Every Monday, I post a reader’s question, and ask you to help me answer. Don’t miss any posts! Subscribe to our new RSS Feed or subscribe via email.
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Sara says:
I am currently nursing my 11 month old and I’m pregnant, due in about 3 weeks. Can you offer advice on tandem nursing? Thanks!
My daughter was 3 1/2 and weaned when I got pregnant with my son. He was 22 months old and still a huge boobie baby when I got pregnant with his brother. While my daughter was mostly night time nursing at that age, he was still a 24/7 nurser, and nursing was the only way he would “nap” (on my lap, LOL.)
My plan was to breastfeed throughout the pregnancy and tandem nurse as long as he liked. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, my milk disappeared around week 8 of my pregnancy. My son occasionally “dry nursed” (not fun) but would usually unlatch & make a face quickly. By week 10, he had pretty much quit cold turkey, and only nursed once or twice more before his 2nd birthday. By the time his brother was born, he had completely forgotten about nursing and never asked again.
I have read time and time again that milk doesn’t necessarily “dry up” during pregnancy, and there is no reason to wean. I expressed my feelings of failure to the partpartum doula who encapsulated my placenta, and she said she suspects that many moms dry nurse throughout their pregnancies. Kellymom has great resources on breastfeeding during pregnancy (which it sounds like you have figured out!) as well as tandem nursing, but since I was unsuccessful, I’ll have to defer to my readers!
Do you have tips for Sarah?
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
