42 And over Breastfeeding

It is certainly possible to get pregnant while breastfeeding but each woman is so different it's difficult to predict when your cycles might return. For me, it returned when my daughter was around 4 months old because she had been sleeping thru the night for some time and therefore missing some of the round the clock feedings. My girlfriend didn't get hers back until her dd was almost a year old, another her ds was 9 months old. To trick your body, you might try pumping some of your son's feedings. That way your body thinks you are missing some feedings but your son still gets the benefits of mommy's milk. With my first, he was hospitalized for the 1st 6 weeks and even though I pumped round the clock as if he was feeding, I got my cycle back at 7 weeks. If you do conceive while bfeeding nothing says you can't continue to bf while pregnant and even after the new baby comes. Kellymom.com has some good info on tandem breastfeeding. Also, because you are what the docs consider advanced maternal age (I laughed when the doc used that term at my first appointment!) you will be monitored more closely during your pregnancy.

Hey R.,
I wasn't 42 or older, but I was 40. I was breastfeeding my 4th child and got pregnant when she was 8 months old. I continued to nurse her until she was 14 months old with little to no problems. I was tired, but that goes with having a baby or breastfeeding at 40...let alone doing both at the same time! Good luck!

Hi R.,
I have several friends who were nursing their little one and were advised to stop at the end of their pregnancy. I hope you can nurse your little one as much as possible before then.
Congratulations on your pregnancy.

HI R., so you are 42 or over and having a baby, awesome.
I had my youngest son now 10, when I was 40 years old. It was a rather dangerous delivery and I was at high risk but everything ended up for the better, as you can see because my son, Jackson is healthy and alive. I did breast feed him only for 2 months though but I encourage you to do so if you can. Are you having any difficulties with the thought or are you already trying to breastfeed? Good luck, the reason I stopped after 2 months is that I am bipolar and had a breakdown which meant I had to get back on my medicine. Now there are medicines you can take for depression etc... even if you are breast feeding. Breast feeding by me is a bit tiring (because I was not sticking to a schedule and over breast feeding) but ever so rewarding and helps to build the infants' immunity system especially during first 3 months I believe. It is the best bonding moment ever no matter how old you are. Good luck.

Hi, R. - I delivered my daughter at the tender age of 41 and breastfed her for a little over 2 years.

Here is my story:

We had our dd two days before Thanksgiving in 2005. We knew we wanted to try for another baby before all my eggs dried up but suspected that I would not be able to conceive while nursing. At the same time we didn't want to sacrifice the nutritional and bonding benefits of bf our dd for a baby we may or may not be able to have given my age. It was a tough choice, but since we didn't have any trouble conceiving her, we decided to continue bf and hoped we'd be lucky enough to get pregnant again while doing so.

My fertility didn't begin to return until our dd was about 15 months old, which is when she began to self-wean down to 4 feedings a day. Optimistic, we thought it wouldn't be long before she let go of it completely so we continued to bf and again, hoped we would conceive as the nursing sessions dwindled down.

Unfortunately, she was a bit stubborn about letting go of the last 3 feedings (morning/nap/bed) and we now felt pretty sure that we would not get pregnant as long as there was one drop of milk left in my body. We made a plan to wean her before her second b-day (still hoping that as a feeding dropped, the possibility of getting pregnant would increase!). She did pretty good with it and we completed the process about 6 weeks after her 2nd birthday. I got pregnant the very next month. Sadly, we didn't hold on to that pregnancy. Following doctor's orders we began trying again after 3 cycles, which was July of this year. We had a chemical pregnancy in mid-August that kind of messed up my cycles, but we actually look at it as a good sign and are still hopeful for a successful pregnancy.

I am guessing you are inquiring about this for yourself or a loved one. All-in-all, many women can & do get pregnant while bf. I think it just gets harder to conceive the older you get and bf probably doesn't help improve the odds. I don't know for certain if I would have gotten pregnant when I did regardless of bf, but I really do doubt it. For us, it seemed conceiving while bf was not an option, though we certainly tried.

All the best.

Breastfeeding is such an important thing to do for not only your child but yourself. One should breastfeed as long as possible. It's the best breast milk your child could have (cow's breast milk is best for it's young and yours is best for yours). It creates a wonderful bond between the tow of you and it's very important for your health. It is possible to become pregnant while nursing and there is nothing wrong with tandem nursing once your second is born. There is plenty of research you'll be able to find online about that. If you're having a difficult time getting pregnant consider eliminating eggs from your diet. Eating another's eggs interferes with your eggs. That and dairy clogging you up. If you eat a simple and clean diet, free of processed foods you'll increase your odds of becoming pregnant too. Good luck. In Peace,
R.