mums of 4+ breastfeeding question - how did you mange it?

[ChacunaSonGout]

i am on dc6

SHATTERED all the time - he is 8 weeks sleeps well

I am wondering if it is the b/f ing ?

what do you think - would it be easier if bottle fed? would i feel more energised?

well.....I have five and my milk was not great for DS2 (#5), which my paed said was part running about after the other children, part my allergy diet I was on as baby was proven to be milk allergic, and so I had huge difficulty eating enough.

I still managed until he was 3mths exclusive, and then until 6mths before he had to go onto special formula full-time thro losing weight and liver issues!

I have to say tho, it was far far harder bottle feeding than breast feeding. before I could just stop and feed when ever, and then I had to learn to make up feeds, sterilise..........so much more work (and I had never bottle fed before so it was a major shock to my system).

I don;t honestly think stopping will give you more energy. IMHO I think it will be mainly the fact that you are just now caring for 6 rather than 5.

take care of yourself and give yourself lots of TLC and see if that makes a difference before thinking of changing.........unless you want to of course.

HTH

thanks psycho - ther is no hope for tlc!! I took my nail polish off tonight and that was the tlc for today!

hmmm!

I have loads of milk - i have got more bovine with subsequent children

have NEVER felt this tired ....

I co slept & bf on demand - wonderful as could get some rest. Just carry dd around with me & bf when she wants - leaves an arm free to sort out everything else (I've 5 - congrats on your little one xxx). It was only with dd1 that I would sit down to bf!!!

have you had your iron checked since you had baby???

you could go get some spa-tone....it is a mineral rich iron liquid that helps bring iron levels up without the hideous side effects from regular iron tabs. it tastes slightly metallic so having it with orange juice helps with the taste, plus the vit C helps with the absorbtion.

Had thyroid probs in preg - & still have to take thyroxine plus had heammorage with the birth & felt wiped out by this in the first weeks - would say get your iron levels tested...

iron is ok but i am vegetarian so may try some spa tone as i have some left over from pg...

maybe its my bodys way of saying 6 is enough!

quite possibly

my body certainly 'told' me five was enough....I was very ill as well as all the other issues after DS2. my body gave me plenty of signs that I was to stop!!!

one thing, if you are making lots of milk, and baby is happy and smily, then your milk is fab and you are clearly doing something wonderful.

I would say then it is iron levels are down, which after 6 pregnancies are going to be (they were for me!)

thanks psycho !

I am riddled with guilt as -despite being 'good' at b/f ing - i do not enjoy it

I force myself to do it so that all my dc's have had the same start!

It is probably just a case of 'lots of kids'

will start spa tone!

had you not realised yet that guilt gets injected in the minute we give birth???

well done tho for doing something that you don;t neccessarily enjoy for the best start for baby.

get started on the spatone and I hope it helps.

How old are your other children?
I had dc2,dc3 and dc4 in 31m and felt exhausted in the first few weeks. However, dc4 fed every 2hrs during the night for a while so not surprising.

I don't think it's the bf-ing itself that is tiring and I agree with psychomum that it is more likely to be the possibility of low iron.
Bottlefeeding didn't help tiredness at all with my first 3. No bottles, just bf the next 6 and things were better. Having said that dc6 was a bit of a tester in that I didn't seem to have enough milk most of the time (you don't seem to have that problem )

Try the iron and see if that helps, rest when/where you can and I think that you will probably find that your strength returns as more time passes from giving birth. Your baby is only 8 weeks old and sometimes it takes a while to recover from the birth.

juule I only have one more at home - one 5 and other 3 secondary! No excuse really

I was hoping you would all say stop b/f ing but know in heart of hearts thatis not so

Thanks both of you for your advice!

Hopefully taking extra iron will help. It's the being exhausted that's the problem for you, I think, and not the bf-ing.

Otherwise maybe a visit to the gp if you are not feeling better after taking iron.

thanks juule

methinks gp would say 'you had 6 kids what do you expect?

I put off going to the gp at one point because that's what I thought they would say. Turned out that I was B12 deficient.

If you don't feel any better reasonably soon, then book in and see whether you need a blood test.

Hope you're feeling a lot more energetic soon.

i know how you feel . my last one no 3 really tired me out afterwards .i still feel like a zombie most days and i know its my iron levels[also a veggie] trouble is i get so tired and forgetful that i forget to take my iron..hmmm!!! vicious circle....a dr once told me that as a veggie we tend to use up your iron stores/reserves therefore you have to eat a lot more just to keep your levels at workable point without even making enough to store!and slowly these reserves become totally depleted hence the tiredness..spatone works the best for me out of all of them..

thankyou juuule

and Bambi!

Chacuna I have four and I BFed them all into toddlerhood. I have never bottle fed so can't really compare but I find the night feeds pretty easy going because you can almost stick your boob in his mouth whilst asleep. I can't imagine getting up and faffing about with bottles.

Also you don't need to take anything when you go out. It's all there, sterilised, at the perfect temperature etc ,,, I couldn't imagine anything being easier.

It IS knackering though, of course. For me it's the broken nights and constnat being on call.

I'd have loved six though.

Good luck and I hope you get more energy soon. Can you sleep when he does during the day? Or nap at least? Let the housework go to pot a bit.

Spidermama do you recognise me from my previous moniker - i offered you my house?

gawd no sleep in day i am too obsessional re tidy house

keep wondering why i am still fat!

Eat more, with lots of iron. There'll be plenty of time to return to a trim you when you run around after that toddler. Rest more and in particular don't kill yourself with housework.

Go to the Dr if things don't improve soon and just steel yourself against the 'what do you expect' comments. If you are anaemic you may be able to have iron tablets on prescription (free!).

I have 4 children, 16,14 2 and 5 months.
Really tired with broken sleep and feel guilty for not having so much time with 2 year old but still wouldnt miss it for the world!
I'm 41 and really, if I didnt feel rather silly about it, would love another one!!

Chacuna hello. I remember you so well for your staggering generosity even though DH didn't get the job in the end so I didn't need to take you up on it.

You have six now. Fantastic!
I remember how gorgeous your home is from the photos.

As for energy levels .... Floradix is a great source of iron. It's really easy to digest and I found my energy levels better when I took it. You get it in chemists and health food shops.

Best wishes and if you ever fancy a jaunt down to the sea look us up.

Chacuna, hoping you are not feeling so tired now. Do let us know how things are going.