Weaning Question - Chapel Hill, NC

Hi there! Congrats on your pregnancy :) When I was pg with number 2 (when #1 was 18 months old) my oldest was still nursing several times a day and night. Over time my supply dwindled and I ended up weaning her several months later. She didn't need the bm, since she was over a year, but I let her continue to nurse until I was pretty much dried up. ANY breast milk they get is better than none, so I say yes, absolutely let him keep nursing as much as he wants (if you are ok with it :) ) until your supply is gone. The more he nurses, it will also increase your supply too, if you wanted to, you could increase his nursings to help up your supply a bit.
But if it were me, I'd let him nurse when he wanted to and then supplement if necessary. :)

Hugs!

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I think it depends on other factors here. How is he doing on solids? How much is he getting in the bottle? Does he seem to nurse for comfort also?
I'm sorry I don't have any real advice but I do have a bunch of links for you! It seems all I ever talk about on here is kellymom and it's starting to be true. It's just an awesome online resource for all things related to breastfeeding. And when I did a search for your topic, well, I just found a lot of good stuff that I thought you'd like to read.

Good luck and best wishes!

Will pregnancy cause my child to wean prematurely?
http://www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/faq/12earlyweaning.html

Links: Nursing During Pregnancy and Tandem Nursing
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/tandem/links-nursingpregnant.html

Weaning
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_faqs.html

Weaning, how does it happen?
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html

Weaning Facts
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_faqs.html

Weaning Techniques
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_techniques.html

Toddler Nursing, what to expect?
(since he's almost a toddler. bittersweet, isn't it?!)
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/toddlernursing.html

Partial Weaning
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning-partial.html

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I haven't heard of a specific amount being a benefit, I think every ounce is a benefit. I would nurse him as long as you can, even if it is just a little. Maybe nurse him until about a month prior to your next one being born. Give him at least a month of slowly getting down to one feeding and then down to none. You can try to pump and add it to the formula instead of water to continue giving him the benefit. You can freeze it if you pump enough so he still has it after your next baby is born. The more you nurse him, maybe it will come back a bit if that is the way you want to go.

W.

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Hi R.,

I really wouldn't worry about your son getting additional immunity benefit - he's 11 months old and you've given him a lovely 11 months of benefit already. Now you're pregnant again and your body is needing to give the new baby lots of nutrients, and you need to take care of your own body, too, so that you can stay healthy enough to take care of your 11 month old and the baby you're carrying inside. Certainly women do nurse while they're pregnant, but your body seems to be giving itself to your fetus instead, thus the big supply drop. I think that if it were me, I'd accept it and go ahead and wean your son completely. Congrats on your second pregnancy!
All my best,
D.

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Hi Rach~
Your baby will unlatch if he is not getting what he wants-milk wise. Babies who are breastfed also love to suckle. This is a comfort for them. This may also be why your baby doesn't want to come off the breast. I think it's probably your call as far as how long to let him nurse. You can always offer a bottle afterward.
When I weaned my then one year old and was down to 1-2 feedings per day, I know he just loved that time and I know it was for more than just milk (I know my milk supply was very low and he was getting whole milk by that point). As far as how much intake is needed, you may have to ask your pedi's office because it depends on weight and age, I believe.
Good luck!
PJ

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Pick up some books and/or talk to a La Leche League leader about nursing through pregnancy, as well as tandem nursing. (Also, Dr. Denise Punger at http://permissiontomother.blogspot.com might be able to help, since she's also a certified lactation consultant, and "THE" breastfeeding doctor in her area). When I was 3 months along w/#2, my first son suddenly quit nursing (at 13 months old), but I know many women successfully nurse through pregnancy and then nurse both their older child as well as the newborn.

If you continue to nurse, make sure you're getting enough calories and nutrition (and prenatal vitamins!) so that you aren't shortchanging yourself, your unborn baby, or your older son.

If you wean him and/or he seems to still want to nurse, you may be able to substitute other things instead of nursing for that closeness and comfort, which also goes along with nursing. It may be that he wants *that* more than the milk. You can distract him by reading a book or playing toys with him.

You didn't mention solid foods -- make sure he's getting enough to eat apart from nursing. He may just be hungry.

As long as you're getting enough nutrition and water, and he wants to nurse, I'd continue nursing. But I would increase how much solid food he takes, just to make sure he's not hungry. If, after you've nursed him, he still wants "more", and you're sure he's not hungry, you can try substitution or distraction as an alternate spending-time-with-mommy thing.

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Congrats on the next addition (coming much sooner than any of mine did, so I didn't have to stop nursing one to gestate another).

Anyway, however much he eats or drinks from a cup is that much he doesn't have to nurse. He is old enough to be weaned -- assuming that HE'S ready (our 4 nursed all different times each from 12 to 18 months).

I wouldn't introduce a pacifier at this late date, but if you transition him to bottles, keep in mind that a bottle isn't for 'pacifying', it's for nourishment. Hold him if possible while he drinks, and at the very least make sure that he only lays or sits to nurse them -- don't let him run around with a bottle (just like he couldn't while nursing the breast). It makes them get really reliant on 'having' the bottle. Also, for his dental health, don't put him to bed with a bottle of anything other than water. Hope this helps!

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I had a similar situation with my first. As I remember, I asked my husband to distract him at those times. He would scoop my son up, play with him, and give him a bottle or something to eat. That worked for us.

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Pretty crazy since I was in the same exact situation a little over 2 years ago. I got pregnant with my son when my daughter was 11 months old. I worked part-time and would pump during the day at work for my daughter since I nursed exclusively at the time. Once I got pregnant with my son, my OB doctor advised that I wean my daughter from nursing. I did so by providing a formula and whole milk the last month. It took about a week to wean her from nusing, which was harder for me than my daughter. I got very emotional, which seems to happen when you wean at anytime (it happened when I weaned my son too). It almost sounds like a comfort thing for your son. Maybe you could hold him close to you with his favorite toy/blanket to sooth him. I was and still am a big fan of the pacifier. Having someone else feed them at first worked well for me so the temptation wasn't there for both of us since nuring soothed her so much easier than the sippy cup. It's hard to start, but gets easier.

Hello! I am the mother of 4 1/2 week old twin boys and I am breast feeding and supplementing with formula. One of the ladies at church was telling me that she was breast feeding one of her children and once she found out she was pregnant again, her doctor told her to stop because it could cause her to have a miscarriage. I would definitely ask your doctor if you need to stop. It makes sense that your milk supply is down because your new baby is using those nutrients for it's own growth. Good luck!

You should probably confirm with your pediatrician, but if your baby is 11 months old, it's time to start weaning completely from breast AND bottle and move on to a cup. Be leery of constantly using a sippy cup. Two things typically happen from that - 1)Your child never learns to hold a cup up right nor realizes the consequences when they bend over with it. 2) Drinking juices from sippy cups can cause tooth decay from sucking it over their teeth.

Your child received the immunity benefit of your breasfeeding in the first 3 weeks and you should pat yourself on the back for making it 11 months!!

That does ring a bell but I can tell you this. I was a breasfed baby. I was sick all of the time as a kid. My daughter breastfed until 13 months. Sick. My best friend one breastfed one formula baby. The formula baby is healty as an ox. The breastfed baby sick all of the time. That being said I enjoyed my breastfeeding experience but I am not convinced.