Will anyone be tandeming??

[tiffany21074]

Just curious, my dd is 2.5, and still nursing before naps and bedtime, and sometimes during the day at odd times. I wasn't sure if she would still be nursing, but here we are, and I am 39 weeks tomorrow. We have already talked about 'sharing nee-nees' with her sibling, so we shall see!

anyone with me??

[ren_]

I haven't been actively posting here but just thought I'd say I'm here with you. My daughter is still nursing, I'm due on Thursday. I'm a little nervous about how it's going to work and if she's going to want to nurse a lot more once her sister is here but we've had the talks about the baby and sharing her nurses...

[MamaJenese]

I will be. DS is going to be 2 in august and still loves to "nurt". We do a lot of chatting about how he will share nursing with the new baby and how little baby will have to nurse a lot when it comes, just like he did. Now every time we see a newborn he yells "that baby nurt!!"

[Ellarae]

I will be. I'm starting to get a little nervous about it. My dd is just 16 months, and even though I've talked about sharing her "nursies" with the baby, I don't think she gets it at all. She still nurses to sleep and whenever she's bored, which is a lot. I have a feeling that she'll want to nurse every single time the baby will, which is going to be challenging. I don't want to tell her she can't though, because she's so young I'm already worried she'll be resentful of the baby. Hopefully it will be okay!

[glycerin19]

I haven't posted too much either but I am going to be nursing two as well. My DD will be nearly 21 months. We nurse a couple times a day still so it should be interesting. I'm not sure I'm up for the actual tandem nursing but I figure for a while I'll have one or the other at the breast anyway. At least I'll have good reasons to be sitting or lying down a lot

[jessjgh1]

i'm not sure my 3+ year old is hardly nursing... but who knows what will happen when my milk comes back.

We usually just set a number and he puts his mouth there and then stops (at night time and sometimes at other times, rarely).

I've talked about sharing and he often suggests that baby's nursing or that he saved the other side for baby. And I've planted many seeds that when baby comes s/he might nurse more and he might stop.

Who knows?? I'm woried that he will just end up nursing all the time since 'baby' will.

But I'm just staying flexible....

Jessica

[bluebird68]

Hey there... I am right with you, Jessica... Eli is 3+, and just nurses for a few minutes to get to sleep at nap time. I had been thinking I'd have him totally weaned by the time I had at least 6 weeks left of pregnancy, but it just didn't happen, and I didn't push it. I figure he'll be helped by the transition of having at least a little nursing time when the baby comes. He has been talking about it a ton, saying the babe can have one side and he can have the other. It's very sweet. My friend tandem nurses, and said it helped the transition immensely, although her dau. had been self-weaned for 5 months, and now is nursing like crazy. Guess we will all find out what our little ones need! GOod luck, everyone!

[hellen]

I'll be tandem nursing although I never thought I would. I have a 2.5 year old that still nurses down for a nap. He also likes to nurse before bed and upon waking. I've cut down the nursing sessions gradually throughout the pregnancy so I'm not nursing that much right now. I do have a breast holder though. We have talked a lot about the baby nursing but we'll see how well he handles it when it's not just talk anymore.

[tiffany21074]

Glad to see I am not the only one!

I am also not sure if I will be up for nursing both at the same time...at this point that seems like too "much" physically for me, I have a tendency to get touched out this pregnancy, but that may change after the birth. I have a feeling that my dd will definitely up her nursing because the baby is, but we shall see!

[jee'smom]

Can I post here, even though I'll be triandem nursing?!!!! : Dd rarely nurses now (every couple of days), but still does here and there. She so patient and respectful of my physical limits with regards to nursing.

Tandeming was the best thing I ever did when I had my ds. (yes, sticky/annoying at times, but what isn't?!) All of my friends with two kids were freaking out b/c "when the newborn slept, the toddler was awake, and when the toddler was sleeping, the newborn was awake"... they were going nuts. So, everyday, I went to bed with both kids and put a video on for Jee. Nursed Peter to sleep. Rolled over nursed Jee to sleep, and we all slept for 2-3 hours... EVERYDAY!!! It was pure heaven and seriously maintained my sanity postpartum.

I did tandem sometimes, but the stimulation of having two at the same time, one with a long, hard suck (toddler- felt weird all of a sudden to nurse her with her big head and big mouth) and one with the little mouth and little, semi-strong sucks made my skin crawl. I did it if I had to (think 3am, two kids screaming), but typically could hold off Jee until Peter got done. I'm not so sure I can hold Peter off until Kalia gets done, we'll see. BTW, Jee had no problem sharing and Peter also wants to share with his new little sister. I really think it helped with jealousy, as the toddler got private time with me, doing the best thing in the world (my kids LOVE nursing!) Good luck!

[soybeansmama]

My son will be 4 in December and shows no signs of being ready to give up nursin'. I am fine with tandeming now as I am 2 weeks away from baby#2. Nursing during this pregnancy has been really rough. I have been super sensitive and feeling very touched out so now as I have colostrum it is more comfortable than the dry nursing that we have been doing. I am actually looking forward to having both my babes in my lap...:

[aileen]

i'm in the "i never thought i'd..." club too.
i never thought i'd be nursing a four year old and a wee newborn but we're two and a half weeks in and it's been going great so far. really actually great. i had tried so hard to prepare myself for the possibility of feeling "icked" out by dd nursing after the baby came (i'd been getting a little frustrated toward the end too...) and for her to seem like some giant hulking beast and to be unable to nurse them simultaneously... but i experienced none of that. she's been so understanding and patient with boone nursing first and she's even fallen asleep waiting for him to finish up with her "favorite side" - something i never DREAMED would happen. and i do think it's really eased the transition for her.
ooop - must go nurse the tiny one....
good luck to all -
preparing for the "worst" but hoping for the best seems to have helped me/us...but like everything else with babies, that could all change tomorrow.

[phathui5]

This will be my third time around tandem nursing. I nursed ds1 and dd together for a year, then weaned him and got pg with ds2. I nursed dd and ds2 together until recently and am now down to just nursing ds2 (22 months).

[leewd]

i'm in the "i never thought i'd..." club too.

me too.

I'm not due till Jan, but I was lurking . . .

DD1 was 17 months when DD2 was born. We tandemmed (is that a word?) for 13 months until DD2 self-weaned, and I decided it was time for DD1 to wean. It was hard at times and wonderful at others. I can totally relate to the too much stimulation comment above. After DD1 turned 2 it got harder and harder to nurse her at all because of the icky feeling I would get.

I don't regret it, but I wouldn't do it again.

I think the best thing I did to introduce DD1 to the baby was that when DD1 came in to meet her, DD2 was lying on the bed. DD1 climbed up and starting nursing and stared at her. After a minute, she stopped nursing and started talking/interacting with DD2. It wasn't until later that she saw the new baby nurse.

I think this was a really good way for her to see that she wasn't "losing" me. Afterall, at 17 months, I couldn't have a meaningful conversation with her about sharing. At 3yo, I still have a hard time with that . . .

Good Luck! It's totally do-able and you'll get LOTS of support around here!
--LEE

[Shahbazin]

My 14 month old still nurses upon waking in the AM & after each of her 2 naps - I think she'll probably nurse more when there's more milk. So, yes, another soon-to-be tandeming mamma here!