How does tandem nursing work?
Can you breastfeed /chestfeed while pregnant?
Do you want the real information, not just mythical, unsupportive garbage?
Listen to this episode. And learn all about tandem nursing and nursing while pregnant.
If you are a new listener, we would love to hear from you. Please consider leaving us a review on itunes or sending us an email with your suggestions and comments to [email protected]
WE HAVE TRANSCRIPTS!! You can also add your email to our list and have episodes sent right to your inbox!
Things we talked about:
How tandem nursing started for Abby [6:22]
What happens to milk supply? [8:45]
Is your nursing toddler taking all the nutrients? [10:57]
The research about preterm labor [13:18]
Sex and tandem nursing [14:55]
New baby [21:50]
Co sleeping with a toddler and new baby [26:12]
Your body knows what it’s doing [32:54
Today’s Shout Out is to Milk Pimp @milkpimp[19:15]
This week’s episode is brought to you by Original Sprout! Original Sprout carries safe, effective, and pediatrician tested shampoos, conditioners, styling and body care products produced and packed in California, USA. Use code BADASS for 25% off your purchase at www.originalsprout.com!
Today’s episode is also brought to you by Sheila Darling Coaching! heila Darling is a social worker, certified hypnotherapist and mindfulness meditation teacher. Head to www.Sheiladarling.com to schedule your consultation today. And mention the badass breastfeeding podcast when scheduling your consultation and receive 10% off a coaching package.
Links to information we discussed or episodes you should check out!
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/adventures-in-tandem-nursing-hilary-flower/1119944804
Set up your consultation with Dianne
Check out Dianne’s blog here~
Here is how you can connect with Dianne and Abby~
- Abby Theuring https://www.thebadassbreastfeeder.com
- Dianne Cassidy http://www.diannecassidyconsulting.com
Music we use~
Music: “Levels of Greatness” from “We Used to Paint Stars in the Sky (2012)” courtesy of Scott Holmes at freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott Holmes
TRANSCRIPTS
dianne (00:21):
[inaudible] Hi, welcome to the badass breastfeeding podcast. It’s Dianne your lactation consultant and.
abby (00:26):
I’m Abby. The badass breastfeeder and today’s episode is brought to you by original sprout. Original sprout carries safe, effective, and pediatrician, tested shampoos, conditioners, styling, and body care products produced and packaged in the USA. And today’s episode is also brought to you by Sheila Darling Coaching. Sheila darling is a social worker, certified hypnotherapist and a mindfulness meditation teacher. And could be your start to a more peaceful life. Well, we’ll hear more from our sponsors later, but you can head to badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com and check out our sponsor page. If you need anything, check there and see if you can give our sponsors any of your business because they make this podcast possible. And while you’re there, you can scroll down and enter your email address. And we’ll send this episode right to your inbox every Monday. Well, not this one. We’ll send every new one to your inbox on Monday, not just this episode. Um, and now Dianne has our, a review of the week.
dianne (01:24):
Yes, I have our review of the week. It came to us via email from Karen. I find your posts and podcasts interesting and encouraging being 74 years old. I don’t listen regularly, but appreciate that you are there and so helpful for moms. It also makes me very sad that we still need to put our, your information and debunking of stupid myths. I first breastfed in 1969, I was successful because I was stubbornly rebelling against my Puritan mom. I asked my all male, four gynos if there were classes I could go to for birthing, “Oh, you just let us do our job.” I was petrified to give birth childbirth classes were just beginning to be available at the time I was reluctant to go to LA Leche league meetings. Not sure what they did there. I asked if I could feed immediately after the baby came out. “Oh no, you would drop it because of the medication.” Well, I don’t want any medication. “Well, you won’t have any milk. Anyway.” I want the baby to get the colostrum, which is very valuable. “I don’t believe that has been proven.” I switched doctors. In the hospital, They gave me bottles of sugar water. The first three days he stayed in the hospital five days. And back then when it was time to go home, they gave this cute little six pack of formula with discount coupons. Oh, how nice of you? Thank you. When the hospital bill came a month later, I was billed for the free samples. Next delivery. I demanded that I not be given the free sample. LaLecheLeague was a lifesaver for me. for my first and my second baby, who was colicky and I love the end when I responded to her, I was just like, Oh my gosh, I love this. You know, can I use it for our review of the week? And she said that, um, she’d be proud to have her experience shared, especially if it could be put into context for what new mothers are experiencing. And I said, you know, it’s still a battle. It is still a battle.
