Breastfeeding While Pregnant? Anyone?

I personally don't have experience with it but I have a cousin that was nursing twins and then had a third child and nursed all 3 of them for a long time with no problems.
J.

I personally have never nursed while pregnant, my kids are too far apart, but I have many friends who have, and its perfectly safe. Your uterus doesn't respond to nipple stimulation until the last month of pregnancy, so unless you are high risk for preterm labor, nursing during pregnancy is just fine.

Congratulations! I have bf while pregnant twice. It is almost always safe to bf while pregnant - even if you have a history of PTL it is often fine to bf during the 1st trimester. It can cause contractions late in pregnancy (there is NO miscarriage risk associated with bf'ing), but for most women these are harmless (like BH, or the contractions after having sex in later pregnancy). Your body will first provide for the fetus, then your nursing child, then you - so it is much more important to eat well, drink lots of water, take your PNV's (your doctor may recommend extra vitamins and a calcium supplement) - to take care of yourself. I also increased my calorie intake by about 400 (plus the 300 for the pregnancy). The first time my son was also 10 months old and nursing frequently - I did cut him back to night and morning at a year because of bad morning sickness, then he weaned himself at 14 months, I think when I started producing colostrum. I am now 21 weeks pregnant with my 4th child and my 18 month old weaned about a month ago, so at about the same point as my 3 y/o. I didn't have the same m/s issues with this baby. Good luck!

M.,

I want to recommend the book Adventures in Tandem Nursing. It has a lot of good information on nursing while pregnant. kellymom.com is also a good resource for information about bf in general. I also really love the discussion boards at mothering.com. There is a forum called Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy where there is often discussion of tandem nursing.

It is not true that you should never nurse during pregnancy. A normal uterus doesn't respond to nipple stimulation until very late in pregnancy. Of course, you need to check w/your doctor or midwife for your specific situation. (But if your doctor says no as a matter of course, rather than specific to YOU, I"d find a different doctor)

I nursed all through my second pregnancy and am currently tandem nursing. My experience was that sometimes it was hard and sometimes it wasn't so bad. My milk supply was reduced pretty early in pregnancy, but never completely dried up. From my own research, it seems like supply during pg is highly variable. Lots of women swear by a daily bowl of oatmeal to keep their supply up.

Do your research and be firm in your decision if you decide you want to tandem nurse. Your milk provides the best nutrition for both your babies.

L.

Hi. I breastfeed while pregnant and continued to tandem nurse for over a year. I was about the same as you - my older child was 10 months old when I got pregnant with the second. Be prepared that when you are about 5 months along, it may hurt - but just during latch on. I didn't know any one else who attempted this so I didn't expect the pain and thought that he was biting me. I would tell him to stop biting - I felt so bad afterwards when I found out that sensation was normal. I hope that doesn't make you want to stop - I'm just telling you what I went through - because even with that sensation, I still continued to nurse and it was awesome. When the baby was born it really helped to ease the transistion and I had Plenty of milk for the two. In fact, it helped me out A Lot b/c the older child would nurse when I was engorged. I remember back to those days and I remember the toddler and baby would hold hands while they'd nurse. I found a way to nap with the two of them by propping the baby up on pillows to nurse. What I would give to go back to that time and experience that peace and joy again.

Oh, and I just recalled (how much you forget as time goes on) - my labor was dragging on in the beginning and I wasn't sure if it was the real thing (I had been induced the first time so I didn't really know what to expect). I remember laying down with my older son and reading books to him. I nursed him and I think it helped get the contractions going. It was such a nice way to go into labor the second time!

Good for you!

Take care,
M.

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I'm tandem nursing my 3 yr old and 9 month old. It was uncomfortable nursing during pregnancy sometimes. I found that continuing to nurse my older child helped with jealousy issues after the new baby was born.

Hi M.,

Congratulations. I actually had a similar request about bfing my daughter (now just 2 years) a few months ago. I am currently 18 weeks with baby 2. I contacted my lactation consultant. She indicated that there can be a small hypothetical risk with bfing early on, but it is usually in the first few weeks to month. She said to note spotting, etc. In my case, she said that there were no issues to have me not continue nursing. She also said that I should make sure that I had sufficient vitamins, etc ( I have found a supplement with non-fish oil omega 3 to be helpful. )

My bigger concern was the colestrum (probably wrong spelling but too tired to go and look it up) for the new baby's immune system at birth. She said that the premilk comes in just the same because of the delivery (birthing process). The only suggestion that she gave (recommendation actually) was to nurse new baby first and then nurse my daughter.

