We know that a number of people end up here because they are looking for information on inducing lactation, particularly in a family with two moms. Now that the induction project has been over for some time, I wanted to gather all of the relevant posts in one location for anyone who might want to read them.
- Are you trying to decide if you should induce? It’s very difficult, it can take time away from your baby and your family, and you are unlikely to have full supply, particularly if you will be sharing nursing with another mom. That’s the bad, discouraging news. I would hesitate to recommend it for first-time parents because it’s challenging enough just figuring out which end is which with your first baby. That said, I’m glad that I did it. You can read more about why Lyn wanted me to and why I decided it was the right choice for me. You can also read my take on the pros and cons of inducing and about our decisions around nursing the first time, when Lyn did not try to induce.
- So I haven’t been too discouraging and you really want to try it? There’s several ways to go, but you can read about the protocol I used, follow the thrills of my first drops of milk, and ogle a graph of my early output.
- You may be curious about the logistics of feeding one baby with four boobs. I started nursing Ira when he was around a month old. You can read about our plans, about my thoughts just before starting to really nurse Ira and about Lyn’s thoughts at that time. We also posted about the challenges of getting started, and the early payoffs here and here. I wrote about hitting my stride and about the beginning of the end of nursing Ira for me (I stopped nursing him around 6 months, Lyn is still nursing him).
- Finally, if you want to know the impact this has had on us as a couple and on the way we share in the parenting of Ira, you should read our guest post at Equally Shared Parenting.
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Way to go ladies! I heard about you from a client of mine who had the first baby and now her partner is PG with baby number 2. Mom # 1 is planning to be still nursing the toddler when 2 is born so she is hoping she’ll be able to help out in the breastfeeding dept. I wish you the best– and if you ever need the assistance of an excellent lactation consultant or want to refer to a blog with factual breastfeeding/parenting information, I’m here!