abby (03:18):
It is. But formula companies have come a long way now with their marketing and their targeting of parents early on, you don’t get billed for that anymore. And you get garbage bags and garbage bags filled with it for free.
dianne (03:32):
They just get sent to your house.
abby (03:34):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they do. Yeah. They’re much more aggressive now. Um, and whatever. Okay. I can go on for the next hour,
dianne (03:44):
I know, right. It is fascinating to me though, like her, her experience. So with the doctors and everything, and I, I told her, you know, this, that was the generation where they just said you don’t have any milk. And I said, Oh, okay. And nobody really breastfed, but she was very determined. And I love that.
abby (04:02):
Yeah. And I think that’d be, that’s also the generation that like really started pushing back. Yeah. And where we, you know, where we get to kind of continue on their, you know, legacy and their fight to continue to push against this because it won’t be a generation or two that, you know, finally knocks it down. There’s a lot of things that need to happen for things like this to change, you know?
dianne (04:28):
And I was, I was born in 1971 and I’m the youngest of four girls. And I was the only one who my father was allowed into the birthing room. You know, they were just starting to do that in the seventies.
abby (04:44):
They weren’t even, I mean, yeah. Sometimes the parent wasn’t even like awake.
dianne (04:49):
No, not at all.
abby (04:51):
That’s what my mother-in-law was. Like, I don’t even remember. I don’t even think I was awake. She like barely even she doesn’t remember.
dianne (04:57):
Twilight, Twilight birth, they put you out and then didn’t episiotomy and then pulled the baby out with forceps. That was the common thing. Yeah. That’s how my sister was born. Yeah. Well thank you for your flight. And I love that we have somebody who is of an older generation listening to the podcast. I think that’s amazing.
abby (05:18):
That’s really cool.
dianne (05:19):
And um, I would love to hear everybody’s stories, you know, I think it’s great. So send us your reviews, put them on iTunes, send us an email and we would love to share them. So thank you very much. And I think this topic would have blown their minds back in 1969,
abby (05:39):
even though we’ve been doing this for God knows how long, but right. Uh, you know, that’s when all this misinformation started again, you know, where we have all this terrible, terrible information about breastfeeding while pregnant and tandem nursing there’s um, this is a topic that is just completely riddled with terrible, Terrible information. It’s really difficult to get anything that’s accurate, um, about it. And so we can just start from the beginning.
dianne (06:07):
and I know we did this topic. Gosh, it was like our episode. So I’m glad that we’ve had several people requested again. So, um, it’ll be fun to kind of revisit it again and, you know, put that information back out there into the world because it needs to be.
abby (06:22):
Yeah. When I first started the blog nine years ago, I, you know, I saw a couple of tandem nursing pictures, which actually led me to want to tandem nurse myself, which I did. And, um, now it’s very common to see tandem nursing photos. So I think, I don’t think people are just sharing photos more. Maybe that’s maybe that’s true. But I think also more people are tandem nursing as they get the correct information. I think so, too. So that is really cool because, so just my story, which you probably already know, but, um, I was pregnant with, or I had Jack and Jack was like, probably just turned two when I became pregnant with Exley. And, um, I knew that I wanted to tandem nurse, cause I saw a photo, very specific photo of a woman who’s in the bad-ass community. And I don’t remember her name. I could search for it. Um, but she was tandem nursing in a birthing tub in her house had a home birth and she was her, she had had her baby was nursing and then her toddler had hopped in and was nursing too. And I was like, stop the presses. This is what I want right now. I did, I ordered my birthing tub in my home Birth midwives. And I said, Jack, you’re free to proceed. And he continued to nurse. Um, so we’ll get into all the things that go along with, you know, nursing through pregnancy and all that. Um, but then, you know, so he nursed through my pregnancy and then I tandem nurse, both of them for three and a half years, which is a long time. And, uh, it was really cool. It’s very empowering when, you know, when you learn all the things that your body can do. Um, but so you and I had the home birth, which we could do an episode on home birth too. Yeah. Um, uh, so from the beginning, so you can get pregnant when you’re breastfeeding. Like the earlier you are breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, it’ll be more difficult, but be aware that you can become pregnant. You