Breastfeeding but not hungry?

hecham

It seems like everyone says bfing makes you even hungrier than during pregnancy, but I'm finding the opposite. I couldn't get enough to eat during the whole pregnancy, but now that I'm bfing I just don't have much of an appetite. Sometimes I get nausea during a feeding, and high calorie foods just don't sound good.
So, i guess my question is: at what point will my supply suffer? I'm not counting calories right now, but i would guess I'm eating at a deficit. I've lost all but 18 of the 45 I gained with no effort so far, but I had/have a ton of fluid. My baby is 1.5 weeks and has gained 4 oz above his birth weight already. I've had an awesome milk supply from the beginning. I just don't want to struggle with it later if I can help it. I also don't want to force feed myself when I'm not hungry. What do you mom's think?

meggwyn

If you aren't noticing any dip in supply, I would just eat to feel satisfied. In my experience, water intake is more important. I had no appetite the first few days after the birth due to the awful afterbirth pains (which get worse with each pregnancy). But as they eased up, my appetite returned. You might notice your appetite pick up when he hits growth spurts, etc, but i wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't feel hungry and he is nursing well.

mommyrunning

meggwyn wrote: »

If you aren't noticing any dip in supply, I would just eat to feel satisfied. In my experience, water intake is more important. I had no appetite the first few days after the birth due to the awful afterbirth pains (which get worse with each pregnancy). But as they eased up, my appetite returned. You might notice your appetite pick up when he hits growth spurts, etc, but i wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't feel hungry and he is nursing well.

good advice. I would just add in to be careful and not be fooled by the over abundant milk supply moms often get in the first few weeks. Your body is trying to figure out how much it needs an may produce lots extra in the beginning. If you start to see a change then make sure you're consuming enough but otherwise don't force yourself to eat.

3dogsrunning

I had zero appetite for a few weeks after birth. I did not enjoy food but made an effort to eat just because I knew I had to but still wasn't eating a ton. I didn't have any issues with supply. Eventually my regular appetite came back but I still don't have as big of an appetite as I expected. Others have told me they had an insatiable appetite while BF'ing.

Whenever my husband would make supper, I wouldn't be hungry but I would try to eat. I usually ended up eating most of it.

I would never recommend not eating, I would make an effort to eat, I just wouldn't get overly concerned with stuffing yourself unless you have an issue. I don't think anyone can pinpoint the point where it may become an issue.

hecham

Thanks for all the advice, folks! I'm 6 weeks PP now and my appetite is still not where I thought it would be (as ^ poster said, a lot of people told me I'd have an insatiable appetite while breastfeeding), but I'm happy that my supply is still quite abundant!

hiba_84

It was not an appetite issue for me as it was about craving sweets. I am certainly not as hungry as I was while pregnant. If you have a normal supply, I find it to auto-adjust with demand. At the moment, my baby prefers the bottle so I am pumping twice a day and bf'ing him during the night and he gets formula a couple of times. The more I pump, the more I get. If I stopped, supply will drop. But my appetite is not out of control, well at least most days it's not.

hecham

I do find I am craving sweets more. I have always had a sweet tooth, until I got pregnant and it kind of went away for the most part. But post partrum the sweets cravings are back!