Tandem breastfeeding

To answer the question a lot of you are asking...what is it like to breastfeed a toddler AND a newborn??

The honest answer...not without it's difficulties, but extremely rewarding! The difficulty, mainly, has been Erin wanting more boobie than ever, perhaps due to Ayla feeding so much(a bit of jealousy), but perhaps due to the yummy new milk that's come through. For the first few days Erin got really upset when I fed Ayla and not her, but I have kept her routine (mainly) of only feeding at naptime, bedtime and in the morning. On the day my milk came in and my breasts were full, hard and sore, I gave Erin an extra couple of feeds, which really helped to ease the discomfort! Erin seems to understand and accept now that Ayla needs boobie more than she does, and often sits beside me and strokes Ayla's face while she feeds. It's very sweet.

The other difficulty has been that Ayla's latch onto my breast doesn't always seem right and she often slurps my nipple in and out of her mouth which has made them a bit tender. I think this is due to the thrush she has in her mouth, making it uncomfortable for her to suck, and I'm hoping it will pass soon.

Other than that it is a joy to be able to bond with both my girls in this way-and them with each other- and know that thebenefits of breastfeeding, for all 3 of us, never end. I had a moment the other day when both girls were really tired and upset and I was at my wits end, so I sat on the bed and offered them each a breast and bathed in the stillness that followed, watching them both drinking hungrily and gazing up into my eyes, completely content, Erin instinctively rubbing her baby sisters arm.

We surely have two breasts for this reason, and while controversial in our consumerist western culture where bottle replaces what nature has provided and breasts are often associated purely with sex, it feels like the most natural thing in the world to me!