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Infant feeding

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

Can I blame my woes on BFing or wot?

18 replies

AuntyDiluvian · 02/09/2013 10:41

Whinge ahead:
My 4-month old baby has been EBF all the way and we have been lucky to have had few problems beyond the initial learning stage and trickiness with bottles and expressing. He's gaining well and is the picture of health.
I, on the other hand, am broken. My hair's been falling out constantly for the last couple of months, I'm fat (didn't gain overly in pregnancy but ballooned postpartum and the weight is NOT 'falling off' with bfing as promised...), I have no sex drive at all, no energy to exercise and stress incontinence when I do, and I AM TIRED. I have to haul myself downstairs in the mornings creaking and huffing like a hefty geriatric.
Obviously everyone's tired with a 4-month-old, especially one who wakes 4+ times a night to feed. But I look at my DP, who is working full time and often getting up in the night to help settle the baby, and he's coping so well. He looks after DS in the morning the whole time from when he wakes up to when he goes to work, and does the same when he gets home (bar feeding times of course) and at weekends he does all the nappy changes and is much more 'on duty' than I am. And when he's looking after DS he also does much more housework than I do. While I just stagger around blinking and wishing for sleep. And yes I am eating properly and everything. Plus I am 7 years younger than DP, though you wouldn't know it...
What's going on? Is it BFing hormones that have sapped all my youth? Is my DP an alien, or heading for burnout? Why do other mums around me all look svelte and capable and not grey of skin?
If you don't have the answer, but do feel the same way, please do chime in - misery loves company and all.

OP posts:
Bamboobambino · 02/09/2013 10:48

Not likely to be due to the breastfeeding, but get your thyroid function checked pronto, an under-active thyroid could cause all the above. (as well as parenthood)

Grumblelion · 02/09/2013 10:50

Are you anaemic or vitamin D deficient? I'd head to the GP for some blood tests. Thyroid could be another possibility.

SpottyTeacakes · 02/09/2013 10:51

Oh yes pregnancy can play havoc with your thyroid.

Ds is 9 months and my hair is coming out in clumps still. He does sleep all night though Smile so it gets better

Ps your your dp is definitely an alien Wink

AuntyDiluvian · 02/09/2013 10:57

Perhaps a GP visit is in order - good thoughts. And thanks Spotty for the confirmation re DP. It will be a sad day when he reveals his tentacles & beams back to his home planet but I will take advantage til then...

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SpottyTeacakes · 02/09/2013 11:02

Dp can be similar. I often say how hard it is having two but if I ever pop out for a couple of hours he makes sure he's done all the housework and that there are two beautiful smiling children waiting for me when u get back Grin

mrsmartin1984 · 02/09/2013 11:41

I was the same. Turned out I was anemic. Go to your doctor and get blood tests done. Could be thyroid function as well. I had issues since taking the depo shot. Won't be doing that again

Sunflower1985 · 02/09/2013 11:52

when i had malnutrition my hair fell out. for sure worth a blood test to check iron and blood count, thyroid, vit d. easy fixes with the right medication. and easy to rule out, if not.
also, how are you mood wise? our physical wellbeing can affect our emotional wellbeing, and vice versa, and is better not ignored.

keep whinging, it's cathartic.

badguider · 02/09/2013 11:54

Anaemia perhaps?

I would guess its some kind of after-effects from the birth or pregnancy...

ladymarian · 02/09/2013 12:53

BF did this to me with DD1, OP!
I went very thin (sounds good but I looked ill despite eating like a horse) and got every germ going and ended up with a urine infection, an ear infection and numerous colds in the 5 months that I fed her. I was very run down and had no energy despite her sleeping fairly well. My moods were all over the place too. GP tested my thyroid and it was fine.
When I gave up BF things improved rapidly so it seems that BF just did not agree with me. My HV was a breast feeding Nazi and just told me to keep going as it was going so well Confused......

kilmuir · 02/09/2013 13:07

i BF my four and never felt like the OP.
get your arse to the GP

VelmaDaceDinkley · 02/09/2013 13:17

A lot of what you're complaining about is just the after effects of pregnancy, childbirth and having a very small baby. You'd possibly feel the same if you weren't breastfeeding. Stress incontinence is common after pregnancy & childbirth. It's also very common for your hair to fall out after pregnancy. It's due to a drop in pregnancy hormones, and is normal. "Baby brain" and tiredness also common - pregnancy and looking after a small baby takes a lot out of you.

But like others said it's worth getting your iron and thyroid checked.

AuntyDiluvian · 02/09/2013 13:21

Thanks all. Kilmuir you have a lovely turn of phrase & I take your point! Could all be normal but will see the GP to find out & will ask re anaemia, thyroid, vit deficiencies etc.

OP posts:
working9while5 · 02/09/2013 13:21

What Velma said.

MissPlumBroughtALadder · 02/09/2013 13:27

I would suspect post-partum hypothyroidism.

JassyRadlett · 02/09/2013 13:43

Get yourself checked out, but with DS I held onto weight until I stopped BFing him (at 17 months). Dropped a size in a fortnight, zero effort required. Until then I'd been despairing....

AuntyDiluvian · 02/09/2013 14:06

Well I'm glad there was an answer to your weight despair Jassy although I hope that's not the case with me too - am hoping to keep bf'ing for a good while but not to stay so big and sluggish.
Sunflower, moods are OK I think - less swingy than they were pre-pregnancy and I think any low moments have been reasonable responses to a lack of sleep.
Lady Marian, that sounds ghastly. Mine isn't so bad that I will give up BFing as yet, especially when that may well have nothing to do with it, but if I had what you had things might be different!

OP posts:
worldgonecrazy · 02/09/2013 14:11

I didn't have any of those symptoms when I bf. Yes to the hair loss, but that really is just post-pregnancy hair loss, it just looks bad because you lose 9 months worth of normal hair loss over a short period. However, if it is of concern you really do need to get your iron and thyroid levels checked.

I didn't lose any weight when breastfeeding, but it did fall off when I stopped feeding, so I think that is what most women are talking about when they mention breastfeeding helps with weight loss.

AuntyDiluvian · 11/10/2013 09:24

Just adding a note to this old thread to say that I did get checked out, thyroid was fine but iron levels a bit low, and I have been feeling much better since taking iron tablets.
The moral is: GET TO A GP if you find yourself feeling similar!

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