I am a former tandem mom myself. My daughter was close to three when my son came along and we tandem nursed for about 3 years. Son went solo for about a year after that. There isn't a whole lot of "scientific" information out there, but what I have gleaned is this: 1. Continuing to nurse while pregnant does not usually present any increased risk for preterm labor in most healthy mothers. Continuing to breastfeed does not rob the fetus of nutrients. Mom does have to make sure she eats a good quantity of nutritious food for her own health. Fatigue can be a problem. 2. During the middle of the pregnancy, milk supply goes down drastically. This can be an issue of the nursling is quite young and not able to meet nutritional needs thru solid foods yet. 3. Colostrum is present as the birth time nears and has been detected and commented upon by verbal toddlers and preschoolers who are nursing while mom is pregant. The amount is going to be tailored to demand, so just like in a twins mom (theoretically), there is enough for each child. There does not seem to be any evidence that allowing the toddler to nurse up to (and during) labor "uses up" the colostrum. 4. Unless the nursling is present at the birth and stays with mom for the first few hours or couple days after birth to nurse steadily, the newborn will get exclusive, uninterrupted breast time with mom. Think of most hospital visiting hours etc. as limiting the time the toddler stays with mom without any other advance planning required. 5. Tandem can be an advantage to the newborn. The older, more experienced nurser can get the milk flowing and increase supply if the 2nd born has suck problems (my own personal experience is with this). 6. Correct me if I'm wrong (and I know you all will...haha) but isn't it true that colostrum doesn't "go away" when mature milk comes it, it is just the ratio of components that changes? 7. The older nursing child will get "newborn" milk rather than the newborn getting "toddler" milk. Many mothers verify this by the presence of more frequent, soft, seedy yellow stools in their older child. This is not diarrhea, but the normal breastfed stool. 8. For mothers who have chosen to tandem, they feel that their commitment to their older child's right to a child-led weaning is very important. To suggest that a mother wean her toddler based upon negligible proven risk to the fetus/newborn can be a very stressful, hurtful thing for her. If there seems to be valid reason for suggesting weaning the older child, this mother will place the burden of proof on the practitioner (as it should be). I hope some of this is helpful. You can email me privately to continue discussion. Tandem is near and dear to my heart! *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html