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Home › Articles › Breastfeeding Your Toddler › Tandem Nursing in Today's World

Tandem Nursing in Today's World

By Virginia Gilbert

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Adding that nursing is a wonderful way to care for her children when they're sick, Jane says: "They never turn down breast milk so I'm able to keep them hydrated and comforted more easily. I like knowing that I provide them with the best possible milk they can drink. I also cherish being able to hold their usually very wriggly bodies still in my arms while we nurse."

Tandem Nursers Need to Nurture Themselves
Despite all its advantages, breastfeeding even one child is physically demanding. Lactation Educator Fran Jaffe stresses that a proper diet is crucial to the tandem nurser's well being. "The mom who is tandem nursing must make every food a nutrient-dense food, one that provides as much nutrients as possible per calorie," states Fran, adding that these moms should concentrate on foods high in calcium, zinc, iron, folic acid and protein.

Jane finds that tandem nursing is toughest when she's sick and must juggle simultaneously caring for herself and her children. She credits her husband, who works at home, for participating in childcare and helping her in difficult situations.

But what happens if a tandem nurser doesn't have such an understanding spouse? How does a mother cope when friends and family don't validate her nurturing choices? Of her decision to tandem nurse, Jane says most friends and relatives "seemed shocked and worried that it would take away from the younger one while in utero and would be taxing on me when he was born."

Fran advises any tandem nurser who lacks emotional support to contact her local La Leche League branch. "She is bound to find someone at one of the support group meetings who tandem nursed," states Fran. A tandem nurser needs validation, but should feel comfortable with whatever feeding choice is appropriate for her and her family.

*This name has been changed to insure the mother's anonymity.

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