On Tandem Nursing By Kati I remember the last time Olivia nursed as an only child. It was also the last time I was nursing just one. The first night I was home from the hospital after Mesa was born was the hardest night of my life. I had this tiny baby who was nursing constantly to bring my milk in and I had a 22-month old who just wanted Mama. The most vivid memory fo the night was looking at my husband and saying "I don't want anymore children." Of course, in the morning when he brought it up, I denied ever saying that. There are always dificult times in nursing 2... when they both wanted to nurse at the same time. Bedtimes were really difficult in the begining... it seemed as soon as I had one ready to go down the other would wake up and want to nurse too. Sometimes I just wanted them both to leave me alone. I wanted my breasts to myself. I didn't want someone lifting up my shirt. But when I gave in and let them nurse and would watch them look at each other with milky grins, I could never remember why I didn't want to do it just moments before. Of course, there are wonderful things about it, too. And I'm not just talking about the awesome nuritional benefits. I'm talking about the instant fight stoppers, the quit the tantrum nursies, and the I want Mamas. Olivia never seemed to get to the point where a lot of my friends did with their oldesr kids. If Olivia felt like she wasn't getting enough attention from me because I was feeding Mesa, she would just ask to nurse. And I really think it strengthened their bond. Its so sweet to watch them nurse and pat each other or unlatch and say "switch" and switch sides. Today, they're much older, but still nursing strong. They very rarely nurse at the same time anymore... its hard for them to get comfortable and relax as they're growing so big. I don't regret a minute of it and have never once told anyone that asked me about tandem nursing that it was horrible. Its been the best 2 years and 2 months of my life so far. © got-breastmilk.org 2003