Just found out you are expecting? Happy? Elated? Worried? Concerned? Might be the later reasons if you are still breastfeeding. At least that's what I felt when I found out I was expecting our 2nd child (Alyson) and I was still breastfeeding our first, Benjamin (he was at 20months+ then)
I was so concerned with the following:
- What if my breastmilk stops producing (trust me, it will due to hormones in pregnancy!) and my boy is still not weaned yet? How to substitute my breastmilk then?
- What if the breastfeeding causes contractions and early labors or increases the risks of miscarriages?
- What if the breastmilk is poisonous? (old wives tales)
- How to cope with breastfeeding and tummy getting bigger and me getting more and more tired?
Before you read on, do note that I am not able to advise you on how to substitute breastfeeding with formula milk as until today we are still at zero specks of formula powder at home. So, I apologise first as I really am not able to comment on anything with regards to formula milk.
Now back to whether you should continue breastfeeding during your pregnancy...
If there are no risks or complications in your previous pregnancy, I personally think there are no reasons why you should wean. I nursed through my boy until I delivered my girl in Sept 2011 and continued tandem nursing them until I weaned my boy at 45 months old. From early April 2016, I have gently weaned off our 2nd kiddo (who is 4.5 years old now) but I am still breastfeeding our 3rd kiddo who is 2.5 years old now.
I have no complications or risks history when I was pregnant with our 3 kiddos so that makes it a plus factor in my decision making to continue breastfeeding during my pregnancies. I also believed that I should not wean just because the baby is coming especially when my previous pregnancies are fine.
If you are worried about the risks of miscarriages caused by breastfeeding as some people believe nursing will trigger contractions... well, if you read up on Google, you will find out that even having sex during pregnancy will also cause contractions.
Nursing Ben at 21 months old...
The questions you must ask yourself are:
1. Do you have risks/complications during previous pregnancy? Such as problems with your uterus or anything that can cause early labors
2. Is your baby ready to wean?
3. Are you ready to wean?
4. If either answers for question 2 or 3 is a 'yes', you need to think of supplementing your baby NOW or switching her to alternative milks and/or solids (depending on your child's age okay?) You better express and store now and/or try out formula milk before your breastmilk runs out at your 4th - 5th month of pregnancy
Now, do note that if you decide to continue nursing:
- your breastmilk will change taste during pregnancy (mine tasted sour and bitter when I tasted it at 4th mth into pregnancy)
- your breastmilk will stop midway through pregnancy (mine stopped at 5th month but our first 2 kiddos continued nursing until I delivered)
- there are some nurslings who self-wean because of the above 2 reasons, so do have a backup plan (or backup expressed breastmilk) if your nurslings are still very much into your breastmilk
- you will be very tired during pregnancy, for me, I normally lie down on my bed to rest and let our kiddos nursed (well they get to nurse and bond and comfort and I get to rest too)
- some mums will have nursing aversion (I only have mine when I started tandem nursing) so do research more and read up on what to do if this happens
- some will also worried that nursing the older child during pregnancy that they will take away the colostrum intended for coming baby. Answer is no, your body is not robot. Nature's way, your body will know if something is taken, it will be replenished. Just the same logic that when you breastfeed, your body will send signals to produce more milk. So don't worry that there is no colostrum when new baby comes along.
If you feel you should wean, I would suggest that you do it gently as you don't want your child to feel that she/he is being rejected or pushed aside to make way for the coming baby. Try to slowly replace nursing times with other bonding activities (reading books, doodling, drawing, play dough, anything to keep their mind off from nursing). The key is to keep them distracted from asking for their feed.
I did reduced my 4-5 times daily nursing Benjamin to nursing prior to afternoon nap and bedtime (total twice a day and maybe 1-2 times during sleep when he's fussy or sick) I also practised the 'Don't offer, don't refuse' method of weaning (will write a post on this later)
I am very happy I get to nurse our kiddos throughout my pregnancies as I personally believed in letting my child decides when they should stop nursing (which our 1st kiddo did at 45 months old) and I believed that it really helps to kick in the breastmilk production as my milk came in right after I delivered our girls and they have no time to experience any weight loss (due to meconium) thanks to the immediate supply of breastmilk.
** Updates 18 May 2015 - As of today, I have tandem nursed our 1st and 2nd child for almost 4 years (45 mths to be exact)
** Updates 4 April 2016 - As of today, I have tandem nursed our 2nd and 3rd kiddos for 2.5 years. I've gently weaned our 2nd kiddo (she's 4.5 years old now) and is still directly nursing on demand our 3rd kiddo who is 2.5 years old now (I'm also pregnant with our 4th kiddo now!) so I do know what I'm talking about ;)
Feel free to comment or email me if you need to, I can share with you my experiences and what I needed during my pregnancy while still breastfeeding.