know, even when You’re not ready, even when you haven’t had a period, You can have started to ovulate and you can get pregnant. And if you get pregnant and you’re in the child that you have already is under a year, you know, you will have to make a plan for, you know, donor milk or formula or something like that because your milk supply will drop. And this totally normal and people ask me all the time, Oh my God, how can I keep my milk supply up during my pregnancy? And there’s really not anything that you can do. It’s hormonal. Yeah. Your body is preparing for your, for the, for the new baby. So your toddler is, you know, free to continue breastfeeding. Um, but your milk or your I’m sorry, we’re talking about a younger baby. Your baby can continue to breastfeed, but there, there will be a lack of milk. There won’t be as much I have heard people say like, no, I had a full milk supply through pregnancy. I don’t know about that. That is not what you should not expect, that you should, that you know what the norm is that your milk supply will drop around second trimester and you will have to make a plan because your baby up until a year, it needs breast milk or formula to get all of the proper nutrients. If you have a toddler, then just go, it’s fine. You know, it’s fine to proceed breastfeeding. Um, we can tackle some of these myths, uh, cause this is where a lot, this is where it all starts. Okay. Cause the breastfeeding while pregnant. Okay. So this is, this is where it is mostly so much bad information. So a lot of people say, your doctor will say, well, it will your say, your doctor will say this, but your doctor could say, um, my tandem nursing smallest one just walked in and is looking up and down at the closet. Now he’s leaving. All right. People will say likely say to you, um, that your toddler nursing toddler is taking the nutrients away from the fetus. This is not true. They’re not, there’s not just nutrients flying around that can either go to the fetus or be sucked out your boob. This is not how it works. You know, your, your body is like, Oh, there’s a baby in here. We need to do our all hands on deck. You know, we’re taking care of this baby. You don’t that’s that doesn’t happen.
dianne (11:22):
You’d thinking your OB would know that. They should be informed.
abby (11:28):
A lot of them seem to not be. I think this is also something that, you know, has been cause medical curriculum is like, first of all, flawed and also old, old, you know? So there’s a lot of really old information in there that just hasn’t been updated. Right. Um, so you gonna say, well, you know, know your, your fetus won’t get enough nutrients. That’s ridiculous. That’s not true at all. There is absolutely no evidence, no nothing of that. So put that right out of your head. Um, then they might say, well, breastfeeding while pregnant causes pre-term labor, this is also not true. So breastfeeding can cause very tiny uterine contractions, which is what they are saying. Causes preterm labor. That is not true. I tend to say like, if you have a normal, healthy pregnancy proceed without any questions or anything, you’re totally fine to go ahead. My midwives were like, whatever, why are you asking? Just do it. Do you. Um, but even in a high risk pregnancy, I’m gonna read something that from Kellymom and it’s it’s, it’s actually, I’m actually quoting Kellymom and Kellymom is quoting the book ‘adventures in tandem nursing’, which is a fantastic book. It’s by Hillary Flowers. Um, you, if you plan to tandem nurse or you are tandem nursing. It’s such a wonderful resource to have. And I believe there was an updated version just recently. She reached out to me and um, there was like some preparation either came out or it’s coming out. Um, so this says, interestingly, interestingly experts on miscarriage and preterm labor are not among those that see a potential link between breastfeeding and these pregnancy complications, miscarriage expert, Leslie Regan, PhD MD quoted at adventures in tandem nursing saw no reason that breastfeeding should impact pregnancy. Even if the mother has a history of miscarriage or is experiencing a threatened miscarriage. So people that actually study miscarriage and preterm labor and experts in this field are like, eh, we don’t think that’s what’s going on. And this is important too, for people who may have had a miscarriage and are breastfeeding, because I had a woman just recently message me and say that her doctor, she had a miscarriage and her doctor said, Oh, well, you know, next time you try to get pregnant. You should just, you should ween. And Oh my God. So now she was like, she reached out to me and was like, this is what he said, did I cause this miscarriage? And I’m like, abso-freaking-lutely not,
dianne (14:22):
I had somebody emailed me about that recently. Well, it was probably, it was several months back, but she was really tormented and her doctor didn’t say anything about it, but she was like, did I do this? Did I cause this.
