Tandem Nursing Mamas?

[muppet729]

Can we do a tandem nursing thread? I thought it might be like some of the other threads that come up monthly so that we can talk about the ups and downs of nursing two.

I tandemed my first two for about a year before I got pregnant with number 3 and now I'm tandeming my dd2 and dd3. It has been good but with challenges.

Just trying to see if there is an interest and if this is the right place to post such a thing.

[kohlby]

I tandemed my first son and daughter for 25 months. My daughter was born when my son was 2 months shy of 3. He weaned a month shy of 5 years old. She'll be 3 in March and is still nursing. I'll be giving birth to another son in February. Tandem nursing made the adjustment very easy for my first child so I'm really hoping to tandem nurse again.

[yarngoddess]

I'm a tandem nursing momma! I'll come back and give you the full details. I've been tandeming right now for 22months and counting!

[emilet]

I'd love to hear more about your experiences as I'm about to be a tandem nursing mama. My daughter will be 18 mos when my son is born this Feb. I'm reading Hilary Flower's book, but more info is always welcome!

[bea694]

Count me in! I'm tandeming my 34 month-old and my 10 week-old babe. After the hellish nursing of pregnancy, I was looking forward to enjoying nursing my older one again, but alas, that hasn't been the case. I feel very agitated when he nurses....which is a LOT right now. I wish I didn't feel this way, because he definitely still needs it emotionally-speaking. Sigh. I'm just going to take it one day at a time for now, as I really wanted to CLW.

Thanks for starting this thread!

[Swandira]

My 2 1/2-year-old isn't nursing very much right now (every three or four days, maybe), but I'm pretty confident she'll be tandeming with her baby brother in a few weeks. She may not be constantly drinking the boobs, but she's very adamant that they are HER boobies. She grudgingly agrees that she will tolerate the new baby having one of them sometimes.

She nursed with her big brother for a little under two years -- until shortly after his fifth birthday, when he discovered that he'd gone so long without nursing that he couldn't remember how to latch on when he wanted to.

[ameliasmama]

Thank you for starting this thread! I am pg and thinking that I probably will be tandeming when this baby arrives. It will be nice to hear other's stories.

I know one PP said that she had Adventures in Tandem nursing. Is it worth it? I've been thinking of picking up a copy, but not sure if I want to spend the money on it.

[muppet729]

Originally Posted by ameliasmama

I know one PP said that she had Adventures in Tandem nursing. Is it worth it? I've been thinking of picking up a copy, but not sure if I want to spend the money on it.

YES!! Totally! Completely! Absolutely!

[emilet]

muppet729 (& any others to whom this applies) - I see that yours are about 19 mos apart - how has it been tandeming two so close in age?? Any advice for me as I'm about to be tandeming an 18 mo. old & newborn....?

TIA
Emile

[alegna]

Tandeming here... dd 4yrs and ds 5 mo.

-Angela

[Avecilla]

I'm tandem nursing my daughters (nearly 3 & 2.5 months).

[muppet729]

Originally Posted by emilet

muppet729 (& any others to whom this applies) - I see that yours are about 19 mos apart - how has it been tandeming two so close in age?? Any advice for me as I'm about to be tandeming an 18 mo. old & newborn....?

TIA
Emile

Well, it's not always easy... when I tandemed my first two, the older one was 3y2m so we were able to set some guidelines and limitations although there were some rough times. This time around, they are 19months apart and dd2 isn't all that receptive to limitations of any kind...

One thing that i try to keep in mind is that my older one is still my/a baby too. If she didn't have a younger sister I wouldn't think twice about nursing her just about any time she wanted me to and it's not her fault that we have another baby. That being said, my strategy at this point is to allow her to nurse just about any time she wants (she had cut back a lot during my pregnancy and so I'm hoping that we can get back to that) with the idea that if I stop putting her off and telling her "no" that she'll get the idea that she can have "jug juice" anytime she wants and so she won't have to ask for it as often. I know that logic doesn't always work, but it's what we're trying right now...

the only restriction that I've stuck with is that I wont' nurse her down to sleep at night. I nurse her in a chair for about 10 minutes before we go to bed, then we read and talk about our day, etc and then she can snuggle with me, but I only nurse the baby to sleep. She can nurse any time she wakes up during the night although sometimes i have to cut her short (she woudl nurse continuously otherwise) if the baby wakes up. She has gotten more used to this although it's not a perfect plan. My idea is that eventually she'll stop waking up during the night for those night nursings and will be able to go to sleep without nursing and stay asleep without nursing...

Also, I have trouble sometimes with NIP because I dont' want to double nurse in front of other people- it just shows too much of me. I don't mind nursing the toddler or nursing the baby individually, but not together, so that has been a problem sometimes when they both want/need to nurse.

[Mama Poot]

i am 5 months into tandem nursing. i didnt think id be here b/c Henri was weaned for 7 months!!! But he started about a month after Fleur was born and here we are : Most of the time it is wonderful, and im especially glad Henri started nursing again. He had a bad iron deficiency that stunted his growth, so he needs good mama milk to grow. And he really, REALLY loves his baby sister He nurses a bazillion times a day, so i think we'll be tandeming for a long time to come!

[pbjmama]

I'm tandem my 2.5 yo and 7 mo.

[Brightside]

Ooooh, I'm so glad this thread was started!

I'm 12 weeks pg with #2, and DS1 will be 22 mos when baby is born. Things have been tough lately, some teething nursing going on at night which is hard to handle with being so sensitive, as ya'll know. I toy with the idea of trying to night wean or something, but my poor baby just has no concept of nursies going night-night or any such thing. *sigh* And then things get better and I can cope again for a bit. I just worry about the night nursing and never getting sleep once the new one is here, etc...

I'm scouting for tandem threads like this all I can and trying to take a day at a time. I'm going to look for that book too, thanks for the rec.

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences, SO much.

[pbjmama]

Brightside, I had my partner help me night wean about about the age your ds is now. I'm really glad I did, and my dd was born when ds was 22 mo.

[LianneM]

DS is 3.75 and DD is 4.5mo

Some days I think DS nurses more than DD no, not really, but she is so quick and efficient, and doesn't nurse for comfort like he did, that it seems like she is hardly on

I am starting to limit DS to morning and night, with maybe one time during the day (he tries to negotiate by suggesting he just have a HALF-milky WTH? )

[mochimama]

Been tandeming for 13 whole days (dd2 is 13 days old). Going well so far. dd1 is just nursing 2x a day (what she was before dd2 arrived). We are having a hard time with positions right now, but I imagine as dd2 grows, it'll be easier.

[momto2sweetboys]

I'm currently tandem nursing my 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr olds - recently learned that we are expecting #3 and my oldest son has decided to wean so the new baby can have "meelmil" - looks like his little brother has no interest in weaning though, so I suspect that we'll be tandem nursing this time around as well. I would definitely recommend the adventures in tandem nursing book to those who asked, I found it to be really helpful and wished I had read it sooner....

[GardenStream]

I'm a tandem mama too!

I'm nursing a 2.5yo and a 7mo. I'm assuming I'll be tandem nursing for another year or so. The 2.5yo is still nursing 3 or 4 times a day and shows no signs of being ready to give up. Actually, just a couple night ago he woke up from a nursing nightmare. In the middle of the night he woke up crying hysterically saying, "NO! Parker's turn for boo milk."