So confused about what to do

I had planned to let Anna self-wean, or start to wean her if she hadn't done so by the age of two.
So now I am wondering why all of a sudden, just because I am pregnant, do I feel that I need to stop breastfeeding her? She will only be 22 months old when baby gets here... It seems so young - especially as Anna is so little and I can tell she gets so much strength, goodness and comfort from my milk.

Now I don't know what to do. I feel so much pressure to stop feeding her - not just from others but from myself as well and I don't know what that's about!

I have some concerns - but they have mostly been alleviated from doing research (and joining this forum!) - I was concerned about my milk for the new baby and whether it would be what s/he needed, but I have now learnt that breast milk reverts to colostrum despite a baby feeding - in preparation for the birth of your new baby... so that is not a problem - As I understand it, because of the hormonal changes you go through in pregnancy the milk will still be just right for your newborn baby, right?

So now I am thinking do I wean Anna half way through this pregnancy? I can't wean her after the baby is here or else she might get jealous and blame the new baby for her being her pushed out and weaned? It might make weaning more traumatic? So my only options are... to stop soon or...

dun dun dun

...

Carry on breastfeeding BOTH babies after the birth. The more I think about it, the more this appeals... I could keep going until Anna was two like I planned to before I was pregnant... and then that would give me 2 months after the baby came along to start thinking about weaning, she would have the comfort from my breast, still feel bonded to me and not feel pushed out by baby #2 because she still got booby cuddles? Could this even help alleviate some of the notorious sibling rivalry and jealousy that you hear of as families grow?

I want to do it. I already know this in my heart. But I don't know if I have the guts I know I will get zero support and people will think I am weird

Arrgghhh I dunnnnooo what too dooooooooo.....

i know exactly where youre coming from, i felt like this too, i felt like i was being pressured into stopping even though before i was pg i hadnt planned to. i guess i was lucky in that Aeryn stopped of her own accord just before willow was born even though i was prepared to bf as long as she wanted.
you could just take it as it comes and see how it goes. as she gets older her feeding patterns will change anyway she might tail off naturally or just stick to bedtime/morning feeds. wharever you decide remember its your choice and noone elses business. you will have plenty of support off here! and surprisingly there are some health professionals that are all for it too hth :aww:

Oh thank God! Hubby has said he will support me in whatever I feel is best!

So now I think I will try to cut down Anna's feeds to night and morning if she hasn't already done so by 5 months into the pregnancy, and then she can have a night and moning feed after baby is born for however long she wants Nobody else will even know so it won't be an issue lol

Thank you for the encouragement

youre very welcome :aww: and for hubby

:aww:

From whatI have read from other mothers experiences, some self wean anyway.

Its upto you though, if you feel happy to carry on and go with the flow then do that. I think its one of these things where you 'suck it and see' (no pun intended) :boob:

She may make that decision for you or she may want to carry on, I think its best to tackle anything at the time if your going to just let her carry on :aww:

Here is some great infor on tandem feeding and pregnancy.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/tandem/index.html

I'd go for the "time will show" version, too.

My older daughter was 2 years old when my second daughter was born.
During pregnancy, I had sometimes hoped that the older one (her name's Anna ) would self-wean.. but she didn't. And I felt it was okay also because I didn't want her to be jealous. What happened was that I almost "ran out of milk" towards the end of the pregnancy.
Still, Anna continued demanding her "diddi" as she calls it.
When the younger one, Maria, was born she had what you'd call suckling difficulties - no idea why. So I encouraged the older one to suck because I wanted the moment when the milk came in to be as smooth as possible. After four or five days Maria learnt how to drink and I found myself tandem nursing :-)
We've had a great time since then until recently when Anna, now 3 1/2 years old, decided to self-wean.
I hope this will encourage you to just "let your children proceed" - they'll do what is right anyway :-)

I know this was started a while back, so I'm just wondering hows it going and if you decided to do anything or just go with the flow.

We just went with the flow and I am glad As it turned out I am expecting twins so don't think tandem feeding would have worked out, athough was considering keeping her night feed up if she wanted.... As it is Anna just sponteniously stopped nursing about 5 days ago. She's just not inerested anymore. I'm almost a bit sad about it, but my nipples were getting a bit sore so I'm a bit relieved too! lol We made it to 16.5 months before she stopped so I don't think we did too badly

congratulations! well done on reaching 16 months whilst carrying twins! and well done on self weaning - you should be very very proud! :bighug:

Well done, must have been lovely being able to let her choose. How far pregnant were you when she stopped? I'm sure it was different with twins, but I'm interested in when in pregnancy the milk changes.

TashaAndBump wrote:We just went with the flow and I am glad As it turned out I am expecting twins so don't think tandem feeding would have worked out, athough was considering keeping her night feed up if she wanted.... As it is Anna just sponteniously stopped nursing about 5 days ago. She's just not inerested anymore. I'm almost a bit sad about it, but my nipples were getting a bit sore so I'm a bit relieved too! lol We made it to 16.5 months before she stopped so I don't think we did too badly

Well done hun, great she did it on her own :aww:

It is lovely that you could continue long enough for her to self wean - esp with carrying twins - well done xxx

rhi'smummy wrote:Well done, must have been lovely being able to let her choose. How far pregnant were you when she stopped? I'm sure it was different with twins, but I'm interested in when in pregnancy the milk changes.

Hey, I'm 17 weeks pregnant now. Anna stopped breastfeeding at 16 weeks, but my milk supply has plummeted and the milk has turned very watery... That's probably why, but the time this happens in each pregnancy is probably different?