Things to do while nursing

When my eldest child was a newborn, I loved our nursing times together. Armed with a tall glass of water, a snack and usually a book, we'd settle down and I'd promptly lose myself in whatever I was reading. Often a good forty minutes would fly by before we switched sides. Needless to say, he was a chubby little baby.

Nowadays, with four kids aged four and under and a set of newborn twins, nursing is still enjoyable, but also a little more, um, shall we say, challenging? And considerably less relaxed. When I'm not feeding both the girls at the same time, I've discovered quite a litany of things that I can do while nursing one of them. These include things relating to the other baby; rocking them in a chair with my foot, feeding them with a bottle, burping them over one shoulder. Still haven't had to change a diaper while nursing, but you know, it may be necessary one day.

Nursing Lisa and bottle feeding Leila

Other things I do relate to the two older kids running around our house; reading books, putting on socks, mediating fights, helping with potty runs. Nursing certainly doesn't mean getting to put my feet up for a few minutes.

Nursing Lisa and reading to Lucas

I've also discovered a lot of household things that I can get done with one baby nursing; cleaning bottles, preparing snacks for the older kids or coffee for momma.

And on the rare occasion when the older kids are sleeping or otherwise quietly and peacefully occupied, I enjoy a cup of tea and my iPad for a few minutes of catching up on Facebook, email, blogs, playing a game or two and of course, writing blog posts.