Pregnant and Nursing a 9-Month-Old Who Wakes to Feed
A 9-month-old who drinks less milk by day and wakes for it at night is usually doing something normal. Busy, distractible babies often take short daytime feeds and make up for them after dark, which La Leche League GB calls reverse cycling. Being pregnant again changes the maths. La Leche League GB’s page on breastfeeding while pregnant says milk production is likely to drop around the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy, and that nursing more often “won’t increase production” the way it would otherwise. So the plan has three parts: focused daytime feeds, a weight check with your pediatrician, and nights you can survive while growing a baby.
Where this post stops
This is for the parent who is pregnant now, with a baby who isn’t one yet. I’m not a lactation consultant or a doctor. Two people need to hear about this situation: your baby’s pediatrician (weight and food) and your OB or midwife (your pregnancy). Both La Leche League pages below also suggest talking to a local LLL Leader.
Why a 9-month-old drinks less by day
It isn’t a sign your baby is weaning, and it isn’t a sign your milk has stopped being enough. La Leche League Canada’s page on the distracted baby explains what’s going on. Between six and twelve months, babies make big developmental leaps: crawling, standing, babbling, new foods. “Getting distracted by the things going on around is a sign that your baby’s brain is developing.”
A few things follow from that:
- Daytime feeds get short. “Drive by”, short nursing sessions are common, LLL Canada says. Your baby is also “a more efficient nurser now than when he was a newborn”, so a short feed isn’t necessarily a small one.
- Night feeds get more important. LLL GB notes that babies can become distractible again between about eight and ten months and “may also wish to nurse more at night for a while”. LLL Canada says night nursing “is normal in babies at this age”, because the night is when “there are fewer distractions available”.
- It’s very rarely weaning. LLL GB says research shows “it is very unlikely that a baby under one year will self-wean”.
If you’re back at work and the daytime feeds are bottles, the pattern is similar but the fixes are different. The New Moms Club covers reverse cycling after returning to work.
What being pregnant changes
This is where the usual advice stops fitting.
Your supply will probably drop. LLL GB says “around the fourth or fifth month (sometimes before) your milk production is likely to reduce due to pregnancy hormones”. LLL Canada puts it at “around the 20th week of the pregnancy”. The milk itself also changes, becoming “more similar to weaning milk”.
The usual fix doesn’t work. For most nursing parents, more feeds or pumping raises supply. In pregnancy, LLL GB says, the drop “is due to hormonal changes and nursing more frequently or pumping won’t increase production in the same way”. So a baby who is shifting more of their milk to the night may be asking for milk there’s less of.
A baby under one may need a weight check and more food. LLL GB says “a baby under 12 months may need his weight monitored”. LLL Canada says that if your baby is under a year, “you may need to increase the amount of food your baby eats” to meet their needs. How much, and what, is a question for your pediatrician, not a blog. Bring it up at the next visit, or call before then if you’re worried.
Nursing may feel different for you. LLL GB lists nipple soreness, more nausea and “feelings of irritability caused by pregnancy hormones”. LLL Canada says nipple sensitivity often eases after the first trimester.
It doesn’t usually harm the pregnancy. LLL Canada says research doesn’t support the worry that breastfeeding causes miscarriage. LLL GB says the oxytocin released while nursing “is not usually enough to cause the cervix to open before it is ready”. It adds that if you’re expecting multiples, or you’re at risk of miscarriage or early delivery, you “may be advised to stop”. Check with your OB or midwife if either applies.
Getting more milk in by day
LLL Canada’s suggestions for a distracted baby, adapted for a pregnant parent with less energy to spare:
- Use the sleepy edges of the day. Longer feeds tend to happen “before or after naps, bedtime or waking times”. Make those your focused feeds.
- Lower the noise. Keep the TV off, put your phone down, and sit “in a darkened quiet room or lying on the bed”. If the nursery is bright at nap time, blackout curtains like these NICETOWN panels make a daytime feed feel more like a night one.
- Bring solids when you’re out. LLL Canada says a baby may take “a snack of solids rather than breastfeed” somewhere busy.
LLL GB adds a mindset shift: think about your baby’s intake “over a 24-hour period”, rather than judging each daytime feed on its own.
Making the nights survivable while pregnant
You’re growing a person and doing night shifts. Something has to give.
Shorten the feeds if you need to. LLL GB suggests “limiting nursing times (eg to a few minutes or even a few sucks)”, making sure of a deep latch, and offering other snacks or drinks to make nursing through pregnancy more manageable. LLL Canada suggests slow breathing when nursing is uncomfortable, and counting or a song to set the length of a feed for older nurslings.
Get to bed earlier. LLL GB suggests short-term changes like “going to bed earlier” or napping when you can. If pregnancy tiredness is already flattening you, my pregnancy fatigue post covers what else helps.
Keep the feed in a safe place. If you might doze off, the AAP’s guide to safe sleep says to put your baby back in their own sleep space before you sleep, and to avoid sofas and armchairs, where the risk of sleep-related death is “up to 67 times higher”.
Share what can be shared. A partner can’t nurse, but they can do the diaper, the resettle and the walk back to the crib. Agree on it by day, not at 2am.
If you want to cut down night feeds
That’s reasonable when you’re pregnant. Make the call with your pediatrician, because your baby is under a year and your supply is likely falling.
LLL Canada describes a gentle partial approach: with a busy baby who isn’t asking during the day, “don’t offer the breast but don’t refuse”. Within a few weeks that tends to settle around falling-asleep and waking feeds. For nights, Betteroo’s step-by-step guide to dropping night feeds gradually makes the same point the LLL pages do. Confirm your baby’s growth first, then reduce slowly, while building up daytime food and feeds.
Plan for the age gap now
A nine-month-old today will be somewhere past their first birthday when the new baby arrives. The bigger picture is in my post on preparing for two under two. How you’ll handle the big kid’s bedtime once lifting gets hard is in toddler bedtime while pregnant.
If you’d like a structure for the baby’s days and nights as feeds shift, Betteroo builds a sleep plan around your baby’s age. It’s a planning tool, about $20 a month, and it doesn’t replace your pediatrician’s view on weight and food.
FAQ
Is my 9-month-old waking at night because they’re hungry?
Sometimes. LLL GB lists hunger “especially if they have nursed less during the day”, alongside teething, separation anxiety, illness and just wanting connection. If your supply may be dropping because of the pregnancy, ask your pediatrician to check their weight rather than guessing.
Will nursing while pregnant affect my milk for the new baby?
LLL GB says no: continuing to breastfeed “has no effect on the milk supply that you will have following the birth of your new baby”. Colostrum is produced during pregnancy either way.
Do I have to wean because I’m pregnant?
No. Both LLL pages say breastfeeding through pregnancy is generally fine. The exceptions are multiples, or a risk of miscarriage or early delivery, where your OB or midwife may advise stopping. LLL Canada calls the decision “very personal”, often made “one day at a time”.
