a wierd question about breast feeding

[~Jamie]

ok. here's a thought:
my ds is 15 months old. i weened him when he was 6 months old b/c we wanted to try for another baby(my periods hadn't come back and b/c we wanted to start 'trying' we figured we'd better ween to help the process along.) i am currently 30 weeks pregnant with baby #2.
i am gung ho about pumping and freezing milk. i had a rather large supply of frozen milk when i was nursing ds. i'm afraid i won't be able to pump and freeze like i'd like to with the next baby due to having a toddler running around most of the time(and dh is going to be deployed shortly after she's born.another crunch on my "pumping time") i pumped and pumped and pumped and had massive amounts of milk before!
is it possible to make myself re-lactate now? to get a head start on freezing?
i know it sounds nuts! why would i want to put myself thru that?? i'm pretty pregnant, chasing a toddler, dh has been out of town for MONTHS and not due back any time soon - but i still have more time at this point then i will when new baby comes.
i wondered if maybe the breasts could be stimulated enough  with the pump that over a few weeks it might kick in.
i've heard it's possible with adoptive parents for the mother to make herself lactate so she can nurse her baby, it just takes a while - 10 days or 2 weeks ish. i was kind of hoping it might be possible. it certainly would be worth it.
but then i also wondered about the colostrum. if i started now would there just be no colostrum after the birth? come on you pregnant and nursing mothers! i know you know this! of course, some babies are NEVER breast fed and go straight to formula so i guess the colostrum is not a must have.

any thoughts/advice are welcome.

it was just an idea i had.

~Jamie

[Samuel's mum]

Anything you pump now would only be colostrum. Colostrum stays until the placenta is delivered and there is a massive hormonal change and your mature milk starts to transition. You can't get the milk to kick in without the baby and placenta being delivered and these hormonal changes (decreases essentially).
If you pumped like crazy at this point you will still NEVER get mature milk. And output would also likely be extremely small.

HOWEVER - big HOWEVER - pumping in pregnancy for a mother who is not currently nursing can be EXTREMELY dangerous. Nipple and breast stimulation leads to uterine stimulation. Stimulating the uterus without certain protections that current nursing gives will make provoking premature labour extremely likely. When a mother is tandem feeding and breastfeeding during pregnancy she can still get some contractions but it seems they are softened by certain inhibitors.

Some pregnant mums with certain health conditions do pump small amounts of colostrum in preparation after birth but leave it as late as possible so as not to stimulate labour.

Pumping after 38 weeks is sometimes used to provoke labour but pumping colostrum has other disadvantages in that giving colostrum to a young baby artificially takes away their time at the breast, may hinder your supply developing properly, may cause latch confusion, may leave you at greater risk of mastitis and blocked ducts.

The best way to build up a freezer stash is to do nothing now. Give yourself a least 3-4 weeks after birth and then start to pump steadily and consistently with a great pump. To make it easier with a toddler running around you can try and pump while you actually feed or use a pumping bra/ halter neck (or make your own).

[~Jamie]

Thanks!
after i went to bed last night all the dangerous parts of it occured to me. then i felt really dumb for even thinking of it! i had wondered if though i've nursed before it would be the same, no milk until after the delivery. i've never heard of a pumping bra. sounds pretty hands free -and that certainly would be a little more descrete(hopefully) than trying to sit in the floor with my toddler and pump while he plays. i think he'd be a little too interested in what was going on.
i had 2 rounds of mastitis when i was nursing my son. that was not fun. i don't want to do anything that might increase the chance of me having to go thru that again!
thanks for you help!
i kind of had a feeling it wouldn't be a smart move.
i appreciate it!

[Archies mummy]

You've already said what I was thinking. I can remember being told to stimulate my nipples to bring on labour (2 wks late!) so I guess this would be similar.

[fifibobandmore]

Samuels mum has already said what I was going to say and I too was told nipple stimulation to bring labour on when I was 2 days away from my due date with my first and second baby but with my first I was also told to start expressing when I was only 37 weeks I was leaking loads and they were concerned that they might of needed to bring DS#1 early because of his size he was very small and didn't cope well with the last trimester at

[Samuel's mum]

It's stil useful to ask the daft questions because other people will read this thread and learn from it. There is no such thing as a truly daft question.
Even if you had never stopped nursing you still would only be producing colostrum at this stage. Those who breastfeed toddlers during pregnancy make a shift to colostrum and their milk resets as for any new mother.

If you have a history of mastitis be careful with lots of pumping next time. Excess pumping can lead to oversupply which makes mastitis more likely.

[~Jamie]

i was wondering how that worked! if women were nursing a toddler and nearing their delivery date i had wondered if they had to stop so as NOT to bring on labor prematurely. that's interesting to know that the whole process restarts.
i've had some activity/build up on the nipples thru this entire pregnancy. my dr said it was normal, especially since the boobs hadn't had a chance to go dormant yet, and just to be careful not to pick at/mess with it too much as any extra stimulation would make me feel ''crampy" - this was back in my 1ts trimester when i felt terrible and crampy all the time. so glad that's over with.