Does bf make you very tired?

[squidkid]

I guess there's no way of knowing till you stop, is there.

There are a number of other things I could put it down to - sleep (though it's only a couple of wake ups a night at the mo - early starts though), being a new mum, anxiety about returning to work soon, low mood at times, struggling to find time to exercise properly (which I used to rely on to keep my mood even), eating too much or too little - not sure...

I am just so very tired. Little one is 9 months old and eats well, and doesn't feed that often (maybe 4-5 times a day now, and one night feed). I get 7 hours sleep a night if I go to bed at 8pm or 9pm (which I do, even if it's killing what social life I had left) and I know she is a good sleeper for her age and I feel guilty that I still can't shake the fatigue.

I had a similar problem. Ending up going to the doctors for blood tests. Turns out I was anemic. Turns out allot of women get it after having a baby. I could barely keep my eyes open. May be worth a visit

Friend had same and turned out to be vit d deficiency - she just needed to catch a bit of sun but had been indoors all the time.

Having children makes you tired! Breastfeeding is unlikely to be the culprit; unless you are on a very restrictive/low calorie diet then I would be looking at other possible reasons for the tiredness. It is worth getting iron levels checked if you're really wiped out.

What's with the early starts? 3-4am is still the middle of the night in my book! Is your DD up for the day at that time?

Well... she wakes at around 3 or 4 and needs wrestling back to sleep, it's quite an effort and she only sleeps (lightly) with me more or less holding her down. Then up for the day bang on 5am, yawn.

I'm not complaining, she goes down without a peep at 6pm and doesn't stir till then usually, so I get my evenings free and go to bed early.

I go outside a lot and took vit d supplements all through pregnancy and the first 6 months of bf, so I doubt that's the problem. I gave blood a few months ago and hb was fine. I suspect it's just feeling anxious about work and generally a bit low. I may go to the doc anyway so I could get some bloods just to check.

I was just asking about bf though... I have had a fair few friends tell me they felt like a new person when they stopped bf and had bags of energy and their life back, lost loads of weight and felt great, etc, I try to ignore as I think it's just the general negativity about bf that's everywhere (and they mostly stopped quite a bit earlier). I don't know. Everyone seems to think I'm nuts for continuing and make faces about bf when I go back to work. (I'm not sure how it's going to work with work either, but that's a separate discussion. I don't get anything when I express and I work 12 hour shifts!! I'm just sticking my head in the sand about this and crying a lot...)

I'm on the "it's having a baby, not breastfeeding" - though admittedly I didn't stop feeding DS1 til I was pregnant again, but I definitely remember having much more energy once I was out of the "little baby" phase, certainly by the time he was 1.

I do recommend having bloods done, I've been feeling a bit meh and prone to colds lately and am going to ask my GP to do some checks when I see him tomorrow about my asthma meds. If you're really wrecked it could be a deficiency, or could be thyroid issues: apparently (usually temporary) underactive thyroid is something that can affect new mums, happened to a friend of mine and she was exhausted until it was diagnosed and treated.

I hope this doesn't upset you, but it could be that you are depressed. Constant exhaustion is one symptom. You mention feeling low, stressed etc a lot in your posts - sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now. I'm not sure if it would still be PND at this stage, anyone else know?

PND can develop months after birth. If the tiredness is affecting you that much, OP, then maybe you could chat to your GP about it? Thyroid issues can happen after birth as well as leedy says.

PND can definitely become evident months after birth - I had it with DS1 and was diagnosed pretty early (about 2 months after he was born) but my GP said he often saw women coming in at 8, 9, 10 months. It's worth having a chat with your doctor about it too if you think it might be the case, as it's v treatable - I found the difference amazing once I got the right counselling and meds.

yep, shattered. totally normal!

I was feeling much better when I stopped bf with DS1
but then came another pg, then bf, then pg then bf....

not had a proper sleep for 12 years.

but as others said your exhaustion could be exaggerated or due to anaemia, anxiety, PND or just being generally run down.

get a full blood test and talk to gp.