No doubt breastfeeding has been classified among the most difficult part of parenting, especially when a woman is exclusively breastfeeding more than one child at the same time, it demands for more time, energy and less sleep.
In order not to turn to a burping machine, one must be strategic enough when deciding the feeding style to be adopted in order to ensure frequent burping breaks, however, there exist several techniques already put in place to achieve that, to mention few among them: Use a twin baby pillow, Bed or throw pillows, Bring in the car seat and many more.
While I will not go into details about how they work, it must be noted that they all have the same aim which is to feed the babies simultaneously, since doing that will ensure frequent burping breaks.
Unless you truly find yourself in this position, you may not really know what it takes to exclusively breastfeed a child let alone breastfeeding twins, tandem breastfeeding, triplet and many more.
Getting pregnant during breastfeeding
Exclusive breastfeeding has long been referred to as one of the means of controlling pregnancy, though it is subjected to one's body system, that is, why it may work for someone and may not guarantee the same effect for the others, I have seen a situation where two brothers of the same mother only have one year difference in their age, that means the mother got pregnant when the senior brother was just around three (3) months old.
Relying purely on exclusive breastfeeding as your only means of family planning may not guarantee you from not getting pregnant, especially if your body chemistry does not belong to the type, so other ideal family planning should be considered along with it, although it is better to consult your medical doctor and religious scholars on this, yes, religious scholars since some of the family plannings may contradict your religion doctrine.
However, if para-venture you become pregnant during the early stage of breastfeeding and you always wish to breastfeed your baby for one years or more, one of the solutions you are left with is to adopt the so called tandem breast feeding.
Tandem Breastfeeding
Like you have seen in the image above, it shows a mother breast feeding two babies of different age at a time, breastfeeding of this nature is called Tandem breastfeeding
I have not witnessed tandem breast feeding for the past three (3) decades, so the default to me before is that tandem breast feeding does not exist since my people do not practice it, however, after thorough findings and investigation about the subject matter, It has come to my notice that tandem breast feeding is real and very much possible as some people used to practice it. Although, some of the people who have confirmed that they have practiced tandem breast feeding in the past declared that it was circumstances that led them to the practice and not that they planned it from onset.
Before the advent introduction of modern family planning, our fore fathers in this part of my world usually have their own traditional family planning put in place, they usually leave a gap of at least two years interval between their babies, while this is possible may be traced to the fact majority of them usually have more than one wife during their time, so when one wife is in breast feeding state, it is easier to switch their attention to the other wives in order to satisfy their sexual huge.
Is there any consequence of getting pregnant during the early stage of breast feeding?
- Weaning
Thorough investigation has proven the fact that majority of the babies usually wean themselves off from breastfeeding, especially during the last trimester of their mother's pregnancy, thus, this has been attributed to the change in the taste of the breast and the babies are sensitive enough to detect such changes, however, some babies have been observed not to mind such changes and still continue to breastfeed even after delivery, as such the notion to avoid getting pregnant because of weaning may not be automatic to be considered as the consequence of getting pregnant during the early stage of breast feeding since some babies do not mind the taste difference in breast feeding.
- It requires lots of water and plenty of calories
Both pregnancy and breastfeeding a child demands for more energy and water let alone breastfeeding a child and carrying a pregnancy at the same time, so the mother should be prepared to take more nutrition, calories and water.
Is there any benefit in Tandem Breastfeeding?
- Increased connection between the toddler and the Baby
Tandem breast feeding can create a strong bond between the toddler and the baby and make them both to interact easily, since there is an activity (breastfeeding) that link them together.
- Increased in milk supply
Ordinarily one might think that the breast milk may not be enough to practice tandem breastfeeding but it is otherwise, in fact it has been observed that the more milk gives out, the more it is produced, so there will be enough milk in circulation always.
- It avoids wastage in millk supply
Tandem breastfeeding helps to balance the letdown milk that usually waste during breastfeeding a single child.
Final Thought!
If you ever find yourself in getting pregnant during the early stage of breastfeeding, never feel scared or think of abortion, in fact it may turn out to be the most rewarding experience in your entire lifetime. Summon the courage, eat and drink well, also take good care of your health and get prepared for the new journey ahead. Don't ever forget to consult your doctor for medical advice always.
I hope this will be of help to us all, especially all our nursing mothers out there...
Thanks always for the beautiful engagement on this platform.
I wish us all including Hive, more growth and development!