Tandem breastfeeding

[Wakehurst]

I am still breastfeeding my son (15 months old) and he is showing no signs of wanting to stop (mostly in the evening/night/morning).
I manage to distract him during the day and I also work part-time so daytime nursing has basically stopped.
I am pregnant with my second.... due in about 7 months and I am wondering about people's experience of tandem nursing?
When the colostrum is produced for the new baby, is that likely to put my son off breastfeeding?!
First time around, i experience pain for about 3 weeks when nursing him, and I am wondering if that may happen again if I don't stop breastfeeding before the second is born....
Thanks!

Some children self-wean during pregnancy when mature milk switches back to colostrum and some don't. As yours is presumably still in nappies, at least you don't have to worry about the fact that colostrum is a laxative...

I didn't fancy tandeming so I gently encouraged my first to wean during my pregnancy but hopefully you'll get some good responses. What was the reason for pain first time around - the latch? No way to predict really if it'll be uncomfortable second time around as it all depends on baby's latch. My second was slightly early and had a small mouth - it took him/us a few weeks to get the latch right so technically it was a bit more uncomfortable than starting bf with my first but that wasn't because I'd breastfed before/during pregnancy.

I've heard having an older child to feed can be very helpful during the milk-coming-in stage...

I would quite like to encourage weaning but as nursing is the quickest and easiest way to get him back to sleep when he wakes at night, I am not sure how that will go! Still a few months so I am not stressing YET.

First time around, I used to experience pain for about 20 seconds when he started feeding and then it would pass. That lasted about 3 weeks I think. Thanks!

I’m still tandem feeding and have found that it has made a lot of stuff easier - DC are able to feed at the same time so there’s been no jealousy, it’s been a lovely bonding experience for them (and me). It can be tiring but no more tiring than having a newborn is anyway. I was also able to use my older DC to help with my usual oversupply of milk, which had been very painful the first time round. But it’s very much a personal choice, it will suit some and not others. I would just do what feels natural and right for you.

Oh and with DC1 it was very painful to feed her for the first three months or so. No pain with DC2.