abby (14:33):
Like, no, no, this is not what is happening, miscarriages happen. And it’s terrible. And it’s so painful. And I’m sorry to everyone for your loss, if that has happened to you, but it is not because of breastfeeding. Okay. Okay. All right. So that cleared up what else?
dianne (14:55):
Um, and I always tell people while you’re looking for your next, next thing, I always tell them too, if you can have sex during pregnancy yeah. Then you could have, you can tandem nurse.
abby (15:08):
Well, that’s the thing. Yeah. So because orgasms cause the same uterine contractions, right? So if your doctor is like, Oh yeah, you’re totally free to have sex. There is no, you know, you have no limits or anything on your pregnancy, then you know why then there shouldn’t be any limits on the breastfeeding either. Correct. And again, the experts in the preterm labor will say that these are not related, even if you’re having a complicated pregnancy, even if you’re having a high-risk pregnancy. But if you are having a high-risk pregnancy, I completely understand wanting to further talk to somebody or further talk to a lactation consultants or somebody like that. Right. About your specific situation. Uh, so yeah, so then, so you’re, so you’re pregnant. So we got that straightened up. So now you’re like, okay, cool. I feel fine to continue. So then you hit your like second, you know, your second trimester and your milk supply drops. Um, so you also probably will likely be experiencing extremely sensitive nipples with, you know, all that breastfeeding that comes with pregnancy. And then you have a toddler nursing on them. Yeah. That’s really uncomfortable. That does subside. I will say, you know, if you can stick through that, you know, this is also a great time. Oh, there’s so many things to talk about. Um, this is a great time to implement some boundaries and we have a whole episode on boundaries that, that we can, um, put in the in the show notes. So we’ll listen to that one. This is implementing those in practicing those boundaries while you are pregnant, will really help you when the baby’s here, because you’re really going to need them then. Um, and we can talk more about that after our ad break.
dianne (16:51):
Yes. Because that’s important stuff.
abby (16:53):
Yes, we’ll be right back.
dianne (16:58):
Okay.
abby (16:58):
Today’s episode is brought to you by original sprout. Original sprout carries safe, effective, and pediatrician, tested shampoos, styling, and body care products produced in package in California. USA, are you sporting a wild hairstyle and quarantine? The classic hair gel is made with Apple and apricot extract while hydrating hair with cucumber securing even the most elaborate hairstyles. I use it to tame my frizz and flyaways and the classic styling balm is made with Shea and cocoa butter that provides a long lasting whole and ideal for styling curls. All of original sprouts products are paraben and failate free vegan, and cruelty-free. Their proprietary formulas contain nourishing extracts from fruits, vegetables, and flowers that the whole family can enjoy made for babies. Perfect. For grownups to check out the entire [email protected] and use code badass for 25% off your order today’s episode is also brought to you by Sheila Darling coaching. A new baby can add intense amounts of anxiety and depression, no sleep, feeling overwhelmed, looking at your sweet baby and possibly your tandem nursing toddler too. And wondering how these tiny humans can cause so much chaos. The transition to Parenthood is an entire identity shift. You weren’t prepared for. If one more person tells you that this time goes by. So so quickly, you might just punch them in the face. Transitioning to a new family member takes patience, self and support. Sheila Darlene coaching can be that professional support person that Dianne and I are always saying, there is no shame in getting Sheila Darling is a social worker, certified hypnotherapist and mindfulness meditation teacher. And could be your start to a more peaceful life. Head to Sheiladarling.com to schedule your consultation today and mention this podcast when you’re scheduling and receive 10% off of your coaching package, all of these sponsors and their promo codes can be found in our show notes. Under this episode on badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com our show notes. We’ll also include further information about things we talked about in this episode and at badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com. You will also find our breastfeeding resources, all of our other episodes and information about scheduling your very own one-on-one online lactation consultation with Dianne. Yes. And today’s shout out, goes to milk pimp. Milk pimp is a, uh, account on Instagram. Um, it is a little shop that sells two little baby things, um, and has really awesome, um, information about pumping, mostly pumping and breastfeeding and chest feeding. Um, and they have these nice little, um, mommy to mommy after dark talks, where you can ask questions and they go over different topics. And it’s a wonderful resource. So check out milk pimp on Instagram and let’s get back to tandem nursing. So those sensitive nipples are really difficult. You’re going to get into your second trimester, and this is when your milk supply will likely if it hasn’t already started to drop, it will around now, which your toddler. So for me, I wanted to tandem nurse. So, So during this time Jack Started to nurse less. And so I