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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

BF article in the Times yesterday

37 replies

Lazylion · 06/09/2010 13:02

Did anyone see 'What it feels like to breast-feed for too long' in the Times Style magazine yesterday?
The writer says that bf her dd until 2 and a half had kept her heavy and spaced out. What do you think?
I bf my first 2 until a year old but my dd is now a year old and definately doesn't want to stop. I feel thick, slow and exhausted all the time (in the article the writer blames oxytocin for this feeling). I have a demanding job and I'm struggling with my lack of intelligence - could this be due to to bf do you think? Should I persuade my dd to give up or carry on?

OP posts:

jemjabella · 06/09/2010 13:04

It was sensationalist bollocks, pure & simple.

belgo · 06/09/2010 13:04

That hasn't been my experience. The feeling of oxytocin just makes me happy and helps me sleep at night, and most of the time I have more energy then I have done in the last five years or so. I'm studying part time and ds is still bf and nearly two, the youngest of three chil;dren so my life is quite busy.

Do you have a link to the article?

jamaisjedors · 06/09/2010 13:08

What a load of rubbish!

I have been bf DS for 3.5 yrs now, and am 52kg (about 8 stone) and have been back at work in an intellectually challenging job since he was 3 mths old.

Dinghy · 06/09/2010 13:10

I think bfing does take it out of you (no pun intended) but the solution is to work around it. Maybe look at your own diet/excercise etc.

For some women maybe it does have that effect regardless, but I don't think it's true for everyone and I suspect sensationalist bollocks too.

pooka · 06/09/2010 13:10

Saw it and thought was bolleaux.

DS2 is one and still feeding rather a lot. Including twice at night (though am working on that one). Don't feel sluggish or thick. Or at least no more so than I did when dd and ds1 were little but no longer breastfeeding.

WRT weight - yes I am probably carrying half a stone that could go and will no doubt when I stop breastfeeding. Though with dd I actually gained weight in a creeping sort of way because I didn't really modify my intake in proportion to the fact that I was feeding her less.

Didn't like her perception of the other mother.

belgo · 06/09/2010 13:14

Dinghy - when the children were smaller, I felt very tired, and I did put it down to bfing, but now I realise that it was just having small children. As I said, I am still bfing now, and fairly frequently when ds is home, and at night times as well, and I think my energy levels are normal.

The problem is, if you are bfing and experiencing any sort of problem at all with your life, breastfeeding automatically gets the blame.

reddaisy · 06/09/2010 13:15

I thought the article was sensationalist and one-sided like Jem said.

Although I do have more energy since I gave up bfeeding DD when she was 15months old.

But I was quite blue for the first month or so after giving up, I imagine I was missing the oxytocin and it was an end of a very special time between me and DD. She is more independent now though which is great.

I also put on weight after I gave up instead of losing it - I probably ate the same and it wasn't getting turned into lovely creamy milk for dd anymore.

I think the general exhaustion of being a mum might be making your brain feel foggy, not the breastfeeding!

EauRouge · 06/09/2010 13:22

I'm breastfeeding 23 mo DD and I don't feel tired, despite also being 16 weeks pregnant. I think it's down to my diet.

I did feel a bit run down when DD put on a big growth spurt but after a bit of extra iron I felt fine. Have you had your iron levels tested, Lazylion?

belgo · 06/09/2010 13:31

I don't feel tired but I don't think it's down to my diet; I eat crap.

Agree though about getting iron levels checked.

Original poster

Lazylion · 06/09/2010 13:33

Iron levels, of course. Thanks EauRouge that would fit, but I was too tired / stupid to think of it.
I don't want to give up bf before my dd is ready but the article made me think - wrongly it seems from all your positive examples.
You are right belgo, I'm in the middle of moving house twice and I did blame the bf for the tiredness.
Bf does keep me fat though, I always lose my extra stone straight after stopping. That isn't a reason to give up in my opinion, what are bigger jeans in the scale of things?!
Off to get some floradix.

OP posts:

belgo · 06/09/2010 13:35

moving house twice?! no wonder you are knackered!

belgo · 06/09/2010 13:36

Remind iron is better absorped by vitamin C - so take the floradix with orange juice - tea/coffee/milk will all hinder the absorption.

nickytwotimes · 06/09/2010 13:38

Ds 1 was ff
Ds 2 is bf

I was/am knackered both times.

Tis just being a parent.

Dinghy · 06/09/2010 13:56

Belgo I think not everyone has the same experience as everyone else - a friend has fed her dcs for a minimum of 18 months and said she had a lot more energy whwen she stopped. That's just her experience, it's not like that for everyone.

But I thnk you are spot on about attributing every problem to breastfeeding. It's entirely possible my friend has soem kind of anaemia problem, or that you are naturally energetic - and if you are,

belgo · 06/09/2010 13:58

no I am certainly not naturally energetic

MumNWLondon · 06/09/2010 15:23

also get thyroid levels tested, can also continue to tiredness/exhaustion....

Haliborange · 06/09/2010 15:26

I am not tired but am a lot more vague when I am breastfeeding - as if my brain is otherwise engaged. Tbh I just accept it but then DD2 is only 10 months old so it hasn't been going on for long!

StealthPolarBear · 06/09/2010 15:30

I am currently vague and fat and wondering whether stopping bf (especially at night) would help with that

NTT how are things going?

Tabitha8 · 06/09/2010 18:36

So are they saying that bf makes us loose brain power?
Oooo, I want to read that article. Can't access for free online, I don't think.

AngelDog · 06/09/2010 19:22

I think I'm the same weight I was before I was pg, although DS is only 8 months. But I eat about 10x as much cake & chocolate which is all good! :)

On the anaemia issue, you can have lacking-iron exhaustion while still having iron levels within the normal range - you don't have to actually be anaemic. Some people are just more sensitive to iron levels.

GormlessHeart · 06/09/2010 20:31

I did wonder about this- I felt very dim and spacey and wondered if it was all the luuurve hormone floating around in my system. Then DS started sleeping a tiny bit more at night and realised it was sleep deprivation. I feel utterly different! Def agree with the bf being 'blamed' for things.

Raejj · 06/09/2010 20:42

I reckon it very much depends on the woman. I felt exactly like her with dc1 and all the signs say dc2 the same. I guess you'll find out when you give up (only when you're ready).

WoTmania · 06/09/2010 21:24

I would also say it depends on the woman. I've lost almost all the baby weight (am about 8st1lb atm) which I think must have something to do with all the night feeds. Running around after 3 children helps too though .

As for feeling tired, well, that's just having children surely?

ZephirineDrouhin · 06/09/2010 21:58

No. I stopped a year ago and I'm just as thick as before.

HumphreyCobbler · 06/09/2010 22:12

I read this. I particularly noticed the way she seemed to think her bf had not been worth it as her child forgot about it.

I wish DS had forgotten, he informs me he wants to feed again often and he weaned four or five months ago.

The whole article was rubbish really. I too hated the way she projected her feelings onto the other mother at the end.

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