I hope that this helps. I read the other responses that did not address this aspect.

C.

M.,

I had a nursing 11 month old when I became pregnant again. I continued to nurse until he was 15 months. My midwives never said ANYTHING about a risk to my baby while I was pregnant and nursing. I weaned Charlie at 15 months for several reasons, but the main reason was that it was just getting too uncomfortable for me to nurse, my tummy was getting too big (I was 5 months PG), and my breasts and nipples were so sore that nursing was no longer fun for me! My midwives did encourage me to try weaning around that time, as my body needed more energy and resources to grow the new baby, but NOT due to any danger to the new baby.

I was exhausted a lot of the time while nursing and being pregnant, so I was ready to wean when I did. And, I think my son was ready to. He had NEVER slept through the night before I weaned him and after he was weaned for about 4 or 5 days, he started sleeping all night, which really helped me get needed rest.

My sister-in-law tandem nursed my neice and nephew and really encouraged me to do the same, but for me, weaning mid pregnancy was what worked best. Tandem nursing for her she said was great because it helped the older child stay connected with mom while getting used to new baby. Plus, she says that the older child seemed to really understand the the baby needed the nursing more than she did, and shared Mom pretty well.

Good luck, and congrat's!

You know, I just don't know. I became pregnant when my daughter was 7 months old and continued to breastfeed her. I was exhausted and sick frequently. I actually ended up miscarrying my child but I also have a history of miscarriages and had the flu with a fever of over 102, so it may not have had anything to do with nursing at the same time. My midwives said it was fine for me to do both, but I think if that happens again, I may switch to formula just to be safe. My milk supply dried up with that child's death so I had to switch my daughter to formula at 9 months regardless. I just get the feeling that no one really knows for sure.

Congrats!!! I'm so glad you wrote this post. I also just found out I'm about 8 weeks pregnant, and I'm nursing my 9 month old. I have been asking around and everyone on the internet says it's just fine. but no one that i know personally has ever heard of the idea and seem to think it's dangerous. but then again, most of those ppl formula fed.

I'd ask your doctor for sure. I know someone who was pregnant and nursed a long time. I think at her 3rd try she weaned the oldest. I think there might be a risk as the PP stated with the uterus contracting but ask your doctor to make sure you are choosing the best decision for you and your unborn child and the child that benefits from your breastmilk:) Oh, congrats on the pregnancy too! How exciting.

M. what great news about your newest baby on the way. I was 23 weeks along when I found out I was going to have my second little boy (actually I found out I was pregnant for sure, it's a boy and that I was 23 weeks along all in one day!). Anyway it is completely fine. Some doctors will say that you should give yourself a little break however I didn't. The biggest thing was they warned me that my current child my not be getting enough, however he never acted as if he wasn't getting enough nurishment. I was planning on tandem nursing when Andrew weened himself before William was born. Do what feels right...don't let others tell you what you should and should not do. It's added stress that you and the new baby no the way just do not need. Good Luck with everything. L.

My son was about 10 mo. old when I found out I was PG too. He chose to stop nursing a short time later. I was kinda sad about that but he didn't want that anymore. I think there was a difference once I was PG, only he knows. Good luck with your new babies and remember to enjoy your son now because this is the only time you will have just him.

I've heard that in some cases, nursing while you are pregnant can cause you to miscarry or go into early labor (due to the contractions that nursing causes). It might be worth at least checking out.

Don't know about BF while pregnant, but moms of multiples tandem nurse all the time. I've known a few mothers of twins, and they were able to do it just fine. A little tiring, but with twins, that's just how it goes!

I can't speak from experience, but I've been told my many people that if you're pregnant, you should not breastfeed. Breastfeeding actually causes your uterus to contract, and if there is a baby in there, you could go into labor and end up miscarrying. Plus, the milk your body makes to feed your 10 month old is completely different than your body would make for a new born. If you are able to carry your baby to full term while nursing, would you really want to nurse your 10 month old the same milk that your newborn should be getting, or vise-versa? At 10 months old, he might be almost ready to wean...if I were you, I'd avoid the risk of losing your new baby and start weaning your 10 month old within a few months...but I'd check with your pediatrician and OBGYN first. Good luck.