How do your guys do it?

[Hope54321]

I only have one baby at the moment, but I was wondering how you mums with more than one child are able to breastfeed your baby and look after your other children? How does it work? Do you mix feed? How does it work when baby is cluster feeding? Especially during the first few months.

Topic name should say “how do you guys do it” not “how do your guys do it” lol

I'd love to know too! Just had my first baby and don't know how people cope with a toddler too!

DC2 just sort of slopped into our rountine. I was lucky in that DH could take some parental leave and annual leave, so he took DC1 out most days.

Then it was a case of making sure DC2 had a good feed before the Nursery run and sticking her in a sling to free up my hands when DC1 was home.

It does seem daunting but there are things that you can do to keep DC1 entertained whilst you feed as well

I have a 5 year age gap which has made it much easier because my eldest can understand that I have to feed the baby and I'm lucky that he's patient and pretty obedient (most of the time!). I have often thought that I'd struggle to breastfeed if he was a lot younger and needed more supervision though. I'm not sure how mums with little toddlers who are into everything manage to supervise them and breastfeed at the same time! Must be a challenge!

I had an 18 month age gap. It was hard initially but you soon find a routine that works for you. Might sound awful but we played fetch a lot, I'd sit on couch feeding baby and throw a ball and toddler would run and get it, she loved that game. We would sometimes read books while feeding baby, her snuggled next to us. When I was really organized (rarely) I'd hide things around the house the night before and wait until I had to feed and give her clues to hunt for them, play hot&cold. I'd often try and time her snack time with his breastfeeding time. And when all else failed Hey Duggee/Peppa Pig/ some other screen time ssaved us

I’ve ebf all 4 of my children, never had a problem with it, I tandem fed the older two for a little while tbh it all just fell into place, slings were a life saver and I use to feed in them sometimes

Kellymom also have some useful tips here.