Breastfeeding a Newborn with a Toddler in tow: A Whole New Challenge.

Breastfeeding isn’t easy, any mom can tell you that. However it’s an amazing bonding experience between your new bundle of joy and the mom that can be so relaxing and amazing.   Those “relaxing” breastfeeding sessions are over when you have a toddler that WON’T SIT STILL. I learned this very quickly when trying to nurse my newborn while my then 17 month old was climbing furniture and falling nearly cracking her head on our hard tile floor. If she wasn’t climbing furniture she was darting into another room after I got all “set up” to breastfeed.   Here are some tips I have to keep your older one entertained while trying to nurse.

1. Give the toddler a job– burping buddy, burp cloth and water bottle retriever, or “mommy hand holder” are my favorite “jobs” for my daughter. Logan is always happy to help with things for Kohen so she loves getting his burp cloth.   She also likes to help burp her little brother by lightly tapping his back-or sometimes not so lightly, lol. Logan also is now trained to hand me any water bottle in sight at any given moment-sometimes helpful, sometimes not.   When those jobs have failed, I have asked Logie to be the “mommy hand holder” to keep me company while we sing songs.
   

   “Kohen burped! Skuzzz me Kohen”–Logie

2. Books, Books, Books!-keep a pile on hand! I have a bunch of books in different baskets, which are easy to grab and move to the couch to read while nursing. I will always read my daughter a few stories to keep her entertained while her little brother eats. Now she is trained to pick out books and bring them to the couch.    She even will pick up the book basket and bring over yelling, “look at me, I’m strong!”
3. Flash cards to learn ABCs, numbers, or shapes!– My proud mommy moment is that Logan knows all of her letters and the ABC song before she is two years old! (You go Logie!) We practiced ABC flashcards a lot while nursing Kohen.  Stop by the dollar store and pick up a pack (or two because when you lose letters Q, F, and X in the couch its hard to complete all 26 letters). Or you can even make your own out index cards.
4. Count! We practice counting baby’s tiny toes and fingers! We have counting 1-10 down pat!
5. Master the breastfeed and WALK. Yep ever wonder how that 19 Kids and Counting lady does it? Carry the newborn attached to the boob around the house, it’s not easy but it can be done. Like I said, relaxing breastfeeding sessions are hard to come by!
6. LAST resort- TV show or movie. I HATE this option because I don’t like my children watching TV, but sometimes it’s all you have.   If all else fails make sure you have your DVR stacked with short shows to bust out the good ole “sit here and zone out kid, so you don’t get into something you’re not supposed to” trick.   I did enjoy playing Logan the old classic Disney movies and we would watch them in 20 minute chunks taking us several days to finish.
   

We spend a lot of time on this couch nursing!  To the side of this couch is a toy bin filled with Logan’s toys so she doesn’t have to stop her playing for me to nurse Kohen.

Those are the few tips I have.   Now when I need to feed Kohen I ask Logan if she wants to “help me feed the baby” and she jumps for joy!   She has also pushed Kohen’s screaming and crying face into my breast and said, “Hey! Eat your boobie!” Hahaha

What tricks do you have to keep your toddler entertained while nursing? Comment below with your tricks and tips!

Until Next time XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks girl,

Lisa Doyle