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Breast, Baby and Belly
Can You Breastfeed Through a Pregnancy?
By Neilia Sherman
Wendy Thomson, an IBCLC in Hollywood, Fla., suggests dealing with nipple soreness by using breathing techniques, changing nursing positions, starting the letdown before the latch and/or by asking the toddler to nurse more gently.
Dealing with a growing belly is another challenge for moms who breastfeed while pregnant. Creativity is helpful, according to Thompson. "No position is a wrong position," she says. "Babies are ingenious and if they want to continue to nurse, they will find a way." Berggren has tried a modified cradle hold or lying on her side to nurse and has found both of these doable.
Kim Hawley George of St. John's, Newfoundland, didn't have to contend with fitting her toddler around her stomach, because her daughter self-weaned at 14 months when Hawley George was 5 months pregnant. This is a fairly common occurrence and has to do with the fact that the taste and the consistency of the breast milk changes, usually at some point during the second trimester. Fisher attributes the change in taste to an increase in sodium and protein and a decrease in glucose and lactose.
Milk production may diminish at this time as the milk changes to colostrum in preparation for the newborn. Although the milk automatically reverts to what is best for the newborn, Fisher explains that a nursing toddler is unable to use up the colostrum, and there should be enough milk for both children once the baby is born.
Some toddlers continue to nurse in spite of the changes to breast milk, because of the comfort factor. "I'm actually amazed that he's still nursing," Berggren says. "I can't express more than a few drops by hand ... but he'll stay latched on, sucking for a long time. I think it's a real comfort to him." For toddlers, ths is fine because they are consuming other types of food by now, but for babies, Thompson suggests monitoring weight gain if breast milk diminishes.
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