Tandem Nursing - Colorado Springs,CO

I would also call a Lactation Consultant about the supplements. Fenugreek is great, but NOT for pregnant women as it can cause contractions. Good luck.

It's possible you will lose your milk and your 13 mo will have to stop nursing, not saying that it will happen just that it is possible. Also your milk may become very bitter to your 13 mo and he may stop nursing because of that. If you eat right and keep hydrated you should be fine.

I got pregnant when my daughter was 13 months old. She continued to nurse until 1 month before my son was born. I did lose my milk supply somewhere in there, but she was content just suckling. She has tried to nurse a few times since my son has been born, but it's more funny than comforting.
Some other women suggested La Leche League - I knew a few moms in my chapter who tandem nursed, with great success. One older child commented on the changed taste of the milk, but said it was positive. In our LLL library there is a book on tandem nursing.

Congratulations and good luck!

I very highly recommend contacting the LLL and attending some meetings. They have books you can borrow on tandem nursing and it is so fun to get together with other breastfeeding mothers and talk about issues with nursing. Tandem nursing information and help was discussed in several of the meetings I attended.

You can find your local LLL by going to this website. http://www.llli.org/

As for your milk supply, I don't know what supplements are safe now that you are pregnant. I suggest asking your doctor about it at your 1st appointment.

Hi J.--
You are awesome! I am planning on tandem nursing so I have also been looking into this quite a bit. You have gotten amazing responses, but I just wanted to say that nursing is nutritional (and better in so many ways than other things) after the 12-month mark. Your milk doesn't suddenly change and lose its nutrition. That belief is a lingering barb from the formula campaign a few generations ago.

From hearing what others say at La Leche, some people are able to keep their milk up during pregnancy and others don't. I don't know the difference. There may not be much you can do to keep your milk up. I don't have personal experience though, so I'd ask at a La Leche meeting.

Ditto the first mama's advice. Find support and accurate information, because there is a lot of misinformation and cultural bias out there that can cause you to second guess your decision. It's wonderful that your son is still nursing and that you wish to continue that beautiful relationship. Great job!

Smiles,
H.

call a La Leche League leader asap! They are a huge help.
www.llli.org to find one in your area...one of our leaders is tandem nursing now and would probably have very good advise.

You might want to talk to the ladies at the La Leche league. Many of them have experienced tandem nursing. Several of my girlfriends have done it with no trouble. It sounds like you're already doing what you need to do - taking extra care with hydration and nutrition.

As for me, I would have gladly done tandem nursing, but my daughter self-weaned when I was 20 weeks along with my son. My milk supply had diminished, and she told me it tasted different, too. I think my body had decided that I needed the resources for the new kid. So just in case, you may want to give your son more opportunity to eat and drink new things now, along with nursing, so that if your milk supply does go, (or if, heaven forbid, you develop any complications that require you to give it up), both you and he will be better prepared for the transition. At 13 months or later, you should be able to interest him in cows' milk or goats' milk and "big people food" instead of dealing with formula. If your milk's taste changes, your son may decide that he likes other food better, just as my daughter did.

Oh, and be forewarned before you go in for your appointment tomorrow, some doctors' first kneejerk reaction if you're pregnant and nursing is to tell you to stop nursing immediately. I researched this, and unless there is a specific reason, this is badly outdated advice. If your doctor gives such advice, you may want to ask for supporting reasons, and seek a second opinion, or possibly a new doctor. If it does prove necessary to seek out a more supportive practitioner, I'll bet the La Leche League ladies would be able to recommend somebody.

My advice is to talk to your health advisor it is NOT wise to nurse while pregnant. You can hurt your health you childs health and the babys health. Just please DO NOT DO IT. Talk to a doctor. BE SMART.

about me I'm an older mom of five 28 to 16 all but one at home.

My only advice is you MUST increase your calorie intake each day to keep up with the growing baby AND producing milk. You should already be eating 300-400 more due to breastfeeding and now another 300-400 more for the new baby!
I got pregnant when my daughter was 7-8 months old (oopps) and my milk went down right away! I tried for weeks to keep up, but I was starving ALL the time and just couldn't get in the calories required.
I didn't want to harm my new growing baby and I didn't want my daughter to be underfed. So I made the hard decision to wean her.
Since she was starting to eat more and more real food and was already on a one bottle of formula a day (at night) it was hard on her at all. I think I took it harder.

I have no opinion on tandem nursing, but I will say that over a year, the need for mothers milk isn't no longer a nutritional need. It is something you are doing more for the two of you.
Just make sure you are taking care of you and the growing baby first and foremost!
Good luck on the new baby!

