TTC/Pregnancy while Breastfeeding and Tandem Nursing: Information and Support

[Ozzieshunni]

A question for all you tandem BFers.....

I still BF my daughter to sleep for her nap and at bedtime....but am not sure how/if this will work when the new baby is born? It's one thing at night when my partner will be home so he can have the baby, but during the day when it's just me, how will I have time to do this? It takes about 15-20 mins usually.

I know newborns do sleep....sometimes....I guess I find it hard to imagine as my DD didn't ever nap anywhere but on one of us for months! I guess if the baby can have a nap in the moses basket I could feed my toddler to sleep for a nap? Just trying to get my head around the logistics of it all, and wondering if I need to find another way to get DD to sleep before the baby is born (which I am kind of reluctant to do as it works so well for us at the moment!).

Has anyone been in this situation before?

You have two breasts just pop the baby on one and your toddler on the other

 

[Lauki]

Yea I was going with one on each boob too I think .
Sophie still naps downstairs on the sofa with me, so guess we'll all snuggle up downstairs (with baby in a moses basket for safety).

 

[Mork]

I still bf my toddler in the morning, nap time and bedtime, and whilst i have had to feed both toddler and baby at the same time on a few occasions (mostly in the first 3 months), I usually do one at a time as I personally find it more comfortable. My toddler does understand that sometimes she has to wait for the baby to finish 'boobie' before its her turn (although this sometimes doesn't go down well!!). I have just had to be more relaxed about my routines, my house work etc to make time for this.
Good luck! x

 

[LuckyD]

Thanks for the replies! I am sure that we will figure out some sort of system when the baby is here...it's just hard to imagine it all at the moment...but to be honest, the thought of having two children is hard to imagine in itself!

Mork, your situation sounds similar to what mine will be - there will be 25 months between my two and I am still feeding my DD morning, nap and bedtime...great to see that it is working for you!

 

[Mork]

Yes we sound so similar! Feel free to pm me any time for ideas Hope all goes well xx

 

[LuckyD]

Yes we sound so similar! Feel free to pm me any time for ideas Hope all goes well xx

Thank you so much! Might have to take you up on that!

 

[cookielucylou]

I have a 25month old and a nb, if they both want boob at the same time i give them one side each. For naps i try to feed the little man to sleep first while the older one is still playing then nurse the older one to sleep.

 

[Lauki]

I don't think I really have a choice but to nurse at the same time! Sophie drops everything she's doing to come and charge over if she sees naked boob, .

I cannot get dressed in peace!

 

[EarthMama]

Aloha ladies! I have officially started TTC. so happy to see what happens! Congrats to all the new bfps out there...excited to see mine!

 

[katerdid]

Hey gals! I got my bfp last week, complete shocker as we were wtt for another year
Anywho, I'm still bf'ing my 15month old mostly just for nap and bed times now.
I'm wondering what to expect, will my milk get wonky? Will my son wean? Will I be allowed to continue (I went into preterm labor with my son)?

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Hiyas Katerdid! All those questions and more can be answered with the links in the very first post

 

[cookielucylou]

Has anyone had any comments from 'health professionals' about tandem nursing? i had out home visit from the hv Friday and she said she doesn't think i should be nursing DS1 as it could effect DS2 as he won't get all the milk that he needs. She asked if i had considered weaning him to which i said i thought it was a bad time to do it and i wanted him to self wean and she said he needs to understand that he is a big brother now and that giving up boob is part of him 'looking after' his little brother. She wants us to keep checking DS2 weight and if he drops to stop nursing DS2. I was rather annoyed by time she left(also went on about our co-sleeping) and i did debate asking her to leave at one point.
I'm finding it hard feeding both at the moment as it is as they both want to nurse constantly and i hate nursing DS1 at the moment but I'm determined to keep going until DS1 wants to stop or at least is happy to. He has a new baby brother which i think is confusing enough for a toddler without denying him his main comfort.