started having lots of anxiety about that, But He’s still comfort nursed through that. Some people say that their toddler just totally weans during this time, um, because of the changes. And they’re just kind of, kind of move on. Um, if you want to continue nursing, you know, continue to offer during those relaxing times and you know, and your, your favorite nursing chair, if you don’t want to continue nursing, Continue To play up the, uh, you know, the times that they’re, they’re not nursing and boundaries, you know, when you’re implementing these boundaries, which we go into a lot of detail in that, in that episode. But, um, you know, the kind of shortening the, the duration of breastfeeding times and, and, and lessening the sessions throughout the day, you can continue to kind of push that all the way till weening, if that’s what your goal is. Um, otherwise, you know, continue offering, um, have that special little nursing chair where they can continue to comfort nurse. Um, through that time, uh, my experience is that as time went on and the closer I got to birth, the more that he started nursing, maybe just anticipating changes or colostrum there started to be colostrum, which he liked, um, after the baby was born, he picked right up again, nursed, you know, would probably have nurse more than the newborn if I let him, um, that was really difficult that time, um, that transition is going to be difficult. Um, a lot of people worry about jealousy in, um, breastfeeding. I can say that wasn’t really, there’s definitely jealousy, you know, of a new sibling, and it’s very chaotic. Jack had a really hard time. It’s very hard adjusting to a new family member for a little, little one who doesn’t understand what’s happening. Um, but I found that nursing them was, um, actually helpful, you know, where they could kind of spend some downtime together, both latched on seeing each other, do the thing that they understood, you know, they, they, I F I feel like that really helps, um, make sure some wicked pictures too, if that’s your thing. Um, let’s see. So, you know, during pregnancy is, um, that that time was when nursing aversion set in for me and sets in for a lot of people because your hormones are changing so much. And, uh, we also have an episode on nursing aversion. We’ll have another episode next month. Um, this is the kind of irrational feeling of anger and anxiety and creepy crawly skin issue of the toddler being latched on, um, and the overwhelming desire to push them off of your breast. Um, it’s not fun. My nursing aversion continued throughout my entire nursing journey. After that, a lot of times it will go away after, after you have the baby, sometimes it’ll go away, you know, after a little while, it’s, it all depends on your experience. Um, but we’ll leave that resource for you to that the episode. Um, so now you have your baby congratulations on your new baby and your new tandem nursing situation. So, uh, you know, more myths around this, or like, I don’t know if this is really a myth, but it’s definitely a big question that people have, which is how I share a bed with my toddler. When am I going to do when the new baby gets here? Yeah. That’s like a whole, you know, then you’re now you’re just like, Oh my God, all this, you know, the nighttime routine that we had, the, the, the, everything is going to change, you know, you know, you realize that, right? Like when you have a new baby, all the changes that happened with the first one, all that change is going to happen again. And it’s going to be kind of like somebody just to, you know, your, all of the snow fell in your little, a snow globe of your house at home. And somebody just picked it up again and shook it. So where everything was laying peacefully and in its place, it’s completely uprooted. Now this is totally normal. The snow will settle again, and you will have a peaceful little snow globe. I remember when I was probably like five months postpartum. I remember like just sitting there one day and like, looking back at the, when, you know, the time when Exley was born and how chaotic it was. And I was like, yeah, okay. So that’s, that’s in the past now. Cause it was rough. It was really, really rough. Jack had a really hard time. Jack’s a sensitive little guy and he had a really hard time. And at the same time I was having nursing aversion and I was trying to implement these new boundaries. And he was just like, what? He hit the ceiling. I mean, he was just really unsettled all the time. And, um, it was rough, but that’s how it goes. Like, you’re not doing anything wrong. You didn’t. I thought like I broke him like for a while. I was just like, Oh my God, this was a big mistake. We broke this, we broke him. Um, but it was just a transition, you know, and we got through it and it was rough. There was rough. I mean, he started like at night when I was nursing the baby, he would like hit me in my, you know, he would like hit, you know, hit me cause he was so upset and you know, just, it was really, really hard. Um, but,
dianne (25:48):
But could you imagine if you weren’t breastfeeding him at all, if you had weaned him, how difficult that transition would be, he still had that comfort with you, which was really important. And I think that that can really help to transition. You know, everything is changing. You bring a new baby into the world, everything is changing for your toddler, but the one constant is that they still have that comfort with you. And I think that’s a really important piece.
