Nursing/Tandem April Mamas!!!

[thomlynn]

How's it going?? I know we had a couple mamas planning on nursing both.

I'm still pregnant, but dd's still nursing strong. There is still some milk but a lot of the time it looks milky clear, not just milky white.

[GardenStream]

DS #2 is now 8 days old and so far the tandem thing is going well. DS #1 is 22 months old and was nursing once or twice a day, but now is up to at least 4 or 5 times a day. If he sees the baby nursing, he climbs on my lap and wants to nurse too. It's been wonderful to have him around to help with the pain of engorgement and if one side is painful I can let him on that side and tell him to be gentle

I'm actually surprised at how easy and natural it all seems now. I do have to say that I feel like I am nursing a 10 year old when I look down and see this huge child nursing. Having a newborn has totally changed the way I look at my toddler. He seemed so small and I still thought of him as a baby while I was pregnant. Now, he seems huge and so grown up.

[pixiepunk]

i'm still pg too, so not yet tandeming again. DS has been sick the last few days and is asking to nurse basically any time i sit down. if i weren't so desperately hoping that the nipple stimulation would get my labor started, i'd probably have lost my mind by now

it's so hard to nurse around my pregnant belly, especially when it's all sore and hard as a rock. i'm looking forward to having this baby on the outside - it will make nursing DS a lot more comfortable! and boy will he be happy when the milk comes back! woo - that'll be interesting

[Ironica]

DS1 hasn't nursed yet since DS2 was born. Today when we were having lunch, he said, "I don't need to nurse anymore, because the baby needs to nurse." I told him, "You don't *need* to nurse anymore, but you can still nurse if you want to. Sometimes, the baby may need to nurse first, and you'll have to wait for a turn, but you can get a turn."

There is the complication that I can't pick up my DS1 yet, and I don't think lying down in his bed is really something I'm up for yet either. So getting him in a place where he's inclined to ask to nurse is unlikely at this point. But, he's gone as much as five days without nursing before, so I don't think he'll forget how before the next opportunity.

[sarahmck]

DS is 4 weeks old and tandeming is going well so far. DD (almost 3) hasn't increased her nursing too much, which is great. For me, the biggest problem in general with having two is that I find myself pushing DD away in a way that I never did before. I've been very crabby with her and strict. I don't like that. I think the nursing helps a bit because at least I feel like I'm able to give her some love and attention physically, even if I'm feeling grumpy with her inside.

One mistake that I think I've made is that I was saving the full breast for DS to too great of an extent. He's been fussy while nursing, especially in the evenings, over the last week or two and I'm pretty sure now that he is only like that when he's gassy. I was feeding him from the fullest breast or maybe even both, then taking DD up to bed and leaving DS with DH. Then I'd come back down and immediately give him more boobs. I think I was overfeeding him and he was getting too much foremilk because I'd be in a hurry to "tank him up" as DH says prior to DD's bedtime routine and would take him off one breast prematurely to give him the fuller one, causing him to get too much foremilk.

Two nights ago we had a very difficult evening. He must have screamed for an hour (and he really never cries normally). He didn't burp hugely at the end of it, but he did burp and fart somewhat and I am convinced it was all due to gas. So now I am experimenting with always giving him the emptier breast first so that he definitely gets hindmilk, and then switching to the fuller one if he still wants more. And I'm making sure that DD takes the first part of a boob if it has gotten really full. My experiment is only about a day and half on, but so far it's going well. Last night he didn't fuss at all while nursing. Oh, and I'm also trying not to just have him latched on all evening like I had been doing. I've realized that this baby likes to sleep sleep sleep and he gets fussy when he's tired, not just hungry. (DD has never been a big sleeper, so I'm not used to this.) Last night I tried swaddling him after feeding him (instead of just feeding him some more) and DH bounced him on the birth ball for 5 minutes and he was asleep.

So that wasn't really all about tandeming, but it's what's going on with us now.

[BensMom]

on day 4 of nursing 2 here. its a challenge. even though the baby has a great latch and nurses well, i feel like my nipples are getting sore from overuse. dd1 asks a lot, but its starting to calm a bit. my milk started coming in yeesterday, so now i am probably offering to her more than she is asking. lol i have nursed them together, but am trying to carve out times where i nuse just dd1, like bedtime and naptime.

we're all still learning!

[pixiepunk]

I do have to say that I feel like I am nursing a 10 year old when I look down and see this huge child nursing. Having a newborn has totally changed the way I look at my toddler. He seemed so small and I still thought of him as a baby while I was pregnant. Now, he seems huge and so grown up.

- that is soooo true! when i tandemed the last time, DD went from being a teeny, sweet little 26 month old baby to being a giant child with a ginormous head overnight. it was a really weird perspective. i imagine it'll be even more pronounced this time, because DS is even older than DD was, and he's always been bigger than she was anyway.

[s_kristina]

Since David was born Joseph has been pretty much going along nursing at the same rate. It has been really nice at times when I got engorged that he was still nursing, but most of the time it's a struggle to keep up with both of them.

[Ironica]

DS1 decided to nurse the morning after I posted to this thread ;-). Then for a few days he would only nurse when DS2 was nursing, but yesterday he asked to nurse when I was not otherwise occupied (and DH helped him onto my lap). Today he asked to nurse down for nap, and I actually felt up to it, miracle of miracles. It felt so good to be able to do that for him. I still feel really... I dunno, bad and sad about having to abandon him and go off to the OR to have his brother :-/ so rebuilding that connection is really important to me. I'm so glad he didn't wean!

[lobster]

I'm finding tandem nursing to be much more of a challenge than I expected. Physically, it's fine, but emotionally/psychologically - a lot of the time I just don't want Lynden anywhere near my breasts, and having them both latched on at the same time makes me want to pull my hair out. I'm still going though, because Lynden has made it obvious that he's not even close to being ready to wean.

[s_kristina]

Originally Posted by lobster

Physically, it's fine, but emotionally/psychologically - a lot of the time I just don't want Lynden anywhere near my breasts, and having them both latched on at the same time makes me want to pull my hair out.

I tandem nursed my dd and ds so this is my second time tandem nursing. I discovered back then that trying to nurse them at the same time was a bad idea. It just made me feel awful like my skin was crawling and I was going to lose my mind! Because of how bad it was then I haven't even tried it this time around. If the baby is nursing and ds1 wants to nurse he has to wait. I will try to hurry up the baby so I can deal with ds1, but I won't nurse them at the same time. I know my ds1 is about a year older then your's so that might not work as well for you, but having a sibling is a huge learning experience on many levels so it might.

[lobster]

Originally Posted by s_kristina

I discovered back then that trying to nurse them at the same time was a bad idea. It just made me feel awful like my skin was crawling and I was going to lose my mind!

I have very quickly put an end to letting them both nurse at the same time. Most of the time now, I ask Lynden to wait until Raina is finished, which usually does not go over well. It's getting better, though, and Lynden is more willing to wait if I let him go first at least once that day.

[rmzbm]

We're doing well, going smoothly. My 2 year old has stepped up her nursings since Zoe's been here...which I expected. Hopefully it stays easy.