Tandem Nursing Tribe - Page 2

[turtlemama77]

Tandeming here also with a 4 week old and a 19 month old. Things have been challenging, but I think it would have been worse had I weaned dd before ds was born.

We finally figured out a position in which both babes can nurse. It involves dd standing on a little step stool and leaning over the arm of our chair! But it's better than listening to dd hollar or having her hit/pinch me or throw things at the baby.

Anyway, glad to see you all!

[KittyMommy]

Originally Posted by LadyBug & BabyBug

Jen - mine are also 22 months apart and right now I feel like I'll never be able to get it together, dealing with both of them. DD is 3.5 weeks and DS is 23 months. How long did it take you to feel like you had a handle on things?

Well, it took a LONG time, but there were mitigating factors. DH started a new job in another state when DD was 5 mos, so he was gone Sunday afternoon until Friday evening, so I was essentially a single mom during the week for about 5 months and no family near by. Plus, he was doing interviews and things were very unsettled even before he took the job. I didn't really feel like I had ANYTHING together for most of DD's first year...not coincidentially, her birthday was about 6 weeks after the kids and I got moved to live with DH again. Between DS being in a tizzy with daddy coming and going and all the stress for all of us, it was a crazy time!

Also, DS was still a LOUSY sleeper when DD was born. Most nights were: nurse DD to sleep, then while I tried to get comfy, DS would wake up and need to nurse back to sleep, I'd sleep maybe 45 min or 1 hr and then DD would wake and the process would start over again. This was at its worst when DD was around 6-8 mos since DH was gone. If I could have given the kids and a bottle or two of BM to someone for maybe three hours for a nap every couple of days, things would have been SO MUCH better!

[AnnesMoM]

I will be tandem nursing in October. I have no one to talk to My dd (24 months) is down to 3 sessions a day, but she is VERY in love w/ 'na-na's so I can see her trying to nurse like a newborn again.

[timneh_mom]

Originally Posted by AnnesMoM

I will be tandem nursing in October. I have no one to talk to My dd (24 months) is down to 3 sessions a day, but she is VERY in love w/ 'na-na's so I can see her trying to nurse like a newborn again.

Do you have La Leche League meetings in your area? LOTS of moms I know from LLL have tandemed! Of course the computer is nice too but sometimes it helps to know someone IRL!

[beautyful]

Tandeming my girls who will be 29mo and 1mo tomorrow. It's challenging, but I know it will pay off. The hardest part for me is naptimes right now. My toddler still has to nurse to sleep, and it's hard to balance the 20+ minutes she wants to nurse with taking care of my newborn.

Along with the toddler nursing like a newborn, has anybody noticed a solids-strike with their toddlers? She's almost exclusively breastfeeding again.

[broodymama]

KittyMommy (love the username, btw!) - i expect it will take me a while too. dh is in the navy and getting ready to go to sea for several months. these next few months are going to be tough on all of us.

Steph - my ds isn't cutting back on solids but he has definitely upped his nursing, he is nursing a ton!

[kaylas mama]

Hi!

Hi there mommies!

Count me in...I'll be tandem nursing (God willing) when the baby comes in January. DD nurses the same as I've read on this post-more when we stay home, and always at nap and nightimes. She's eating WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more (WOW) than she ever has and drinking lots more too. Experiencing lots of nipple pain when she nurses. Sometimes unbearable. And also lots of irritablility on my part too. Just touched out most of the time. I can only imagine what it will be like when I have two nursing.

My milk has dried up a lot. It started at about 14 weeks. (I'm now 17.) Kayla will say "empty!" or "just a little" when I ask if there's any milk inside. But, she still likes to suck! I just don't see her stopping.

Anyway, hi all! Glad to know I'm not alone....

[eightyferrettoes]

Getting ready to tandem any day here!

My son would probably nurse a billion times a day if I'd let him. He's always "feeling the milkies" for comfort, or he'll bury his head in between them if he's upset. But we're down to a couple of nursings a day now-- sometimes a whole day will pass without him nursing, depending on how busy we've been. It just all really depends.

I, too, need to get off my butt and find a copy of Adventures in Tandem Nursing There's an LLL chapter here with a couple of tandem-experienced moms I should probably talk to about it, too.

Mostly I'm just waiting to see what happens. I'm a little worried about how he'll feel about seeing his mama nurse "some other baby." He's a wee bit possessive about me HOLDING other kids, let along getting "his" boobs!

I certainly never dreamed I'd be one of those tandem-nursing crunchy-granola types. y Good to see y'all!

[Still_Snarky]

Welcome to all the mamas who will be tandem nursing soon! Hopefully some of the more experienced tandem-ers () will have advice for us newbies! :

[Still_Snarky]

Originally Posted by eightyferrettoes

I certainly never dreamed I'd be one of those tandem-nursing crunchy-granola types. y Good to see y'all!

No kidding, eh?

[tireesix]

I am tandeming my 8 mth old and 2 year old. There is 19ish months between them. DD2 had severe colic for the first 5 months of her life and DD1 has been a handful too........... Only now do I have some sort of handle on things and it doesn't feel that stable but we are all alive so can't be doing to badly!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs to you all!

[paxye]

Hi everyone!
I am here too...

I am Tandeming my 4 yo ds, my almost 2 yo (will be 2 on Sept 2) and I am pregnant with #3 due for Nov.

