Breastfeeding Went Well Last Time. Do You Really Need a Prenatal Lactation Consultation?

If breastfeeding went well with your first baby, you may be wondering why you would need a lactation consultation before your second baby arrives.

You already know how to latch a baby.

You know what newborn feeding looks like.

You have breastfed before. Maybe you even feel like you could teach the class yourself at this point.

And honestly? You may not need a prenatal lactation consultation.

But your second baby isn’t your first baby.

And that’s exactly why prenatal support can still be valuable.

Your second baby may breastfeed differently

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from second-time parents is that their next breastfeeding experience should look like their first.

Sometimes it does.

Sometimes it really, really doesn’t.

Your babies can have completely different oral anatomy, temperaments, feeding patterns, and needs.

One baby may latch beautifully from the beginning while the next struggles to maintain a latch.

One may nurse efficiently and be done in 10 minutes while the other seems to want to eat constantly.

One may happily take a bottle while the other refuses anything that isn’t you.

And sometimes the difference has nothing to do with your breastfeeding experience at all.

You haven’t forgotten how to breastfeed.

You simply have a different baby.

And your life is different this time, too.

This is the part we don’t talk about enough.

When you had your first baby, you could spend an entire afternoon figuring out a feeding.

Now you might have a toddler who needs lunch.

You may be returning to work sooner.

You may want your partner to be able to give a bottle.

You may want to pump occasionally without becoming an exclusive pumper.

You may want to breastfeed but also want the freedom to leave the house for more than two hours.

You may simply have less time and mental energy to spend troubleshooting every feeding.

Your definition of successful breastfeeding may have changed.

And that’s okay.

A feeding plan that worked beautifully for your first baby may not be the plan you want for your second.

Prenatal lactation support isn’t about preparing for everything that could go wrong.

It’s about preparing for what you want.

A good prenatal consultation isn’t a crash course in everything that could possibly happen during breastfeeding.

It’s an opportunity to talk through your specific goals and create a plan around your actual life.

We can talk about things like:

• What you want breastfeeding to look like this time
• Whether you want to introduce bottles
• When and how you might want to pump
• How to protect your milk supply if you’re occasionally separated from your baby
• How feeding might work alongside caring for an older child
• What to expect during the first few days after birth
• How to recognize when something is going well — and when it may be time to ask for help
• What you can do if this baby doesn’t latch as easily as your first
• How to build a feeding plan that feels sustainable rather than all-consuming

The goal isn’t to give you more rules to remember.

It’s to make sure you know your options before you’re sitting on the couch at 2 a.m. with a newborn, a toddler who woke up, and a Google search telling you 14 different things you should be doing.

You don’t have to wait until there’s a problem.

This might be my favorite reason to consider prenatal lactation support.

You don’t have to wait until you’re in pain.

You don’t have to wait until your baby isn’t gaining weight.

You don’t have to wait until you’re pumping around the clock and wondering why your supply is dropping.

You don’t have to wait until you’re overwhelmed enough to finally decide that something isn’t working.

You can get support before you need it.

That doesn’t mean we’re trying to predict every possible breastfeeding challenge.

It means you have someone who already knows your goals, your history, and what matters to you.

And if something does come up after your baby arrives, you aren’t starting from scratch.

You don’t need to be more committed to breastfeeding. You may just need a better plan.

I don’t believe successful breastfeeding has to mean doing everything “perfectly.”

I don’t believe you need to spend every waking minute thinking about feeding.

And I don’t believe that wanting to breastfeed and wanting some flexibility are contradictory goals.

Maybe you want to exclusively breastfeed.

Maybe you want to breastfeed and occasionally offer a bottle.

Maybe you want to pump once a day so someone else can feed the baby.

Maybe you want to build a freezer stash before returning to work.

Maybe you want to breastfeed for as long as it works for your family without making it the center of your entire existence.

There isn’t one right way to do this.

Your baby is different.

Your body is different.

Your family is different.

And your version of sustainable breastfeeding may look completely different this time around.

That’s why I don’t think prenatal lactation support is about learning more.

It’s about getting more personalized support.

If you’re expecting a September baby, now is a great time to make your plan.

August is an ideal time to think through your feeding goals before your baby arrives.

And if you already know that you want to breastfeed but want this experience to feel a little more flexible, sustainable, or supported than it did the first time, that’s exactly the kind of conversation I love having with parents.

During World Breastfeeding Week, I’m offering a free Haakaa with every virtual prenatal consultation scheduled with me.

We’ll talk about what you want this feeding experience to look like, what worked (and didn’t work) last time, and how we can create a plan that makes sense for your baby and your actual life.

Because you don’t need another list of breastfeeding rules.

You need a plan that fits you.

Schedule a virtual prenatal consultation with me here.