Tandem nursing Umaira & Amira

Alhamdulillah...its been a week now and Allah has eased me in my breastfeeding journey, Bf-ing on demand and not scheduled.

In fact, I am currently doing tandem nursing for both doters. That is concurrently nursing both of them.

There are of course, 'well meaning advices' from around saying that Umaira might not be getting enough, so Amira has to stop or I have to supplement Umaira with formula. Well, thank you all for the concerns. But I know and truly believe that Allah's creations are wonderful. The breast can adapt to the demands being placed upon it. If you are nursing for 2, it will produce enough if not more to meet the demand, subhanallah.

Even when Rasulullah was an infant, he was being nursed by HalimatusSa'diah, who was also nursing her own baby, not to mention those having twins,triplets and so on. So I don't understand why nursing more than one seems foreign and weird to some of us nowadays.*maybe coz Amira is already a toddler?*

There are actually several reasons why I decided upon tandem nursing:
- I would not want Amira to feel left out upon arrival of a new sister.
- I would like to give Amira the freedom to decide when to wean off completely.
- I do not have the heart to stop Amira from BF-ing.
- I read that it promotes bonding between the two siblings.

My one-week experience on tandem nursing:

- Actually I find that Amira is actually more excited to be nursed than Umaira. I thought she wouldn't like the taste of the milk (she doesn't drink milk) but it turned out that she LOVE it.

- Of course I do feel uncomfortable at times when Amira wants to nurse at the same time as her sister. I mean just imagine I had to hold baby in one hand and a toddler in the other. Sometimes I let her be, and some other times I will ask her to wait till I put the baby to sleep first.

- If they nurse together, I usually will take a sitting position on the bed.

- It really helps when I feel BM is a lot. I would just ask Amira if she wants to be nursed and she would gladly obliged. -I am really lazy to pump,heh-

- It helps prevent engorgement, alhamdulillah.

I am thankful that I am given the opportunity to be able to give the best for my daughters insyaAllah. For those out there struggling in their BF-ing journey, persevere and believe that no matter how hard it is, no matter what others tell you (even doctors, always get a second opinion) and no matter how painful it is, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT IN GIVING THE BEST FOR YOUR PRECIOUS ONES AND FIND COMFORT IN IT. ALL THE BEST.