Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Trying To Get Pregnant

Question:
I am nursing my 2 year old at night, and am seven months along PG. I have heard that nursing like this (tandem) can increase colostrum supply for when the new baby is born, has anyone had this experience? This is the first time I have tandem nursed while pregnant (except for one time into first trimester) and want to know the benefits to new baby.

Answer:
Actually, what typically happens is that your milk changes to colostrum around month 5 to 7 or so. (Although this doesn't happen to everyone and I know of one mom who claimed her milk returned when she was at 32 weeks.) So it is the toddler who gets the extra colostrum. Also, I found my milk came in quite rapidly after my dd was born and my ds was still nursing. So, the colostrum for the baby only lasted two days. But the milk supply was plentiful for both. Good luck to you, Norma. Nursing while pregnant can be hard at times, but speaking as one who tandem nursed for a year, I wouldn't change a thing. I've noticed several tandem nursing moms here, so you know where to come for support, right? We are in the same boat together. I am nursing a 2 year old (Aug 28th!) and I am due on 10/30. At this point I can express a little colostrum, but when Travis nurses he GULPS! This is the first time I will have ever tandem nursed also. I have heard some great things about milk supply, etc when a toddler is given the chance to nurse till birth. I also am also pregnant. I'm nursing my 23 month old daughter 2 to 3 times a day. I really can't answer your question, but I thought this message board would be of interest to a lot of you tandem nursing mothers or tandem nursing mothers to be. I was just sent a newsletter from ParentsPlace.com. They had this link for a tandem nursing board they have. http://boards.parentsplace.com/cgi-bin/boards/tandemnursing I did notice that I had a lot more colostrum this time around than the first time. I'm pretty certain it was because I nursed Julian all the way through the pregnancy. Others have noted that your milk does become colostrum at some point in the pregnancy. I actually found that it didn't become true colustrum until about week 35 -- up until then, it seemed to be sort of in between colostrum and real milk. The biggest benefit, to my way of thinking, of tandem nursing is that it absolutely insures a great milk supply. The only problem is that, if you do as I have and nurse your toddler during the day and the baby both day and night, you may find your newborn is practically drowning in your milk during the night feeds!