Cooler and Farther Along

You've got to learn to knit and nurse! It's how I get ALL my knitting done. The trick for me is to use multiple blankets or pillows to prop up baby so that she's rolling into you a little. Sitting cross-legged on the couch, leaning back works best for me. Get baby positioned right, then knit away! You'll develop even stronger arm muscles since you can't lean on anything. And make sure to keep the project off of the face. I have a big drool spot on my current scarf... :D

Okay, I was one of the "mythical mothers". ;)

But I was only to knit small pieces (baby booties, maybe the beginning of a sock), so it wouldn't get in the way of the baby and it worked only in the first 3 or 4 month - later on she tried to grab my knitting instead of nursing properly.

I "fixed" her with a Stillkissen - don't know, what it's called in english. It is a long (about 2 m), u-shaped pillow, filled with spelt. You can see how it works on top of this page http://www.stillkissen.net/

Lurking in the comments to get ideas :) I can almost knit and nurse -- with something of a reasonable gauge...but I'm sacrificing tension for sanity at the same time...

I never managed it ! It's a good time to catch up on all that reading you sacrifice to knitting - I can't manage those two simulataneously either !

I read & nursed for a while, until our son became more interested in seeing what I was looking at, as it obviously wasn't him.

Nursing our daughter my attention was taken by her & keeping an eye on what he was doing - he being a highly mobile & interested four-year-old at the time!

I can't knit while I nurse, but knit holding the baby by propping the baby up with her head crooked in my elbow and my arms wrapped around her ... it's hard to describe, but it seems to work. Of course, she's still so new that she isn't squiggling around much, so that probably has more to do with my success than anything else. Once she gets enough hand-eye coordination to start grabbing at the yarn and needles, it'll all be over.

You need a baby "sling" It is wonderful for nursing and is a life saver for lots of other things. It holds the baby close to you while keeping your hands free (for the most part) you can move around more freely wearing it than you can just holding the baby.

I could do it, but only for simple knits like plain socks. Our couch has big pillowy arms, and I'd put another pillow on the other side. Prop baby on pillow, hands are free. This ended when the baby was old enough to grab the yarn. That was only with the 2nd baby, though. With the first one I wasn't coordinated enough, so I read a lot of books instead. (she was a leisurly nurser, and I read a lot of Amy Tan in the first 2 months)

I was able to manage it, sometimes, but only for small things and only when Miss T. was quite young. Little stuff, like earflap hats for babies, and about 25 of the squares for the patchwork blankie I still haven't sewn up...

I would sit on a couch with high arms, right next to one arm, using a footstool to get my knees high enough to slant the baby in towards me, with the baby on a Boppy (and nearly asleep).

I wait till she falls asleep on my lap AFTER i nurse and then i knit, so its all sitting next to me ready to be knit, soetimes if i move her after she falls asleep, she wakes up and sometimes i like to just keep here there so she can A) get more sleep and B) i get a break :)

I was able to accomplish this using the Boppy pillow. It help support the baby and as long as I had extra pillows around me for support it works great.

Hate me, but I say give all your attention to the baby while nursing. You are the only person (sans equipment) that can provide what you are for this child. This makes you special.
If I had to knit while nursing -- I would have lost my mind. It was the only time of the day I wasn't attending to the rest of the household and I could sit and enjoy my precious child. I nursed our two children to their first birthdays, when they took it upon themselves to disengage. You'll always be close to your child, but never again *that* close. Enjoy!

I knit and nurse. My dd is about as old as yours right now. My trick is to not use the nursing pillow. I sit cross legged on my couch so I can put her butt in the "hole" between my crossed legs. Then, I nurse her with one arm under her head in the cross-cradle hold and knit that way. That probably makes very little sense, but it's early and I have not had my coffee yet. If you want, maybe I can try to talk Husband into taking a photo of me doing it later.

