Building s good bf relationship with an active toddler in tow

[glitterglitters]

What it says on the tin really. Bf my dd till she self weaned at 18 months. We had a relatively smooth bf journey but she wouldn't take a bottle for love nor money. Also she was born in a heatwave so we were bfing almost hourly up to the 12 week mark.

I'm very keen for dd2 to get the same but I'm trying to work out how I'm going to keep my increasingly active and short attention span toddler busy if her sibling is as attached as she was. Can anybody reassure me it is do-able?

[teaandbiscuitsforme]

How old is your DD now? Mine is 23 months and I've got 10 week old DS. DD found the first couple of weeks tough but she's coped with the amount of time I spend feeding so much better than I thought she would.

In the early weeks, I used to encourage her to bring something over to the sofa to do with me (book, puzzle, stickers) so she was still included. Now she just gets on and plays whilst I feed.

[waterrat]

It is totally do-able - although I found my second baby just got treated (by me) in a way the first one didn't! ie. I would have to put her down mid-feed becuase the toddler urgently wanted me - I remember pulling her off the boob many times at playgroups etc as I rushed off after the toddler or had to suddenly join in with something and I couldn't feed while doing it. But it was fine! Absolutely everything you do with a second child is less precious/ more hurried/ and my second one just got on with it!

I remember feeding my first for about 45 minutes every time but luckily my second was a quicker feeder - who knows whether it is partly beacause I just didn't have the time to spare. My second was also a better 'self settler' because so many times I put her in her carry cot while I had to get the toddler ready etc and came back to find her asleep - something that PFB parents just never do because you never put them down!.

I actually BF my second child for longer as I felt much more relaxed about it and didn't worry about whether or not it would end etc.

A friend told me that she loved the night feeds as they were her relaxed time with baby number 2 - remember that your toddler will presumably be in bed by 7ish - and the baby will be up all evening for the first few months - so you will have that time to breastfeed for hours!

[glitterglitters]

Thank you both for responding! This has really reassured me. Dd will be just past 2 when the new baby arrives and I've been a tad anxious about juggling it. Dd is definitely in bed by 7ish anyway and I'm guessing dd2 will probably be down with us for an extra couple of hours plus in our room. Dd is pretty savvy as well and I'm hoping she will be as helpful as she normally is and patient with her new sister. Only time will tell though.

[Avebury]

Special toys and snacks that only come out at feeding time and I also used to sing lots of action songs whilst feeding so that the older dc felt I was interacting with them when actually I was just feeding. Lots of CBeebies too.