 

[Tacey]

Luckily I've only had either supportive comments or indifference from HCPs. I think i would be printing off some evidence for that HV, as she's just plain wrong!

As for how you're feeling, how would your eldest/you feel about putting in more restrictions? Alice nursed more than Arthur after he was born, and I couldn't manage it. I introduced a countdown to limit the length of her feeds, and then went to just giving specific times when she could nurse. I think finding a balance where they get their needs met, but you don't feel too touched out and exhausted is really important.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Sounds like your HV is very ignorant about nursing two little ones. I would ignore. I'm not seeing an HV with the next baby. I'm putting my foot down there.

 

[Celesse]

Only negative comment I've had about tandem nursing was from a paramedic. In fairness she had just come out in the middle of the night to take me into hospital as I had a post partum infection and looked half dead. I wasn't exactly the poster girl for tandem nursing at the time iykwim.

 

[cookielucylou]

Yes i'm planning to start restricting how long he feeds for but tbf he doesn't feed long anyway its more he asks when i'm busy with the baby or he wants to keep going on and off. Before Hayden was born we were down to mainly bed/nap time feeds with the odd extra one if he needed comfort for some reason.
The hv caught me a bit unawares as i didn't know she was coming, i was still in pjs eating my breakfast and OH was just leaving for work.

 

[Moomette]

Hello Ladies, I've been stalking here for a while now, but felt I should introduce myself now that I've got my BFP on Friday morning DD is just short of 27 months now, so will be nearly four when this baby arrives, all going well.

Just in case it might help others TTC, I got my AF back at 22 months PP and had pretty erratic cycles ranging from 47 to 24 days, so I started monitoring my CM and used OPKs for a couple of months to try to figure out how my body was working. I started off with just a 6 day LP, which lengthened to 9 days by October and November. I conceived at the start of December, so think we must have got lucky and caught on my first fertile cycle PP. We were TTC from September, with a break in October, though I also had trouble convincing DH that sex was in fact required to conceive, and we only did it once this cycle on the day of O, but luckily it seems to have done the trick.

DD currently nurses at bedtime, between once and four times (?) through the night, first thing in the morning and on and off on me at naptime, with the occasional feed in the late afternoon. I have conciously tried to limit her feeds over the last few months though, especially at night as she would happily stay latched onto me the whole night or nurse every hour leaving me feel shattered after two years of no sleep. She seems to be generally okay with it though and even STTN once a few weeks ago.

I have an open mind on how it will all go in the future as I had pretty severe MS last time round (lost 4.5kg and was stuck at home for weeks), so don't know how that'll go this time round, but time will tell. Are there any other ladies here that suffered from hyperemesis or very severe MS and how did it effect your nursing?

 

[LuckyD]

Hi Moomette! I'm in NZ too...!

I get pretty bad ms....about 10 weeks of throwing up around 5-10 times a day, and feeling constantly sick....and to be honest I did find it hard BF when I was feeling so unwell. I also could hardly eat anything which didn't help. My supply took a big dip but I'm not sure if that was down to not eating much or just normal pregnancy supply issues or a bit of both. My DD only feeds 3 times a day though so it was not too bad. I did think I would have to unlatch her and run to the bathroom quite a few times but it never actually happened! But we got through it and things are much easier now. Good luck! Just take it day by day and see how it goes!

 

[Mork]

Cookielucylu-I'm sad to hear your hv's comments-she sounds very uneducated in this area! I have been lucky in comparison as although I've had a couple of raised eyebrows when professionals have learnt I'm tandem feeding, no one has said anything. My bf'ing support midwife has been brilliant and really knows her stuff! I have found it hard feeding both, especially in the early days when dd wanted to feed more because of the new arrival and also because I have continued to feel aversion to feeding her from pregnancy. But like you I am determined she will self wean!! X
Moomette-congratulations on your bfp! I read that b'fing can mask pregnancy symptoms and in my case I certainly did not suffer as much ms with my second-hope that's the care for you!! X

 

[Mork]

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