I was able to nurse and eat, nurse and study, nurse and walk around Home Depot--but never nurse and knit. I suspect that, like nursing while lying down, you have to have "bottles" of a certain size, so that they can sort of hang down a bit. Since I never made it past a B-cup, even while nursing, I was never able to manage any of the more creative nursing positions.

It has been a while since I have nursed a baby...I seem to remember knitting and nursing. If I recall correctly it required a boppy or other pillow type thing and the football hold. I used my forearm to hold the baby in place.

I only knit and nursed with the first one. I never got/get very big, so I used to do sort of curve my back over. I think he was older than Z when I started doing it though. I haven't knit and nursed with the other 2 because I hurt my back between 1 and 2 and knitting while nursing isn't a good thing anymore.

What I have loved more than knitting while nursing was reading aloud. Kids 1 and 2 heard various Harry Potter books and number 3 has heard a couple of other things. You do go through a certain period when they get interested in the book and you have to teach them to leave it alone, but both of my older kids love to read and the 18 month old loves to "read" -- last night it was a knitting magazine.

I use a Boppy, and also sit crosslegged in a chair with arms to prop my elbows on. I have to get his head all the way to the crook of my elbow to have enough mobility. But if he's in a pulling mood i abandon the knitting to keep his head close in!!

I second the baby sling. I made my own Maya wrap following these directions,
http://www.mayawrap.com/n_sewsling.php
There are even vidoes on the site of how to wear it. I did everything with him in the sling (except use the stove...too dangerous), I could even walk around and nurse and no one was the wiser. I didn't knt at that time, but did so much computer work while nursing him that way.

One of my friends has had good luck with the sling (we both have Hotslings) but I do better knitting while using the Boppy pillow. I do kind of have to lean forward to nurse and knit at the same time, but it's not really uncomfortable. Sometimes I prop the baby's head in the crook of my elbow while I knit, but that works better when he's nursing on the right side, since my right hand doesn't move as much while I knit. If you knit by throwing your yarn, nursing on the left side might be easier. Good luck! It's nice to be able to cuddle and knit at the same time.

I had one of those horseshoe shaped nursing pillows, a quite large one, but I didn't actually put the baby on it but rather between myself and the pillow. Then I rested my forearms and knitting on the nursing pillow. Works best with circular needles and small projects. :)

Oh, my husband used to say that I would make a pretty good one-armed wall-paper slinger....funny that this memory comes back after 30 years...he was astounded that I could nurse and do so many other things simultaneously...but I never could knit while nursing. I did manage to read Shogun and a lot of James Michener back in the day. Thank you for sharing your blog with us. I look forward to reading it.

Definitely a sling (maya wrap is my fave) and circular needles! You can knit that way all day long if you like since babes love hanging out in the sling.

I used to nurse and knit. It's been quite a while though, as the last one I nursed is now 10 years old! I'm trying to remember any tricks I had ... but other than not trying to work on afghans, I can't remember having much trouble once I decided to just do it. I think I avoided socks on dps though... too many pointy ends waving about.

Knitting is wonderful and you'll soon have time for it. Meantime, listen to beautiful music together or read poetry aloud. Never too early to expose a baby to beaitufil thigs. Or just sit in a lounger and nap. You might remember that with pleasure a few years from now, driving from one kid activity to another. I'm one who isn't happy unless I'm doing 2 or more things at once, so I know how bored you may be feeling. Since you can't write, why not use your mp3 player to "write" letters or notes for the baby book. If all else fails, meditative breathing and meditation on a beautiful being (the baby)might make nursing time a bit more enjoyable.

Forgive me if you made a joke and I didn't get it. Forgive me if this sounds like heavy handed advice.

Well my daughters are 34 & 31 (with 3 of her own now) & I was never able to nurse & knit at the same time. Even at a very young age they were too interested in what I was doing (the motions distracted them) & tried to "help." I did, however, watch ALL of the Watergate hearings (my older daughter nursed almost continuously until I introduced solids) - I may be the only person in the country who did - & got a good bit of reading done.