Nursing While Pregnant and Sore Nipples

Your daughter is 2.5 years old and breastfeeding is hurting you. You're not providing her any nutritional benefit at this point, so I don't see the issue. You need to stop, you need to not feel guilty about that, and she can just get over it because you're the Mom and she's the child.

I know it's easy for me to say, but seriously, isn't it truly that simple?

I nursed my older son all the way through my second pregnancy. I was just like you- I was committed to breastfeeding to one year, but never really thought I would be nursing a 2.5 year old :)
I remember it being very painful during the first trimester, but it did get better during the second trimester. He did complain that the taste changed- he said it tasted "brown" sometimes. Apparently this is common, I guess the milk changes in composition during pregnancy. Some kiddos decide to stop for that reason. The pain is totally normal. I remember dreading that first latch! Distraction is key- try watching TV, listening to music, or reading if you can. My second was 9lb 2oz and born at 41w5d, so absolutely no issues here with tandem nursing (poor development and premature delivery are two that you may hear).

I nursed my first until about 20 weeks while pregant with #2. He was 11 months when I got pregnant, so he was much younger when we weaned.

I weaned because it hurt to nurse. And I weaned because the more pregnant I became, the less comfortable it was to have him nurse - the way he wanted to lay in my lap was not comfortable. He also did not sleep well at night, and often wanted to nurse in the middle of the night and I was exhausted.

I decided that tandem nursing was not a goal for me.
I decided that being in pain while nursing my son was not really a positive thing for either of us.
I decided that being pregnant and nursing a toddler was too much for my physically (I was hungry and tired all.the.time).

So - we weaned when he was about 15 months or so. I was never engorged, and my son started sleeping through the night almost immediately once he was weaned. My discomfort started around 8 or 9 weeks... my midwife encouraged me to be done by around the 20 week mark too.

For me, it was the right decision. Nursing a newborn is a lot... and I remember thinking how I had forgotten how much time it took to nurse a newborn when baby #2 came along (and it was only 20 months after the first one!). I can't imagine nursing two at once. For me, that is too much.

Oh - and my second baby too was a big baby (9 lbs 7 oz at nearly 42 weeks) so my nursing did not hinder his development or growth.

I nursed through two pregnancies and grew two big healthy babies. I did restrict nursing some, both in frequency and duration, and I learned to distract myself while nursing to make it more tolerable.

The book "Adventures in Tandem Nursing" has a lot of good information about nursing through pregnancy and what's normal.

I'd stop if I were you... put some bandaids on your boobs and tell daughter they are broken.... and let her pick out a new soft, silky, dolly at the store in replacement of your boobs. Hold her and love on her when she comes to you for nursing--but have her hold her new dolly while you have her on your lap and maybe a sippy cup or a cup of milk with a straw to soothe a physical crave.
I got pregnant while nursing my first, your energies need to be put forth to the new baby forming in the womb, you have to eat a LOT of nutritional calories to continue to nurse and create a new life at the same time.
Your nipples are sore, soon your stomach will be big, the embryo needs all of your energy, that should be enough reason for you to tell your 2 yr old it's time to soothe a different way :)

My daughter self-weaned at about 2.5 years old.
I would talk to her... about it and that one day she would not need to do that etc. One day, she just laughed and told me she doesn't drink from me anymore. She thought it was funny. And it was all done for her. Just like that.
I still had some milk. I could squirt it out and she told me there is still milk.
And, I did not just give in each time she wanted to. Gradually, she'd just get less and less interested.

Once, when she was about 2 or so, I was pregnant. And it hurt when she nursed. I would tell her, it is sensitive there. My OB/GYN said it can or may cause contractions etc. But he let me nurse at my discretion.
But with that pregnancy, it ended up as a miscarriage. It was not due to nursing however. The embryo just was not developing and one day there was just no heartbeat and I was then miscarrying.

For me, when my daughter was a Toddler and nursing, I just told her RULES about it. ie: it is Mommy's boobs, don't just pull at me, only at home, and she needs to wait sometimes. She understood. You need to teach the child, at that age, manners about it. And no, my daughter did not use me as a comfort thing or tantrum about it. And I didn't use it to placate my daughter. She understood.
My daughter self-weaned, which was my, choice. BUT once she was about 2 years old, I taught her rules and manners, about it. And when she quit, it was her choice. By then, the child naturally lessens, the frequency of it. At least that is how my daughter was.

Then for my son, he self-weaned at about 1 years old. He'd just pretty much, slap my boobs away and grumble when/if I put him to breast. He was just done.