Tandem nursing anyone?

[MyLittleWonders]

Is anyone else tandem nursing? Aaron (ds#2) is 2 1/2 and is still nursing - and quite happy that I have milk again. (He actually just walked in here asking for milk!) He nursed throughout my entire pregnancy even though I didn't have any milk for the last 6 months or so. I love still nursing him, but am getting very frustrated with him wanting to nurse ALL the time ... seriously, every time I sit down or lay down, he is right there asking to nurse. I am trying to set some boundaries with him (really, I would love to keep it at waking in the morning, taking a nap, and going to bed, but am not sure how realistic that is), but I'm also struggling with not wanting to tell him "not right now" all the time. I really think he would nurse almost as often as Elliot does if I let him, and honestly, I just don't have it in me to do that all day long. So, I was wondering if there are any other new tandem mommies out there and how it's working for you ...

[eco_mama]

Not I. DD nursed till she was just 2 months shy of being 2 yrs. old but earlier when I was nursing Elijah she asked for some milk too....but in a glass. It was cute. :

[MyLittleWonders]

That is cute! Ds#1 (almost 5) asked to nurse, but when he went to, he told me he forgot! So, then it was him pestering me to get the pump out so he could have a glass too. After he got one cup (and actually only about 2 oz. because he wanted me to pump at like 10pm), he figured that was enough and hasn't asked again (thankfully ... there's not enough hours in the day to keep them all satisfied!!!).

[AugustineM]

I'm tandem nursing! It's difficult but not as difficult as I had envisioned. I had prepared myself for, like, hell, I guess... but honestly it is OK.

Thor asks to nurse a lot, but it's usually when he sees Anna nursing. Sometimes I nurse them at the same time, but give Thor about 5 minutes max. Sometimes I ask him to wait, or get DH or my mom to distract him. Sometimes he asks to nurse when I sit down on the couch, or when he wakes up from a nap, or in the morning... (all the time...) and I do try to give him some special one-one time, especially since he's not two yet and I don't feel ready to wean him.

I do worry about not having quite enough milk by the end of the day, since Anna isn't quite back to birth weight and it's really hot here... I feel dehydrated even if I drink lots of water.

Even with all that it's going OK.

[earthmama369]

Tandem nursing here, too. nak~

I'm feeling really glad we started working on taking turns (with toys, anyway) before Sebastian was born. Qualia seems to be ok with the idea of taking turns nursing, although she does get frustrated when she's tired or first thing in the morning, which is funny, because she hasn't done a wake-up nurse in a while. She's asking to nurse a lot more, but I've read that's normal for the first few weeks, so we're just taking it one day at a time. I've also started limiting how long she nurses to 5-10 minutes (except at bedtime). I'll give her a couple minutes' warning, then one minute, and a 3-count to unlatch (along with a thank you for helping Mama through the discomforts of engorgement!).

[mamamilkbar]

I had prepared myself for, like, hell, I guess... but honestly it is OK.

ME TOO!!!!


We're tandem nursing here! Haleigh is pretty good about sharing with Hannah. She also likes to help her get latched on or she'll be sure to let me know Hannah wants "booooooooooo boooooooooo mama" .. I'm doing the same thing with limiting her time nursing etc. She is asking for it more but it's mostly when Hannah is nursing. She gets distracted easily though or will just have a "lil bit" as she says and go on doing what she was doing. At bed time, nap time and wake up time are the most important for her and we still nurse then... The hardest for me is at bedtime when they both fall asleep on my lap nursing-- getting up and keeping them asleep getting them into bed.

Last night I was very very engorged and leaked a lot. Anyone else having that? It made me wanna wake Haleigh up to nurse at 4AM!

[mountainsun]

Yay! I am so glad you started this thread. We are tandeming as well. The first few weeks were REALLY HARD. Ds1 is getting better at sharing, but we are still having some issues....The biggest one being that when ds1 nurses, he also likes to majorly fondle the other breast.....so we are trying to break that habit - which is hard. Sometimes I think that he likes the twiddling more then the actual nursing.

He is also nursing more, but I really feel, that for us, limiting him is essential. I really dont like asking him to wait, either, but it is necessary. And usually he forgets.....
So, going OK here - not great, not bad - I think we are all adjusting.

[MyLittleWonders]

Oh the fondling ... I've been trying to break ds#2 of that habit since my pregnancy (really sore nipples for all 9 months). Each time he latches he immediately goes for the other breast with his little hand, and I say, "nooo ..." and he nods his head "yes"! But, I take his hand away and usually he'll listen and stop fondling/twiddling.

Fortunately ds#2 has been fine with sharing with his little brother - there have been a couple nights where I've been nursing ds#2 to sleep and little one wakes or gets restless, so I have them both on my lap. Ds#2 has also been really good about getting off the breast if I need to nurse Elliot, and I'm not in a position to nurse them both at the same time (sitting at the table or nak'ing). I also think that tandem nursing has helped ds#2 not get jealous about the baby because he's not getting "replaced" so to speak.

[JZDmama]

I'm tandeming. It is hard at times, but dd is only 8 days old, so I am sure there is a learning curve. DS wants to nurse almost every time DD does, and that is hard. I feel bad that I have to tell him no or limit him at times because my nipples hurt. However it is really nice that he can come drink the foremilk first so DD gets the good stuff. We finally had yellow poop last night after 6 days of green poop. No more imbalance here!