No Way! Is Tandem Nursing for Real?

Tandem-Nursing

You love nursing your little one, you aren’t ready to wean them yet, but you’ve gone and got pregnant again. Don’t panic, there is a solution. Tandem nursing allows you to nurse your newborn, and your toddler to your heart’s content. Be it at the same time, one at a time, or letting your older child see some action every now and then.

A lot of people will probably say:

“WHAAAT you want to nurse BOTH of them! Isn’t nursing one hard enough”?

For certain, if you decide to tandem nurse you will meet a lot of resistance from people around you.

My advice is, never-mind everyone else. But, before you commit, the important thing is to think about how the idea of nursing both of them will work for you and your babies. If you think it will work for you, go for it!

My Personal Tandem Journey

When I was a baby my Mom nursed me for three years, I didn’t want to stop, and she didn’t want to force me. She trusted I would stop when I was ready. One day after I turned three I stopped of my own accord! I always felt very grateful to my Mom for giving me this gift. We have always been very close, which began with our nursing foundation. Nursing was always something I wanted to do if I had children because I received a gift I wanted to “pay forward”.

Fast forward a number of years and I was expecting my second baby. My first baby was still nursing and I felt he was not ready to stop. I really didn’t want to push weaning onto him, even though everyone around me said I should. I did some online research and discovered something interesting called tandem nursing/tandem breastfeeding. I decided this is what I would do.

No-one else thought tandem breastfeeding was the genius plan I thought it was. Even my Mom was against it! I paid them no heed, did my research and prepared as much as I could.

When the time came, tandem nursing was hard and took some getting used to, but I don’t regret persevering for one minute. Like any skill, you need some practice and then soon enough tandem nursing becomes easy. I went on to tandem nurse baby #2. Now a few years later I am finally down to one baby nursing and looking forward to the end of nursing! The journey has been a wonderful one, but it will be nice to reclaim my body.

Tandem-Nursing-Twins

Tandem nursing can help Sibling bonding…

Top Tips for Tandem Nursing Wannabe’s

Because of my adventures with tandem nursing, here are my personal tandem nursing tips to make the whole journey a lot easier for you.

Cultivate Stubbornness

You are going to receive a lot of resistance from others who will give you lots of reasons NOT to tandem nurse. From now, start to develop your stubborn side

Commit and Don’t Look Back

Once you have committed you are going to have to see it through. You will not see the benefits of tandem nursing if you go cold turkey on your toddler in the first week. If in doubt get them weaned when you are pregnant

Let it Happen

If Weaning Happens Naturally Before you Give Birth, Let it Happen. While you’re pregnant your milk supply will drop. If your first baby weans naturally at this point let it happen. There is no need to force tandem nursing if they are ready to stop (this is the part when you don’t have to be stubborn).

Tandem-Nursing-Mothers-Point-of-Vew

Your potential guzzlers making friends…

Expect Oversupply Rather than Undersupply

When you get started you are most likely to have an oversupply of milk. I found both times I tandem nursed my milk came in faster than when I had my first baby. This is because your body responds to the stimulation of sucking. When you have your newborn and toddler guzzling away, your body goes into overdrive. This can mean your newborn finds the flow too powerful. You can resolve this by allowing your toddler to drink first (some not all) and your newborn to drink after. This also ensures your newborn gets the fatty hind milk every time. If your toddler is not at hand, you can also hand express some milk before you feed your newborn

Cradle and Football Positions are Easiest with a Newborn

As your baby gets older you can try other positions. However, I found for the first month the cradle or football holds worked best. Toddlers are usually very wriggly so these positions allowed me to support the newborn. Then, your toddler can fit and wriggle around the newborn. Later, lying down usually worked best.

Tandem Nursing is Not a Miracle Jealousy Cure

Tandem nursing will not render your children miraculously free from jealousy or competitiveness. Sharing is still a development stage. However, there is a good chance they will experience less powerful feelings than those children who didn’t tandem nurse.

Research and Ask Questions

You are going to have opinions flying at you with whatever you decide to do as a parent. Whether you do  this or do that, someone is always going to express an opinion for or against it. Don’t let it bother you. Always do good research yourself and with so many mommy blogs, there is not only so much information available, but so much raw and unfiltered information of what things are really like being a parent and dealing with various issues, such as whether to tandem nurse or not. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions online with other mommy bloggers. This way you can remain anonymous and not get judged like you would with close family and friends. Ultimately do what you, your baby and your family are comfortable with. That is all the matters.

You Might be Bonkers

If you are considering tandem nursing you might be bonkers, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it. I don’t regret tandem nursing for a minute. Overall, the benefits far outweigh the setbacks.

Did you ever try tandem breastfeeding? Are you planning to give it a try? Do you think I’m completely mad? Would you like to read a more in-depth article on this practice? Let us know in the comments!

More:

♥ For More Information on Extended Breastfeeding

♥ Is It Ok to Give Almond Milk To Your Toddler?

♥ How to Manage a Baby and A Toddler

Anna About Anna

Hi Moms and Dads, Anna here and welcome. I'm a relatively young mom, in my early 30's and my husband and I have 2 young (and incredibly cheeky) children. With my first child, I was confused about absolutely anything that had 'baby' written on it. I felt flustered and overwhelmed. For some Moms I believe it comes naturally, for others it takes a bit of work and patience, and the latter was me. With my second child, all those first round nervous flusters were gone and I approached everything ease, although I do admit, in between 2 children, baby products and my needs and wants had changed and in the baby/infant world, things change very quick and products that were suggested a few years back are now out of date, recalled or just not suitable no more. So it's not only your little bub that grows; products change and the needs and wants of your baby and you change also.

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