my husband and i are seriously talking about getting pregnant again soon (ie whenever it happens). we both want two children and have agreed that we want then close together. lyla's a month old now and im only breastfeeding so we're expecting it to be a while (around 5 months maybe?) before i can concieve again ... anyway, i thought i'd ask the advise of anyone who has had two babies close together. tips, warnings, etc..?
i dont have any advice, just wanted to let you know that breastfeeding does not prevent you from getting pregnant.
i know breastfeeding can't be used as birth control, but everything i've read and the nurses at the hospital have said that breastfeeding often does slow down ovulation. we aren't relying on breastfeeding to keep me from getting pregnant (we want to get pregnant!), but i expected that it would probably take longer since i'm breastfeeding.
breastfeeding does not keep you from getting pregnant believe me. As long as you are not using some kind of birth control you can get pregnant. The only thing is you get irregular periods so you dont know when you are ovulating.
Pregnancies that close together can be EXTREMELY taxing on the body. They (docs) say it's best to wait 18 mos between pregnancies. Your body does need time to recover.
I love having my little girls together. However... the pregnancy was difficult because my first was still a baby and depended on me for everything. It's hard being 9 months pregnant chasing after a 14 month old.
Good Luck to you!
I have no advice, personally. my sister and i are only 16 months apart and my mother always says somedays its great and somedays its terrible.
We had each other to keep us occupied, so that was a plus, but she got us confused. I suggest keeping very close record of each babies firsts and whatnot. She has no clue what my first word was because she cant remember if it was my first or my sisters.
My kids are 20 months apart. It wasn't terrible, and in many ways Im glad they are close together, but I think a few more months would have been nice.
Parents sometime tend to stop babying their older child once a new child is born, when the older one is still very much a baby.
I was totally breastfeeding my little girl and I got my period back at 7 months postpartum, then conceived my little boy at 10 months. This time I was pretty much totally breastfeeding my little boy and my period came back at 9 months postpartum. He was eating solids when I conceived this baby at 15 months. We used no other birth control.
Nursing can delay the return of fertility. It is affected by many factors, however. You and your body are the biggest factor. Every woman is different and some can conceive again right away even if they are exclusivly nursing. Others can't conceive until they wean...it depends on the woman. Factors that are big influences about how fast your fertility will return: if you supplement, give you baby a paci, or do not night nurse, your fertility will probably return sooner, because your baby is not at the breast as often. Night nursings seem to be a big factor in delaying the return of fertility (i.e., if you don't nurse at night your fertility will come back sooner).
My first two are only 19 months apart. I have never had much trouble with them being close. I enjoy them. But I am glad my next one has a bigger gap, because I like my baby to be a baby for awhile. My midwife also strongly recommends waiting at least a year or two to give the woman's body time to heal and build back up nutrient stores.
It's really up to you though, mama, what you want to do ^^
I was just thinking that you should take Prenatal Vits and CALCIUM!!! You body will leach whatever calcium is needed from your bones for your pregnancy and nursing. Later on in life osteoperosis is very much a possibility. We all should be building up our calcium stores!
My daughter will be almost 15 months old when my second is born. Im not sure about raising them close together, because the my son isnt born yet, but being pregnant with a young child is hard, but do-able. Just make sure that you are physically and emotionally ready!