I am nursing my 20-month-old son and my 2-week-old daughter. I thought that my toddler would wean during pregnancy but he is nursing more than ever. I am concerned that my toddler will take all of the colostrum. Will I have enough milk for two and will it be nutritionally adequate?
Tandem nursing -- breastfeeding two children of different ages -- can present a whole new set of challenges. I can understand your concerns.
Not all nursing babies wean on their own during pregnancy. Around the fifth month of pregnancy your body begins to produce colostrum to feed the new baby. At this time, since the taste and quantity of the milk does change, some nursing children decide it is time to wean. It will not harm them, or take colostrum from the new baby, if they decide to continue to nurse throughout the pregnancy.
When nursing an older child, as well as a newborn, it is wise to allow the new baby to breastfeed first, especially in the first week, as the colostrum is somewhat more limited in quantity and quite important for your newborn. I would recommend talking with your older child about the baby's need for your milk. But rest assured, you will probably find that you have plenty of milk for two.
Some older children don't seem to like the change in the milk as your supply again becomes more abundant, and some choose this as a time to wean. Others seem to delight in the abundant supply.
Though tandem nursing occurs in our culture more than most of us imagine, it is even more common in some other cultures. In a 1990 study by Merchant, Martorell and Hass in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a group of rural Guatemalan women were found to have lactation overlapping their pregnancies around 50 percent of the time. Their nutritional intake during this time was noted and it was discovered that these mothers ate more to meet the increased demands of nursing two children at once. The babies growth rates in the study were not negatively affected by tandem nursing. My best wishes in nursing two!
