Can I Continue to Breastfeed If I May Be Pregnant?

your baby will be fine...don't worry. studies have shown that children who did not get breast fed do just as fine as those not breast fed. My daughter who was never breast fed because i was not able to do it due to medical complications is just as strong, cognitive and bright as any child who was breast fed... a straight A student almost with the exception of a B here and there every now and again. My second child who i could not breast feed for the same medical reasons is just as smart, bright, and very nutritionally stable as his sister..What i am saying is that the bottom line is you and your baby will be fine.

I am a senior midwife student. There is absolutely no problem in continueing to breastfeed while pregnant. However, your milk may dry up as the pregnancy continues and your son may self wean at that time. Around 15 months is generally the first window when they are most likely to wean and it is the easiest time to do it. You will not harm the unborn baby at all. Also, if you want to go ahead and wean him that is fine too. He is getting the majority of his nutrition now from table food. Also, when you get pregnant please look into midwifery care. For low risk women studies have proven time and time again that midwives have better outcomes than OB's. It is also as safe if not safer to give birth outside of the hospital for low risk mothers. If you would like more information of have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me.

Take Care,
Lisa

Congrats for nursing so long. First off, your children will not feel cheated if you nursed one for 14 months and the other for 15...in fact they will never remember. As much as we try to be equal with all our children, it just doesn't always work. Give yourself permission to not feel bad if it doesn't work out at times. As far as nursing while pregnant check with your OB. Some have no problem with it and some will tell you that it takes necessary nutrients from the baby. Good Luck with whatever you decide!!!

Continuing to breastfeed isn't recommended by my OB/GYN, not because will "hurt" the baby, but the new baby needs all the nutrition it can get as they develop and by continuing to breast feed, your body is working even harder to provide nutriment for both. Pregnancy is hard enough on the body, I have ready studies that the nutritional value for a baby goes down as they past the year mark. Congratulation on nursing that long, but if I was in your shoes, I would stop nursing and let my body concentrate on producing nutrition for the one in the womb.

I agree that the demands on your body remain high while you are breastfeeding and, at the same time, pregnant.

A good source of relative information is http://www.llli.org/

Also, remember that women, for centuries, have done exactly what you are asking: became pregnant and continued to breastfeed their toddlers.

I, too, found that at a few months into the pregnancy my toddler started complaining that, in some way, the "nana" just wasn't the same. When my (three now) boys reached the stage where they were "only nurses 3x per day" that they were more amenable to more snuggling and less actual nursing.

Good luck!

It's called tandem feeding. Google that phrase and you will get oodles of googogled info! It is not only safe, but good! Be sure you are takin in all the calories you need to keep up with both a growing baby and tot!
PS...there are Docs that will tell you not to for CYA medicine! look up all the info on reliable sites and make/own your best educated decision!
peace!

As long as you are taking in enough calories for yourself, breastfeeding, and pregnancy, then there will be no problem =) I believe you need 500 calories per day for breastfeeding, and about the same (maybe a little more) for pregnancy. It may seem like a lot, and you will probably be eating constantly, but if you want to breastfeed longer, more power to you!

I know someone who tried to breastfeed while pregnant and she said she was just exhausted all the time. Like really, no energy to do anything... She ended up stopping because it was too draining and she felt like she was cheating her baby out of quality mama time. Just passing along what she told me... Something for you to consider.

Also, keep in mind that the first few months of pregnancy are more important developmentally for the fetus than the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. That's when the brain, nervous system and circulatory system forming... You don't want things going wrong in those processes. If I didn't feel I could devote the attention to making sure my diet was *100% fantastic*, then I would not try to be the food source for both the fetus and my baby.