurse him starting at 6am. It was my snooze button and I needed that sleep! Once we really got set with that limit, maybe a month ago I cut out bedtime. That one went surprisingly well, even with me doing bedtime! About two weeks ago I bit the bullet and quit mornings. The first day I planned a special breakfast outing to hype up, but in hindset, any breakfast he liked would have worked! I am almost ready to do nap, but for me that's the hardest because he always falls asleep nursing, and I nurse him back to sleep halfway through.
Honestly, i can't believe we are finally almost done! I have really enjoyed nursing him and for us it's been such a special bond. I am so proud and pleasantly surprised by how well he did with my gradual weaning!
I wish you the best with whatever you end up doing. Congrats again on your pregnancy!
nectarine / 2821 posts
Two things to add. Sorry my response is so long! It's so fresh in my mind and this was a big thing for me. Which brings me to my second thing... I have two threads about the whole weaning process and nursing during early pregnancy which have great input from our lovely community! It's hard to link since i am on my phone, but take a look if you are interested!
persimmon / 1101 posts
I breastfed my toddler through pregnancy and a little beyond. My doctor didn't specifically ask so I didn't tell... Anyways I did have lots of contractions, but they always settled down within 5 minutes of nursing so I didn't worry. I cut it off pretty quickly towards the end because of the discomfort.
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
We weaned about 5 months in to my pregnancy. She was ready at 18 months and I was ready too (more sensitive and I found it uncomfortable to breastfeed).
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
I weaned when I was about 10 weeks pregnant. I was already working on weaning when I got pregnant and didn't want to change my plans. I never had any discomfort or anything like that. My doctor knew that my daughter was a young toddler when I got pregnant, but never brought up nursing or weaning at all.
persimmon / 1270 posts
I got a stomach flue at 26 weeks pregnant when LO1 was about 16 months old and it dried up whatever was left of my milk. We were nursing at night and at wake up. We weened in two days to WCM. I asked my midwives if I should try to get my milk back, but I really didn't want to nurse two kids so it all worked out. I know he was still getting a fair bit from nursing those two times.
I would not suggest a stomach flue at 26weeks pregnant as a good method, but it worked!
grapefruit / 4361 posts
For me, I can't get around the fact that breastfeeding causes uterine contractions and is supported by prolactin, both of which can causes miscarriages. It's not a "for sure" thing, but why up the risk factor? As someone with fertility and loss issues, I wouldn't risk it, personally. Didn't you do IUI for this cycle? I know you had a trigger?
grapefruit / 4418 posts
DD1 was 18 months when I got pregnant. One young doc with no kids wanted me to wean by 20 weeks, the other (with 3 kids of her own said I didn't have to). I had no intention to though, but I dried up and she self weaned around 15 weeks. I was over it. It was super painful and irritating. I was open to tandem, but in hindsight I'm so happy we weaned and she has enough time to forget all about it before baby came.
pomegranate / 3983 posts
I nursed through an entire pregnancy. I did limit the sessions but overall it went fine. I then tandem nursed for another year. I don't think I would have done it if LO1 was older but he was only a year old. The next time around lo2 was older so he self weaned over the first trimester as I lost my supply.
apricot / 275 posts
I wasn't really ready, but my 13 month old self- weaned when I was about 8-10 weeks, I think because I had dried up. I tried to push it a little to make sure it wasn't a phase but she was NOT interested.
pomegranate / 3350 posts
I nursed during my second and third pregnancies. First time was the entire pregnancy and then tandem nursed about 4.5 months. Second time!even I weaned about halfway through because he was almost 2and I was just done with it.
pineapple / 12793 posts
I nursed for seven month but had very little supply. My baby weaned at ten months and two years later I still don't feel good about it. I nursed my first for 15 months and am still nursing my third at 17 months. I never had supply issues with my other two so the pregnancy was definitely the problem.
apricot / 485 posts
I did but only for the first 12 weeks and then I was over it and weaned her. She was about 25mo when I weaned her. And no, my OB never suggested that I wean her or quit. She never said there were any issues. I just didn't want to tandem feed and it really hurt after about 8w. FWIW she only nursed 2x a day, one side only. So it's not like it was taking a lot out of me.
pomegranate / 3658 posts
I continued nursing until about 9 weeks pregnant. It was fine, though started to get more uncomfortable as I progressed. We were down to 2x/day, then dropped to 1x/day for a while, then weaned after I was 9 weeks pregnant.
honeydew / 7463 posts
@DesertDreams88: same. I'm actually on medication to reduce my elevated prolactin as part of my IVF protocol. And my prolactin isn't even CLOSE to what is needed to actually lactate.
That alone would make me extremely nervous.
grapefruit / 4291 posts
I nursed right through my second pregnancy and have now been nursing for almost five years straight! My supply was gone by 17 weeks but my big girl continued nursing once a day until her brother was about eight months old and she was 3y3m. It wasn't always comfortable but it was manageable in small amounts. Nursing gave me wicked braxton hicks contractions but didn't put me into labour and baby was five days overdue.
My third pregnancy ended in a missed miscarriage (no heartbeat at seven weeks but miscarriage didn't complete until ten weeks) but we nursed through and I've got no plans to wean while we try again.
And just as an FYI, it's the oxytocin that causes the uterine contractions and having an orgasm has the same effect so unless youve been advised to abstain from sex / orgasm then I wouldn't be concerned about nursing.
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