Breastfeeding Baby - Breastfeeding While Pregnant

Breastfeeding During Pregnancy

If a breastfeeding mother plans to have another baby she need not worry about weaning, and after she becomes pregnant she can still continue nurse without any or little concern.

There are many questions that come to a breastfeeding pregnant mother's mind. Will my milk supply dry up? Will my milk still be good? Is it healthy to breastfeed my older baby? Will my milk have nutrients it needs, will my baby in the womb get the nutrients that they need? The list goes on and on, however generally you can sustain your milk supply during the whole pregnancy, sometimes with a bit of assistance, and after you give birth you may take up tandem nursing.

You may find that your baby chooses to wean when you become pregnant. One reason may be that the milk supply dropped, something that you can easily and naturally increase if you desire to continue nursing your baby while you are pregnant. Many mothers whose baby is under 2 or 3 will want to continue to nurse their baby while they are pregnant and will do things to increase their milk supply. Another reason that a baby may wean when you are pregnant is because the milk taste changes, no it doesn't spoil, the taste just differs. Whether this bothers your baby will be up to them. However there is no reason that you absolutely have to wean just because you are pregnant.

Low Milk Supply can offer information on how to help you build back your milk supply and continue to nurse your baby while you are pregnant. Keep up a healthy diet consuming more calories than you were before you were pregnant. One thing that is suggested is to wean your nursing baby if find that you are having more than one baby, you can discuss this further with your midwife or doctor.

Some mothers choose to temporarily wean their nursing baby after the new baby arrives, so that all of the colostrum goes to the newborn and then when their milk matures to nurse both of their children. Some babies choose to temporarily wean towards the end of the pregnancy, as the milk supply may nearly be all dried up and then decide to begin nursing again after the mature milk supply has come back. What you and your older baby will do will be up to the both of you.

When the new baby is born and if your older baby or toddler is still wanting to continue a comfort nursing relationship then you will likely find yourself finding it harder to manage nursing a new baby and your toddler, for this reason it is important to enjoy the one on one bond that you have with your older baby before they wean. This can be challenging when you are pregnant and as your body changes nursing may get trickier and trickier to accomplished comfortably but it is worth the effort just in case it is the last time that you will be nursing your first baby. Each baby will have a different nursing relationship whether they are nursing at two different time or at the same time.