At the end of my pregnancy wih ds#2, ds#1 was nursing about 1-2X a day and then nursed like a newborn when ds#2 was born... it lasted a few weeks and then he went back to his 1-2X a day....
This pregnancy he hasn't changed his nursing habits at all... Ds#2 nursed a bit more when I got pregnant and he has slowly been nursing less... My milk is now more colustrum then mature milk and he is stil nursing 5-6 X a day....

I really think that neither of them is going to quit before babe #3 gets here... and I really hope they don't because I want them to self-wean (not wean due to pregnancy)...

So, anyways, I am pretty sure that I will be Triandem nursing soon...

[jillmamma]

Another tandem mama here!

I am nursing Matthew who is 3y8m and Michelle who is 11.5m. It has definitely been worth it for me as well. Matthew just turned 2 when I got pg with Michelle, so he was still nursing several times a day. He was down to 3 times a day just before she was born, and then picked back up (including wanting more milk than solids) for a few months, and then tapered back down. Now he is down to mainly mornings and nights, with an occasional extra session during the day.

What I have found interesting is how DIFFERENT my two nurslings are! Matthew could have stayed latched on (and almost still would) 24/7 if I would have let him, but Michelle is definitely more the nurse because I am hungry, and then I am done type (then she wants her thumb ).

If I nurse them together, I have found the couch works best. I get the baby latched on on one side (either cradle or sometimes football hold), then have the big guy sit next to me and latch himself on. Amazing how much those nipples can stretch sometimes!

I am excited to be saying I have been nursing over 3.5 years, and tandem nursing for almost a full year!

[DreamsInDigital]

I'm nursing through pregnancy and planning to tandemn in February.
My babe is 8 months old so if he weaned it would be to formula.

[Mama2ABCD]

Hi Tandem mama's and soon to be tandem mama's!

Celeste, i got this link from your sig in birth announcements (great job with that by the way). thanks for starting this thread. there is another tandem thread in lactivism, but it gets buried so easy...that thread used to be over here. i'll go post a link to this thread. i think tandem deserves it's own forum!

Tandem has been a blessing to my family. I don't know what i would have done without 2 boobs (and i realized why we don't have 3)! I'm going on 5 years tandeming non-stop next tues, through 3 pregnancy's. With each child some things are the same, but the variations are still there, just like each breastfeeding relationship is different with each child.

My dd is 28 mos and she's not eating anything (cept bm) now that the new baby is here. I expected this, but it's still overwhelming at times. I do know the the bm is far better then any food! She's not jealous of the baby, or possesive of her "ninners", she just wants to be included. She's nursing all the time except during the night...thank goodness for that!
She'll be into exclusive bm for the next few months. I figure she'll start tapering off between halloween and thanksgiving....maybe.

I can never decide what the rediscovery is about...is it the abundant, delicious milk supply? (and i have the experts opinion that bm is better than icecream) is it adjustment to the new baby and all that entails? or was their natural cycle interupted by the pregnancy so they are getting back into that? I would think it's a combo of all and i keep that in mind when i start to feel aggitated by my dd's constant need. It helps keep things in perspective.

As for getting the hang of tandem nursing, just remember how long it took to get adjusted to nursing the first born. And think about parts of that that came easier with the 2nd. And then think how you would be taking care of that first one without nursing. It would still be a rough beginning.

Happy Tandeming, Mama's!

[beautyful]

kirstie - thank you SO much.. you have really reassured me. I was getting nervous that the exclusive bm was abnormal (since I only know one other tandem mama, and she's in the process of moving right now ) And I do try and remind myself that I'd be having to find other ways to meet needs to replace what has worked so well for the last 29 months if I weren't still nursing. (Because I've been tempted to wean a few times now.)

Jill - my two are the same way so far! Adia loves to nurse for food AND comfort. Francesca's more of the "eating and nothing else" type. It's really strange! And we use the same position when they're both eating.. on the couch with F in cradle hold and A stretching the nipple farther than any part of the human body should possibly stretch.

[timneh_mom]

OHH!! I think having our own forum (or at least sub forum) would be wonderful!! How can we go about petitioning for that?

[Still_Snarky]

Kirstie, I felt it in our DDC and still feel it now: you are my breastfeeding hero. Your attitude is simply awesome.

[damyen's mommy]

Kristy you are awesome an inspiring. There are days when I want to wean the older nursling. Actualy I finally figured out I have to drink a ton of water, so mommas drink a lot of water, for some reason it helps a lot to,,,,, um....I lost my train of thought: , nak. It helps sensation wise. I too never figured on being a crunchy granola tandemer (he he ) When I had ds I figured on nursing a month, then it became 6 months then 1 year then two years, my dd was a surprise I never wanted to tandemn or nurse through pregnancy but ds needed it so much an he seemed so young I just kept going. I think for me when I lost the milk it was the worsed But now everything is balancing out. I have to admit after about 6-8 weeks I put a limit on ds nursing, : I had too. On days that he isn't feeling himself I will nurse more but for my own sanity I limited him. I did it very slowly, he is slow to warm up child, so I just started distracting him when dd nursed so they wouldn't do it together every time. Now they do three times a day so that is ok. Gotta run, glad to see this tribe. I don't know any one personally who did this, the oldest nursling I have met is my son

[momsmyjob]

thank you Kirstie..whew I am overwhelmed...ds 19 mos old wants to nurse every time I nurse the babe and sometimes I just want to nurse the baby alone. He still continues to nurse at night too, both of them.