Well I don't neccesarily have any advice at the moments... too tired to really think about it, but just wanted to tell you that I am 38 weeks pregnant right now myself and have nursed my son through this entire pregnancy. He is still happily nursing (2 years old). Off and on I have sore nipples but it's not usually too bad. It can be done... don't let anyone tell you that you have to stop if you don't want to. You will probably get a lot of grief about it and a lot of people telling you to stop... but if your not ready don't!
Feel free to email me off list if you just want to talk, or you want to know how it goes for me after my baby comes! Another good resource I'm sure you could find advice on is www.mothering.com on the forums.
Congratulations and good luck.... make sure you rest!!
S.
p.s. I would also get some really good whole food prenatal vitamins, it's amazing how much better I feel on those than on walmart brand!

Just increase your diet. Make sure you are drinking much more fluid, high qualily foods, and get the best suppliments you can find (my opinion on that is SHAKLEE www.shaklee.net/anbwr) and rest your body.

One great thing about tantum nursing is the post partum period when you become engorged...your older baby will be happy to help you relieve the discomfort.

Ugh, and don't let people tell you silly thing like it's dangerous. You just have to take care of yourself. If you can eat properly and hydrate yourself well, you'll be good, your baby baby will be good, and your new baby will aslo be good! Women do this all the time.

Hi J.!

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I applaud your desire and efforts to tandem breastfeed, I hope that I have the opportunity to do so myself in the coming months...

Motherlove is a company that specializes in natural, herbal products for pregnancy, labor, postpartum and breastfeeding. They have an effective line of lactation aids that I personally have found to be fast working and very effective at increasing my milk supply. They have a remedy- More Milk Two, that is specially formulated for the pregnant Mama needing to increase milk for her current nursling. The ingredients are safe during pregnancy and proven to be effective. To find out more about this rememdy, go to http://www.naturalchoices4baby.com/catalog.php?item=30

I would be happy to extend a 5% discount to you, if you are interested in taking advantage of this, please feel free to email me!

I hope you have a wonderful pregnancy and a long and enriching breastfeeding relationship with your son!

H.
www.naturalchoicesforliving.com
____@____.com

Congrats on you upcoming blessing! I found out that I was having baby number two when the first was 10 months old so I think you'll appreciate the spacing between the two. I didn't do tandem nursing because my milk supply dropped so much during pregnancy. Also, but the time that my daughter was about 14 months old, she was done with nursing (she mostly weened herself). My advice would be to see what your oldest wants to do. If she/ he is becoming less interested as you get more and more pregant, follow the lead.
Best of luck!
M. P

Hi J.,

I only have my personal experience to offer. I have four kids and have been nursing for almost 10 years straight. I know it sounds crazy and at times I felt like nothing but a milk machine! I nursed through my last three pregnancies and one of the best things about tandem nursing is that my older children never felt threatened or displaced by the new baby because even with all the demands of a newborn I still had that special nursing time with the next oldest child. I can't tell you how many times I've heard from other moms that an older child is resentful or regresses when a new baby comes. I really believe that my continuing to nurse made a huge difference in that regard. Congratulations and good luck!!

I have a good friend who wanted to nurse her first child until he was two. Then she became pregnant with her second child at about 14 months...she had some problems with strong contractions as she continued to nurse and felt it was safer to wean her first child to continue with a healthy pregnancy.

Mornings sickness could be a problem...I would imagine that you would need to up your caloric intake as well as your fluids...with pregnancy alone you need to drink at least 10 glasses of water a day...if you are not getting at least that much then you will need to drink more.

Fenugreek Tea is an herbal tea used to increase milk supply but I'm not sure if it is safe to use in pregnancy. Be sure to talk to your OB about this. You can also contact a local chapter of the La Leche League. I'm sure they would have TONS of info that might help.

Hi J.,

It is not dangerous to your fetus or yourself to continue nursing your thirteen month old if you do not have a history of multiple miscarriages or other ob/gyn complications.

It is normal for your supply to diminish somewhere around the 2nd trimester, but it's important to remember that your toddler is getting more from your nursing than just food, so that doesn't undermine its importance. In the third trimester, it will revert to colostrum, at which point (if the lack of milk wasn't already a deterrent) your son may not be impressed with it's salty rather than sweet flavor.

There's a good book called "Adventures in Tandem Nursing" by Hilary Flower if you'd like more personal vignettes. About 69% of toddlers will self-wean (and your toddler is in that window where she's more likely to do so), so make sure that you're paying attention to his diet and offering nutritious snacks throughout the day (and lots of water).

Some women find nursing while pregnant and tandem nursing to be difficult, while others are thankful for these last months of closeness with their babies. Just play it by ear and if it's working for you, there's no reason to stop it. But I want to repeat that you are not putting anyone in danger by nursing through this pregnancy or continuing to tandem nurse.

If you're not already, start attending La Leche League meetings to visit with other mothers who are in your shoes!