Breastfeeding Two or More Different-Aged Children
There are many benefits to breastfeeding for both infants and their parents.
When a breastfeeding parent is nursing two children of different ages, it’s called tandem feeding.
Here is an overview of how tandem feeding works.
kate_sept2004/Getty Images
kate_sept2004/Getty Images
What Is Tandem Breastfeeding?
Some people who breastfeed allow their child to self-wean at an older ageup to age 5 or 6.
Each nursing parent will have to decide whether tandem breastfeeding is right for them and their children.
As they are considering their options, it can help to know what major health organizations recommend.
Children aged 12 years old can continue with breast milk along with their regular diet.
According to La Leche League, a child should gradually outgrow breastfeeding.
The organization believes that the longer a child is breastfed, the better.
Can human milk provide enough nutrition to adequately feed an older baby or child and a younger infant?
A 2021 study examined milk from 13 participants who were tandem breastfeeding.
Nutrients such as fat, protein, and carbohydrates, as well as energy content, were analyzed.
The level of carbohydrates remained stable.
In the end, there is no right or wrong decision.
Rather, its a personal choice based on many factors that each family must make.
According to the AAFP, Breastfeeding during pregnancy is the womans personal decision.
Speak with your doctor and take it from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
How common is tandem nursing?
There have not been that many studies on tandem breastfeeding.
One small study conducted in the early 1990s looked at tandem breastfeeding outcomes in 57 women.
How do you tandem nurse?
Tandem nursing involves nursing two children of different ages at the same time.
A nursing parent may nurse one child at each breast or separately at different intervals throughout the day.
How do you prepare an older child for tandem nursing?
In the end, it will be up to you to decide what is best for your family.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.What are the Benefits of Breastfeeding?.
2021;13(1):277.
Published 2021 Jan 19. doi:10.3390/nu13010277
Beth Israel Lahey Health.Breastfeeding Your Baby: How Long Should You Continue?.
La Leche Legue International.Philosophy.
Moscone SR, Moore MJ.Breastfeeding during Pregnancy.J Hum Lact.1993;9(2):83-88. doi:10.1177/089033449300900219