abby (26:12):
I totally agree. I think that was like, yeah, that was the best thing that we could have done in that situation is continue to nurse him, um, totally. And at night, you know, at night. So the way that I did it as Jack was still in our bed. So the way that I did it to make it safe because you don’t want to put a toddler next to a newborn in a bed. I mean, it’s dangerous enough just putting yourself next to a toddler in bed when you’re sleeping. True. So what I did was I put myself in Jack and Exley. And Exley and I were right on the edge. We had our mattress on the floor, um, Exley and I were on the bed on the edge and, you know, laying in that sideline, nighttime nursing position and Jack was at my back sleeping. And when he would wake up and want a nurse, I would sit up with a fortress of pillows. This is what I always tell people. You want a fortress of pillows kind of under your arms and butt at your back. And you can kind of sit up in a reclined position, um, and tandem nurse. And I would tandem, you know, I would nurse them or if I could put Exley down, I would just nurse Jack. Um, and then, you know, when Jack went back to sleep, then I would, I could lay down and go back to sleep, you know, in the position of, of the sideline nursing between Jack and Exley. So that’s how we managed to keep that going and safe. Um, uh, that was also another thing that was fantastic to do because that would have been a double whammy, you know, of like, Oh, now you’re just in your own bed over here by yourself, not nursing. Uh, I mean, if you, if you do that and that’s what something you have to do because nursing through nursing aversion, if that’s what you’re going through is not for everyone. Um, but then have maybe you can have like your, you know, kind of partner doing double duty with, with the toddler at night or, you know, having some way of, cause you, you know, you want to replace that time. You have at night with them and make them still feel like, you know, not too much has changed. You want to minimize the change for the toddler, even though it’s really difficult because everything, everything is changing. Um, so that’s always a chaotic time and people always message me like this is very chaotic and it’s like, you just got to try different things until you get, like you call your kind of sleep routine down again. And your daily routine down. I was really lucky because my husband got six weeks of paternity leave. Um, so he was kind of just there the entire time, all day and night kind of just, you know, acting like as a doula, you know, there to kind of just help. Um, and it helped to like get Jack out of the house, you know, to the park and stuff like that, where, and I could, you know, just sleep and have, you know, the time I needed with Exley, um, in some ways it helped. And then after six weeks he went back to work it’s six weeks is a long time. So we kind of had a routine and then he went back to work after six weeks and it was like all jumbled again. Um, but we made it and so tandem nursing too, people are like, how do you hold these two, these two kids, um, and you know, nursing this new baby while you’re also nursing, a toddler is very confusing because you are so used to nursing a toddler and nursing a newborn is so different. So don’t expect to remember, you know, contact again, contact a lactation consultant, reach out to somebody so that you can, you know, get the support that you need. Cause I also had trouble in this area. I was just like, okay, here’s my boobs to boobs, to kids free for all let’s go. And that did not work out Exley was not gaining weight. Um, it was, uh, problematic. And so I contacted lactation consultant who was like, you know, make sure he’s getting the, the full breast, uh, because you know, that one has all the milk in it. Um, and I wasn’t paying attention to that. So, you know, you can pay attention to, you know, making sure that you’re putting the baby on the fuller breast and then having the toddler empty the other one and then switch as you go. Um, and the positions I would have Jack kind of on my lap and then I would have Exley like on Jack’s lap, if you can picture that. Um, also another thing is people, what was very, what contributed a lot to nursing aversion to me was having them both latched on at the same time. And you do not have to do that. You don’t have to have them both latch on at the same time. You can have them take turns. If that is something that’s bothering you.
