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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Did or does b/f make you more ravenous than being preg?

18 replies

deliakate · 27/08/2011 16:59

I cannot stop munching! DD now 3 months, and I weigh more than 3 days after she was born. I'm sure I wasn't this hungry when I was pregnant, although I had to eat regularly to stop feeling sick, so my weight stayed OK. Is this normal??

OP posts:
mousymouse · 27/08/2011 17:01

definately!
I stopped bf a couple of m ago and finally am loosing the baby weight.

TryLikingClarity · 27/08/2011 17:18

Yes, because your body is needing extra fuel to produce the milk for your LO.

I breastfed DS until he was 11 months old as I saw it as a great way to be able to justify eating loads more than I normally would Grin

Have a look at the 'Breast or Bottle feeding' section on Mumsnet, there are loads of mums there wondering about things like that.

Congrats on your DD.

rainbowinthesky · 27/08/2011 17:20

You only need iirc about 300 calories extra when bf which isnt very much. You dont have to eat this to fuel breastfeeding. You'd have to be famine starving for it to impact on your milk.

TryLikingClarity · 27/08/2011 17:22

OP - this is the link to the section of MN I mentioned before.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding

TrillianAstra · 27/08/2011 17:25

YABU because you have not asked an "Am I Being Unreasonable?" question.

But yeah, if you are having to take in all the nutrients you need for you and for your baby, a rapidly-growing baby on the outside needs more fuel than a baby on the inside (who is already thermoregulated, etc).

rainbow is right that your body will prioritise milk production over taking care of itself, so eating less won't harm your milk, but if you want to feed your baby and feed yourself then you'll need more calories than if you were only feeding yourself.

TryLikingClarity · 27/08/2011 17:25

Sorry, Rainbow, my mistake.

I didn't phrase what I wanted to say correctly.

When I was bfing I did feel more hungry and thus I ate more. I do think that bfing justifies eating a bit more, plus there is an element of comfort after having given birth recently.

The leaflets I got from my community midwife said that frequent and exclusive bf burns around 500 calories a day.

rainbowinthesky · 27/08/2011 17:27

I just wanted to point out that the extra food isnt needed to produce the milk ie fuel it. Smile

rainbowinthesky · 27/08/2011 17:27

Should have added that doesnt mean it doesnt use calories which can be eaten.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 27/08/2011 17:31

Barely kept a thing down whilst pregnant with DC1, he must have been made from the odd cup of tea and slice of toast. When he arrived it was a different story, was ravenous and was rapidly loosing weight at one point.

YANBU but if you are worried about your weight try walking more or not eating less just try some low GI foods.

FreudianSlipper · 27/08/2011 17:35

for most yes but for myself no

i was so tired when i bf i could not eat, and eating is never usually a problem for me. i had to force myself to eat more. bf just didn't work for us, i didn't produce much milk and ds was a very hungry baby.

Dylthan · 27/08/2011 17:38

Yes I was unbelievably hungry while bf.

We have recently got a puppy and bought a book about dogs it had a section about breeding and it showed that you needed to feed your dog so much more while she was feeding her puppys then when she was pregnant with them.

I know that's a bit of random information and not really in the least bit relevent but I suppose we're all mammals at the end of the day Wink

LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn · 27/08/2011 17:43

Yes, I are everything insight. I didn't put any weight on when pg so should have finished up looking good but no bf made me a starving pig. This time I am going to try drinking mire. I know I didn't drink enough so hopefully that will help this time.

Jojay · 27/08/2011 17:46

Definitely yes. I'm bfing twins and I've never eaten so much in my life! I had hardly any appetite at all when pg as my stomach was so squashed.

Dylthan · 27/08/2011 17:49

I even used to have emergency bananas by the bed for the nighttime feeds I literally could not go through a single feed without having to eat Blush

KD0706 · 27/08/2011 18:49

When I'm pg I feel I need to eat more carb foods and to eat regularly to keep sickness at bay.

But when exclusively BFing DD I stuffed cake in my face like there was no tomorrow. I had such cravings for sweet things.

Gemjar · 27/08/2011 18:53

I have found that my appetite has been quite high, but I think that is mostly because it was built up during pregnancy when I ate A LOT. In the early days of BFing (am 9 months in now) I found that I was more thirsty than anything, I have never drank so much water in my life.

Gemjar · 27/08/2011 18:53

*drunk

RebelFromTheWaistDown · 27/08/2011 18:56

No. You are just a greedy beggar. YABU to blame bfing.

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