Anyone else without milk still "nursing"?

[mkemom]

So I am pregnant and suspected my milk may have dried up recently. Well, I confirmed it (took an overnight trip and tried to pump without success). I have no more milk but Sam still wants to nurse at least once per day. I've let him b/c I know it is a great comfort to him but it kind of creeps me out and it is painful. Am I completely weird to continue this? I have tried to talk him out of it when he demands to nurse but it doesn't always work.

[HeyMrs.K]

No, I don't think you are weird. You are letting your child be comforted by you and there is nothing weird about it..but it does worry me that it is painful for you :ohno: and that doesn't seem like a positive thing (for you). I don't have much advice but :hugs:

[anr422]

My supply hasn't dried up completely but I know it is decreasing. Jacob only nurses to go to sleep and hardly wakes up for a feeding but he did on Sat & Sun and after nursing for a bit he asked for a cup of milk, which he's never done. It's also been painful for me since wk 8 of this pregnancy, but I know it's more of a comfort thing for him and I'm doing my best to go with it. From the looks of things, it won't be for much longer.

[kohlby]

Limits are your friend while nursing while pg! My milk dries up every time I'm pg. (5 times pg, three of them miscarriages unrelated to nursing and soon to have my 2nd healthy that grew while I was nursing!) I would do a 10 second countdown when I was ready to end a session. There were sometimes that a session would be only 10 seconds, and other times longer was fine. I found that when my colostrum started, at around 20 weeks or so, the nursling got more gentle, but there still wasn't enough milk to satisfy. I'm almost 37 weeks pg and do have to tell my daughter to unlatch and retry at times if it's hurting. My supply dries up at a mere 4 weeks pg, but my nurslings still always wanted to nurse.

But tandem nursing was so worth getting through pg so I'm thrilled to get to do it again soon!

[lawchickasaw]

if it is too painful, i wouldn't...you matter too.
i would call LLL and see what they say, i bet you $ you can increase your supply.
GL!

[MommaShelly]

This happened to me, too--as soon as I got pregnant, my milk started decreasing, but it happened gradually. I was 4 months pregnant when my daughter just stopped BFing altogether when it completely dried up, but she was about 15 months, so I wasn't too worried about it. She had been down to once a day anyway for comfort and then altogether quit. Of course I had been trying to do the child-led toddler weaning until she was older, but no matter how much I offered the boobie, she would adamantly refuse. It was very painful for her to BF--ughh it was the worst! When she quit, I was halfway sad that we wouldn't have that same comforting routine anymore, but I was also halfway relieved. I still read up all about tandem nursing anyway in case she wants to BF again when she sees her baby brother doing it. I think that babies BFing personalities are different though--some of them will continue to BF even though you don't have milk, and others (like my daughter) will get frustrated at nursing for nothing and quit. I don't think you're weird for continuing it--there is a special bond there that only you have with your son. Have you read the books "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler" and "Adventures in Tandem Nursing"? They really give good advice on toddler nursing in general and also do a great job covering pregnancy issues too.

[kohlby]

i bet you $ you can increase your supply
The normal things that help to increase supply often don't work while pg. They may work for some pg women, but actually not for the majority.

[mkemom]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm glad I'm not alone. I don't know anyone else that nursed while pregnant and I was at a loss about what to do. When I first got pregnant, Sam was still nursing 4-6 times per day (sometimes more!) but over the last few months I have been able to gradually "encourage" him to cut back to 1-2 times per day. Now, he asks to nurse a couple times per day but is only adamant about the morning, cuddling in bed session. This was always my favorite session of the day and I guess it is his, too. I think I will continue to let him nurse in the morning but will to get him to shorten this session because it is painful for me.

MommaShelly, I read Mothering your Nursing Toddler and loved it! I will have to skim it again since I read it pre-pregnancy and didn't pay too much attention to that section.

[CoffeeCat]

Glad you seem to have at least gotten some peace about the "weirdness" aspect. Hopefully you can find a way to make it less painful, too. I was in denial for a few weeks, but now I know for sure dd is not getting much of anything. She swallows only very occasionally, and when I've squeezed the nipple in the shower out of curiosity, only a tiny ribbon of whitish-yellow liquid pooled around in the cracks of the nipple. No jets or drops. :( For about 2-3 days she didn't even ask to nurse, so I was thinking W day had finally arrived, then all of a sudden she wanted to before her nap so I let her, and it's been about 1-2 times a day for mere minutes before she falls asleep since then. At times it is painful- once she falls asleep I have to take her off for fear of the jaw clamping. :shocker: I'm just playing it by ear, but if it got painful every time, I probably (in my case) would try to cut out the last few sessions. Until that happens, I'm just letting her decide.

[Amanda0102]

We do. I suspect I'm dry, but I can't bear the thought of pumping just to see (and my suspicion predates my pregnancy).

Sam says he gets milk when we nurse, but I don't see any evidence of it whatsoever. Sam also says he's Herman Munster and Iron Man, so he's not that credible :winks:.

I was creeped out by it for a bit, but I'm over it - it's comfort time for us and I only allow it to him 10 minutes twice a day (naptime and bedtime). What worries me is the idea of tandem - I had supply issues with Sam for 6+ months, so I worry that allowing him to nurse once the baby is here will mean milk is being taken away from the baby. I really have no idea how to assess, prepare or deal with this.

[mkemom]

So you'll notice my breastfeeding ticker is gone--Sam is finally weaned completely. He was only asking to nurse once per day and I simply told him it hurt me and there was no more milk left. He was fine with that explanation and hasn't nursed in 9 days though he does ask to nurse about every other day or so. Weaning has been very bittersweet for me. I'm happy to be done b/c it really hurt to nurse him but I really miss it. Part of me feels I was selfish to get pregnant again b/c Sam wasn't fully ready to wean but part of me feels that 2+ years of nursing it pretty darn good.

[tanyachap]

So you'll notice my breastfeeding ticker is gone--Sam is finally weaned completely. He was only asking to nurse once per day and I simply told him it hurt me and there was no more milk left. He was fine with that explanation and hasn't nursed in 9 days though he does ask to nurse about every other day or so. Weaning has been very bittersweet for me. I'm happy to be done b/c it really hurt to nurse him but I really miss it. Part of me feels I was selfish to get pregnant again b/c Sam wasn't fully ready to wean but part of me feels that 2+ years of nursing it pretty darn good.

:hugs: i think you did the right thing. from what i have heard about weaning, Sam was probably getting there - otherwise the weaning process would have been harder.

[katie]

I'm still nursing but I haven't had milk in about a month or maybe a little more. I can squeeze and instead of getting whitish milk drops I just get tiny amounts of clear colostrum now. Abby still nurses before nap and at bedtime. Neither session is very long 10 minutes max just enough to settle her down or else she has an even harder time falling asleep. It actually isn't painful other than the fact that she has gotten sloppy with her latch and will grind her top teeth into my nipple at which point we stop the nursing session.

The lack of milk hasn't really convinced her to stop nursing though and she still thinks she needs her nursing to go to sleep.