how does tandem nursing work anyway?

[nowinteknicolor]

I'm not pregnant now, but my husband and I are starting to talk about trying again in the next few months (I know, I have the biological clock of a bunny). Gracie is 4 months old now and exclusively breastfed and I have no plans of quitting anytime soon. So, I know that you CAN breastfeed while pregnant and with another baby, I just don't quite get how. Doesn't the nipple stimulation trigger labor? and how does colostrum work? wouldn't Gracie eat it all before new baby gets a chance? or does it just stay mature milk, wouldn't that be not enough nutrition for a newborn? Will Gracie want to wean if my milk changes?

[Elizabethdaisy]

some people cant nurse while pregnant some can. I am 13 weeks pregnant and nursing my 14 month old. I still have milk but my nipples are really starting to hurt. we are going to keep nursing for awhile but before the baby comes probably wean not sure yet.
good luck. and I am sure you will get more info frmo the ladies here.
also I heard once you are farther along your milk changes.

[KerryS]

For MOST pregnancies, breastfeeding does not stimulate preterm labor. It's only for women who are at risk of preterm labor anyway. A good rule of thumb is that if it's okay to have sex, it's okay to breastfeed.

Hormone levels control the milk production. In the first trimester, risking progesterone levels suppress prolactin, causing the milk to dry up. Around the second or third trimester, the woman starts producing colostrom. The body continues to produce colostrum until delivery of the placenta causes progesterone levels to fall and prolactin levels to rise - this triggers the production of mature milk. So your nursing child will not "use up" all your colostrum - your body continues to make more until after the baby is born.

Some children DO wean when the milk changes in flavor and quantity.

[kohlby]

Please keep in mind that the breastmilk supply can plummet, as early as 3 or 4 weeks pg for some women. So, if you don't want to use formula, you may want to wait until your baby is at least a year.

Tandeming was much easier than I had anticipated. Nursing while pg when there was nothing in there was difficult especially when I was sick, so I just made sure there were restrictions. I would count down from 10 when I wanted DS off. When DD was born, she had very low blood sugar, two points below where they usually just give sugar water. (38). Instead, they let me nurse her. She nursed with swallowing for 10 minutes, with milk running down her chin. I'm not sure if tandeming helped me have more milk then. After I had DS, they told me it was normal not to hear swallowing yet. Also, tandeming helped so much with the engorgement - I'd have DS help me out by letting him nurse a little to relieve the engorgement! I did learn that I had to assign each child one breast. DD had the left one first and was allowed the right one second. DS could only have the right one. This made sure that DD would get the hind milk.

The stat of nurslings who self wean during pregnancy is only 30%. So, it happens but 70% don't. However, it is a very personal decision and understandably many women choose to wean while pg. For me, nursing while pg was difficult until around 24 weeks. Then there was enough for a few swallows and it got easy.

[KerryS]

Oh, I missed that she was TTC.

If you want to extended nurse, I would really recommend you wait until your baby is over a year before TTC. Yes, it's true that many children will continue nursing throughout pregnancy, but IME, that's more the case with older children who nurse more for comfort than nutrition. If you get pregnant when your baby is less than a year old, IME there is a greater likelihood that she would wean during the pregnancy than if you waited until she's a toddler.

[nowinteknicolor]

so it's looking like I should wait until she's one to try for baby #3. Sammy was 10months old when I got pregnant with gracie but he was on formula by then so I didn't have that factor to consider. Gracie doesn't take any bottles so it would really throw her for a loop if she decided to wean (or maybe she wouldn't wean because she doesn't take bottles, but I certainly wouldn't want to starve her either). And those two are only that far apart because my husband was deployed (which makes it pretty darn hard to get pregnant :) )
What about Fenugreek? would it be safe to take that (or other milk production aids) during pregnancy to keep my supply up?

[tifttu]

I don't think any herb or medication will keep your milk supply up to feed a baby when it drops due to pregnancy. There's also the emotional factor to consider. It's not true for all women, but some (me) have very extreme emotional reactions to nursing while pregnant. I had planned to nurse through pregnancy and then tandem (DS was about 19mos when I got pregnant), but I just couldn't do it. I had very angry even violent thoughts when he would nurse and I ended up cringing and crying every single time he nursed. I weaned gradually over about a month or two and had two months of him not nursing before DD was born. It was definitely not something I expected to happen.

Are your cycles even back yet? I know some women get them back early, but it was 17 mos and 13mos for me.

[nowinteknicolor]

lol, no actually I haven't gotten my period yet. But that first six months postpartum is almost up and I know after that you're less protected. So hubby and I were discussing whether I needed to get on birth control (which we're not big fans of) for Gracie's sake or if it would be ok to start trying again (or at least to not not try if that makes sense).
I hadn't even thought about the emotional factor, I actually got anxiety when I was first feeding gracie and even waves of nausea, I wonder if that would come back if I was pregnant.

[KerryS]

No, those herbs aren't safe during pregnancy, and they won't work anyway. This is your body's way of protecting the fetus.