How hard is it to breastfeed your second baby

Question

okay i'm 12 weeks pregnant and my son is 15 months old. he was and is breastfed. for a little while i thought he was done but he isn't. he still only breastfeeds maybe once a day and not everyday. I'm hoping he'll stop before the new baby comes because i have this feeling he'll be jealous of the new baby drinking his milk! anyway how hard is to breastfeed a newborn when you have a not even 2 year old running around? i know people who breastfed their first and tried with their second but the first was too much, and they didn't have the time to breastfeed. i just know i really really want to do whats best for my baby, plus its free!!! i'm not trying to spend that much money on something i can give my baby with no cost..lol

Answer 1

I've heard you may lose your milk toward the end of pregnancy so that might help with weaning your son? Some people do tandem breastfeed too I think?

Anyway, I BFed my first for about 5 months (we had tons of issues so he was always formula supplemented and we stopped earlier than anticipated). He was 22 months when my second was born. She's now four months and we exclusively breastfeed with no problems. Ok, so we have issues but they are her issues (she is a lazy eater, meaning if my milk isn't letting down she gets angry) but they are her issues, not my sons. He actually hasn't shown much interest or disgust in my taking time to feed the baby. At most he'll tell me to put her down or laugh at how "Baby Kee-a" (her name is Keira) is getting milk from mommy.

Sometimes, yes, I wish I for the convience of bottle feeding, especially since she refuses a bottle completely so it's me or nothing, but I don't feel like I don't have time to BFeed. I'm sure you can do it. :)

Answer 2

honestly it is not hard and you should start weaning him soon. Nipple stimulation in the 3rd trimester can bring on contractions so I would start weaning very soon!

Answer 3

i breastfed #1 until I was about 5 months preg. with #2. In the end it was only at night and I would say to her (she was about 18 months) OK only for 5 minutes tonight, then progressively went down in time until it was like 1 minute and she was just done with it. don't rush it though, but start doing it soon so you have some time between the 2, less likely to be jealous then.

Nursing #2 needs to be just as much a priority as nursing #1 was- like you said, it is best for baby and is free! What I did was have my daughter sit with me while I nursed most times- i'd give her a little snack, read a story to her, etc while the baby nursed. sometimes of course she was off playing or even (*gasp*) watching TV (LOL). If you ask #1 for his "help" with the baby, things go smoother-get him involved now, have him talk to baby, sing to baby, etc and when baby comes, have him fetch a diaper or something or hold baby's hand while you change the diaper. all this will make less time when big brother might feel left out and make feeding times easier for him to deal with! stick with it, and enjoy!

Answer 4

You have a little time to wean him so I wouldn't worry.  I had planned on "tandem nursing" my kids.  But my son pretty much weaned himself at 18 months so I didn't have to.  

Answer 5

Unless you have someone in frequently to help with feeding the baby, I don't see how formula feeding is any easier.  You still have to sit there to feed the baby, but you also have to wash bottles and fix formula.

I have 4 children, all 23 months apart.  I breastfed all of them, and the older sibling was not a problem.  A friend of mine has 5 children, all 12-16 months apart, and she breastfed all of them.  My sister-in-law had 19 months between #1 and #2 and breastfed the 2nd for a few months until her 3rd pregnancy resulted in a drop in milk supply.

I see no reason why you would not be able to breastfeed your 2nd child.

And you don't need to worry about weaning your child that's not even nursing once a day.  My first four all weaned themselves  completely by the end of the first trimester with their younger sibling, but I'd have nursed them through the end of the 2nd if they'd wanted.