dianne (30:48):
And that could be part of your boundaries, you know, and I’ve seen families do that where they say, Nope, let’s, you know, we have to wait until after the baby eats and then you get to eat then it’s your turn. So you can, you can add that in as, as boundaries too, if you want to do that.
abby (31:04):
Totally. Um, yeah, a lot of things like, so now you have two kids kind of nurse, you know, people will say like, well, if one gets sick, the other one should, you know, stop nursing. Or I dunno what people say, don’t do that. Just continue. As we always say, if you are sick, continue nursing proceed as usual. What you want them to get as much breast milk as possible. Um, the colostrum all that stuff. People worry. If it’s safe for their toddler, it’s totally safe. They love it. It’s actually extra like thick and sweet and they tend to enjoy that.
dianne (31:39):
One thing that does happen with the colostrum though, colostrum works as a laxative to help newborns get that. Yeah. All that meconium out of their system, that first poop out of their system. So you might notice that your toddler’s pooping a little bit more that’s okay.
abby (31:55):
Pooping is good.
dianne (31:56):
Pooping is fine. Yeah. It’s healthy.
abby (31:59):
Yeah. Your breast milk is like, you know, extra for it. Cause it’s all, it’s all geared towards your newborn now. Right. So it’s got all of the extra stuff in it. And I think Jack gained a little bit of weight, little extra weight, um, nursing from that newborn milk for a while. I think he got a little chunky. I think, you know, maybe it’s just my mind, but that’s what I think happened.
dianne (32:23):
I could see that happening.
abby (32:24):
Yeah. Uh, let’s see, what else is there real quick? Um, so like I said, it’s always safe adventures in tandem. Nursing is a super cool resource. Um, what have I not covered? I don’t know. I feel like I covered every,
dianne (32:41):
I think one of the biggest questions I get is how does your body know to change back for the new baby? Or is your body going to change back and make milk for the new baby? And how does that work? Like, I mean, you’re pregnant. So your body is always going to be looking after that baby that it’s growing, but trust that your body knows what it’s doing. We don’t have to understand it, but it knows what it’s doing.
abby (33:10):
Yeah. And there will be also, yeah, there’s also enough. This is another thing people say that, Oh, I think I touched on this before. People are concerned that, um, the, that the toddler toddler will take all of the colostrum colostrum is, you know, that, that, that, um, milk right in the beginning, you know, that’s, they don’t need very much of it. Your body makes, you know, not a lot of it, but think about people that have like tea, like Diana twins, you know, people have triplets, you know, there’s not just like a limited amount. There’s not like a certain amount in there. And then when you drink it all, it’s gone. Right? Like your body just makes it for whoever is there taking it. It makes more, and this is what happens with toddlers too. And actually nursing a toddler is a great way to kind of, you know, keep that milk supply up because you know, when you’re like, when I was talking about switching breasts, when your baby drinks the breast and you like want to switch them and your toddler comes over and you know, really can, can I kind of get all the milk out? Not that your breast is ever empty, but they can kind of give that boost to your milk supply by, by having by, because the more they drank, the more you make. Right? Yup. So that works out really well and they can get older and you can tandem nurse for as long as you want. You can stop if you want, these are all things that are just a personal choice, whether it’s going well for you or not. Um, I always just breastfeeding and breastfeeding chest feeding was always the best option for me for like choosing to ween and go through all of that was just people again with their magical weaning answer. Like that just happens overnight and it’s super easy. Um, it just was always the easiest thing for me, you know, all the way up until the end. You know, it’s just the answer for everything. If they’re hurt, if they’re sad, if they’re whatever, it’s just, it was just always the best option for me, especially now that I had to, to deal with. Absolutely. So I think that’s all I’ve got. If you have questions, let me know. I went through it. So just send an email we can answer.
dianne (35:20):
Yeah. Well, thanks Abby.
abby (35:22):
Sure. I’d love sharing that story as you can probably you probably heard it a million times.
dianne (35:27):
Very helpful. I think it’s very helpful and we’ll link back to a lot of these cool, cool things Abby was talking about. So check out the show notes. Yeah. Thanks for listening. Bye.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Bye [inaudible].