An Australian mother-of-six has opened up about how she came to be breastfeeding three of her children at the same time.
Alicia Dixon, 35, from Melbourne, has been tandem-feeding her three youngest – MJ, aged three, Poppy, 23 months, and Alex, 12 weeks, since Alex was born earlier this year.
‘It means I’m sitting down a lot,’ Alicia – who is also mum to Shelby, 11, Charlotte, six and Emily, five – said.
Alicia Dixon has been tandem-feeding her three youngest – MJ, aged three, Poppy, 23 months, and Alex, 12 weeks, since Alex was born earlier this year
‘I’m lucky my husband Michael is so supportive and helpful round the house.
While Alex is breastfed around 12 times a day, Poppy is fed twice and MJ once or twice.
Often MJ is waiting patiently for his younger siblings to finish.
‘We do manage to go out too,’ Alicia explained. ‘I rarely need to feed the older ones then but if I need to, I will.
‘A few weeks ago I needed to comfort MJ on the train and nobody batted an eyelid.’
The path to tandem-feeding began when toddler MJ woke up while Alicia was in labour with baby Poppy.
The Australian mother-of-six has opened up about how she came to be breastfeeding three of her children at the same time
‘He’d always been a difficult sleeper and the only thing that would settle him was breastfeeding,’ Alicia said.
It meant that as she was giving birth to her baby girl, she was also feeding her little boy.
‘It ended up slowing my labour down though,’ Alicia said. ‘He went off to my mum’s in the morning and Poppy was born quickly after that.’
From that point onwards, Alicia had two mouths to feed.
Alicia breastfed her toddler son MJ while she was in labour with baby Poppy – after he woke while she was preparing to give birth
‘Before the birth, MJ hadn’t been feeding that much but when Poppy fed, he wanted to too,’ she explained.
‘I didn’t want him to feel displaced by the new baby so at the beginning I was feeding them both about six times a day,’ she added.
For Alicia, tandem feeding – breastfeeding multiple children at the same time – was something she had researched well and was keen to try.
‘When I fell pregnant with Poppy, MJ was only one and nowhere near weaned,’ she said.
For Alicia, tandem feeding – breastfeeding multiple children at the same time – was something she had researched well and was keen to try.
‘He was a tricky baby and cried for the first 12 months of his life. We know now he had an undiagnosed tongue tie but it meant we were inseparable because feeding was the only time he was calm.
‘I couldn’t imagine giving up breastfeeding him even when I was pregnant. It was such an important part of his routine.’
Going online, the Melbourne mum took advice from other mothers who were breastfeeding more than one child at the same time.
‘I realised MJ might wean himself as during the third trimester of pregnancy breast milk turns into colostrum which tastes very different but there was a good chance it would work too,’ Alicia said.
‘It actually really helped Poppy having MJ on the other side as he made the milk flow faster for her,’ she said
It did. In fact, Alicia explained that having both children breastfeeding at same time helped the milk flow.
‘It actually really helped Poppy having MJ on the other side as he made the milk flow faster for her,’ she said.
The experience was so positive that when Alicia fell pregnant with Alex 12 months later she decided she would try and feed all three children.
‘It’s been great to have the opportunity to educate the older children,’ Alicia said.
‘And I had to bottle feed Emily from a month old so I’ve had various experiences to share with them.’
The experience was so positive that when Alicia fell pregnant with Alex 12 months later she decided she would try and feed all three children
During her journey Alicia has met many women tandem feeding.
‘It might not be widely publicised but lots of women are doing it,’ she said.
She said lots of women are doing it but it’s just not widely publicised
‘Perhaps they just don’t want to talk openly about it for fear of being criticised.
‘I’m sure some of my friends without kids think it’s a bit strange but none of them have had the guts to say anything to my face and I wouldn’t care if they did.’
She does admit that breastfeeding three children does mean her body doesn’t feel her own.
‘I reach my limit of people touching me very easily,’ she said.
‘But it’s such a short time your children physically need you in the big scheme of things that it makes it easier to push through.’
‘It’s hard work and I understand why it’s not for everyone but for our family it’s been worth all the effort and I’ll be doing it as long as the children want me to,’ Alicia said
Incredibly Alicia hasn’t had to change her diet to produce enough breastmilk for three kids, although she admits to craving chocolate and a lot of eating bananas
‘I need to drink a lot of water too. I aim for two to three litres a day,’ she said.
She also explained she is in no rush to stop breastfeeding any time soon.
‘They will wean when they’re ready,’ she said.
‘I’ve been breastfeeding for four years now, tandem feeding for two. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘It’s hard work and I understand why it’s not for everyone but for our family it’s been worth all the effort and I’ll be doing it as long as the children want me to.’