My Breastfeeding Journey: Overcoming Challenges Nursing Two Babies for 27 Months
As an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and pediatric dietitian, I faced my own breastfeeding challenges — from low blood sugar and oversupply, to food intolerances and mastitis. Here’s how I overcame them and successfully breastfed both of my boys for 27 months.
Finding Support and Strength Through My Breastfeeding Journeys
My breastfeeding journeys were far from easy. However, with the help of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), a supportive family, and my background as both a pediatric dietitian and IBCLC, I successfully nursed both of my boys for 27 months each.
I never set a specific breastfeeding duration goal — it just worked for us. I loved the connection, and so did they. I eventually chose to wean both around 27 months due to pregnancy complications and miscarriages. (You can read more about my fertility journey and weaning experience in my other posts.)
Sullivan’s Breastfeeding Story: From a Difficult Start to a Confident Nursing Relationship
My first son, Sullivan, had a tough start due to complications during labor and delivery. (You can read my birth story here.) After an unplanned C-section and unnecessary and prolonged separation after birth, Sullivan was given sugar water for low blood sugar before I could nurse due to him exhibiting signs of hypoglycemia in the hospital nursery.
The hospital stay was stressful — constant heel pricks to monitor his neonatal hypoglycemia, pressure to supplement, and worry about milk supply. Even though I was producing colostrum and feeding frequently, his blood sugar levels didn’t meet the hospital’s target range. We do think there was a big layer of stress and chaos that played into this situation being more extensive than it really was. We understood that the healthcare providers just wanted to make sure that his levels were normal and that he was healthy, but the pressuring and overriding of my own innate mothering instincts may have been less than helpful.
We eventually supplemented with small amounts of infant formula to stabilize his levels and were discharged. Once we arrived home, we supplemented a few ounces of formula after 3-4 nursing sessions/day. We slowly decreased to 1 ounce after 2-3 nursing sessions, and eventually weaned down to no formula feeds. To ensure he was still doing well without formula, we opted for additional weight checks to make sure he remained stable with just my breast milk. I would pump 2-3x/day to signal my body to produce more milk, and I would never go longer than 4 hours without feeding in the first few weeks to ensure adequate supply.
How I Increased My Milk Supply
- Nursing 12+ times every 24 hours
- Prioritizing skin-to-skin contact
- Staying hydrated and eating balanced meals
- Working with an IBCLC to confirm proper latch and milk transfer
- No long periods (>4 hours) between nursing sessions.
Free Optimizing Milk Supply Handout Linked Here
Within two weeks, Sullivan regained his birth weight, and I weaned him off formula entirely. By month two, I had an oversupply and was able to pump just occasionally to build a freezer stash.
Common Breastfeeding Hurdles We Overcame
At around six months, Sullivan became distracted during feeds (a common breastfeeding challenge for older babies). Nursing in a quiet, dimly lit room helped. He also nursed frequently at night, so we practiced safe co-sleeping until about 18 months.
We continued to nurse comfortably until 27 months, when I decided to wean due to pregnancy complications. I sometimes wonder if he would have continued longer — but I’m confident we weaned at the right time. That bond remains one of the most special parts of our relationship.
(If you’re considering extended breastfeeding, check out my weaning post, which includes the benefits of nursing past one year here.)
Hayes’ Breastfeeding Story: Oversupply, Fussiness, and Food Intolerances
My second son, Hayes, brought a whole new set of challenges — and plenty of learning moments. After my first experience, I felt prepared and empowered to advocate for our breastfeeding goals. (Read my second C-section birth story here.)
We started strong with immediate skin-to-skin with my husband and nursing within the first hour after birth. But on day two, Hayes became extremely fussy and hard to latch.
Even though I knew he was transferring milk (based on swallowing sounds, wet diapers, and weight gain), I was anxious that something was wrong. Our IBCLC confirmed that everything looked great — latch, milk transfer, and anatomy — but the fussiness continued. I was so worried about him not getting enough milk because he was fussy, that I think I obsessed over feeding him, so that he got more than enough. His weight gain was well above average, so we knew he received more than adequate milk intake.
At two months old, I noticed blood in his stool, which led me to suspect a milk protein intolerance. I removed dairy from my diet, and his symptoms improved noticeably within days. Did removing dairy completely cure his stubborn and loud personality? Nope, but I definitely believe it helped.
Navigating Oversupply and Mastitis
Unlike my first experience, I struggled with oversupply, plugged ducts, and mastitis. While I never had to worry about low supply, managing too much milk came with its own challenges — pain, engorgement, and the need to balance feeding and pumping carefully.
By six months, we found our rhythm. Nursing became easy and intuitive, and we continued for 27 months. Like his brother, Hayes often nursed at night, and we safely co-slept until around 15–18 months.
Discovering Food Intolerances and Gut Health Issues
After six months, I reintroduced dairy into both of our diets. Shortly after, I noticed Hayes having more issues with extended periods between bowel movements and straining. He unfortunately never had normal bowel movements since birth, and I was always concerned there was an underlying issue – I should have trusted my education more that something was not quite right.
I optimized his fiber intake, kept him hydrated, and even tried pediatric chiropractic care, but the irregularity persisted. My gut told me something was off, so at 15 months, we saw a pediatric allergist.
His food allergy testing came back negative, but since skin tests can be incredibly unreliable, we tried another elimination diet — removing both soy and dairy. Elimination diets are currently the gold standard for evaluating food allergies. The improvement was clear and almost immediate. Take note: Skin prick tests for food allergies are not concrete and can cause many false positives and false negatives.
It was challenging to adjust his meals at first, but over time, it became second nature. This experience gave me deep empathy for food allergy families and shaped how I support parents as a pediatric dietitian today.
Looking back, I wish I had trusted my mother’s intuition earlier, instead of labeling everything as “colic” or “normal newborn fussiness.” (You can read more about food allergy prevention in infants here.)
Final Thoughts: Breastfeeding Isn’t Always Easy — Even for the Experts
Whew — that was a long one! But I wanted to share these experiences honestly, because even as an IBCLC and pediatric dietitian, I faced plenty of breastfeeding challenges — from hypoglycemia and low supply fears to oversupply and food intolerances.
No amount of education can make breastfeeding “perfect.” Every baby, every mother, and every journey is unique.
If you’re struggling, please know: you’re not alone. Reach out for support from an IBCLC, trust your instincts, and remember that you are doing an amazing job – feeding babies is hard work!
Want more? My course is a 100% evidence-based approach to starting solids in a way that encourages a healthy dietary pattern from the start.
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Cinthia Scott is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with over 10 years experience in the field of dietetics. Cinthia focuses on ensuring optimal nutrition in the first 1000 days of life to ensure optimal growth and development as well as set the stage for long-term health. Cindy is an author, starting solids expert, and advocate for caregivers receiving evidence based education and support surrounding breastfeeding and starting solids.
Cinthia is co-author of the 101beforeone Starting Solids Book, “101beforeone -baby-led feeding cookbook,” and is the founder and owner of The Baby Dietitian LLC which is her private practice built to provide virtual 1:1 services for caregivers surrounding infant nutrition, toddler nutrition, and breastfeeding support. Cinthia is also the creator of the Starting Solids 101 Program which provides caregivers 1:1 support from a Pediatric Dietitian on how to provide optimal nutrition from the start and create healthy eating habits that will last their whole lifetime. To work with Cinthia, you can access her services here.
Cinthia provides tons of free information for parents on her social media accounts as well.
- Instagram: @The.Baby.Dietitian
- Tiktok: @The.Baby.Dietitian