One of my goals throughout my pregnancy was to be able to tandem nurse my toddler and my new baby. Breastfeeding has been a very special an important part of my relationship with my first, and neither of us wanted to give that up, pregnancy or no.
––If you’re interested in our experience nursing through pregnancy, with all its challenges, you can check that out here. ––
Things have not gone entirely as I expected however. Though I am breastfeeding two children, the breastfeeding two at once has only happened a dozen times. My newborn prefers to be held in the traditional cradle style, but he’s also relatively big, so I have had a hard time figuring out how to let my toddler join in at the same time, without me holding myself weird. She also prefers the same hold these days—though she is more flexible—but it’s just a bit uncomfortable to try and hold my baby how he needs, and arrange myself such that my toddler can latch on. As I expected, my toddler wants to nurse basically as much as the baby, so I have to swat her away a lot, because I’ve been very, very bad at eating and drinking since the birth, and frequently just don’t have enough energy in me to nurse that much on the little I do manage to get down. Most often, I nurse baby, and then toddler after.
However, I am glad that we managed nurse through pregnancy, and are able to keep doing so now for a few reasons. First, my girl has always had to nurse to sleep. It’s what she’s used to, and honestly, it’s just the easiest and most effective thing to do. Also, I think I had a clogged duct recently, and she’s more than willing to help me get that sorted. Most importantly of all, though, I think it’s helped her to feel like ‘we’ are still ‘us’; we’re still ‘normal’.
The times that we have truly tandem nursed have been so sweet, though. Gwendolyn will hold Harry’s hand, or stroke his head. I think it’s a really lovely way for them to bond—both together, and equally with me at the same time. As Harry gains more neck control, and we maybe (hopefully) try out some new positions, I hope that we can tandem nurse more often.
Overall, I’m really proud of myself for providing this comfort and nourishment for a 3 year old, and very healthy new baby.
Have you tandem nursed? If so, how’d it go for you? I feel like it’s not super common, so I’d love to hear your experience.
