Two babies one breast?

[midori1999]

I am still BF DD (almost a year old) and hoping to TTC soon. I want DD to self wean and would be happy to tandem feed.

However, I only feed DD from one breast. I have some problems with the other breast that means its very swollen which I suspect would make it difficult for a newborn to latch (a bit like being very engorged) and breastfeeding/stimulating milk production in that side aggravates it, plus I kept getting mastitis/mastitis like symptoms in that side when I was using it.

So, could I tandem feed a toddler and newborn from one breast only or would I need to use both breasts to tandem feed? (obviously I know I can't physically tandem feed them both at once with one breast . )

I don't know but... I remember someone posting a link to the blog of someone else who was EBF triplets. And when I googled this, I found it was by no means isolated. My instinct is that if this is possible for some women, then what you describe would be possible, at least for some women.

I'm sure there was a lady on here some time back who was breastfeeding her twins from 1 breast as she'd had cancer at some point and only produced milk from one.

I think it would depend on the toddler - if you had one like DD1 who tandem fed with DD2 and also fed separately (so upwards of 20 times a day just for the 1st 2 weeks when she decided solid food wasn't on her menu plan!) it might be tricky but if you have a toddler like DD2 who never really asked to feed when DD3 wanted to bf and only wanted to nurse 4-5 times a day it's probably going to be doable.

The key is to set lactation needs high to start with rather than trying to work up so starting as you mean to go on may be the best bet (i.e. not limiting the toddler to certain times unless that's the game plan permanently).

Also the age of your toddler when baby is born may be relevant - an older toddler/pre-schooler may well only nurse 1-2 times a day or may have decided to stop bfing during pg (a possibility at any age during pg).

DD1 was 20m when DD2 was born and DD2 was 22m when DD3 was born, DD3 is going to be 2y 11m when DD4 is born and DD3 is nursing from once every other day to 3-4 times a day depending on mood/need so much more managable

My toddler self weaned while I was pregnant.
It was actually one of the first signs that I thought I might be.

Here is a link to the twin thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/1413598-Sdvice-needed-ftom-bf-experts

I remembered reading an article about a mother Tandem nursing with one breast. One breast is enough

it's an old article but relevant nonetheless.