Quitting nursing? Need support or ideas!

JenniferAntolik

I am considering quitting nursing because I am SO hungry! ALL OF THE TIME. I could eat around the clock and still be famished. I don't know what to do and I want to just quit nursing because my mind is consumed with thinking about eating! I have tried eating tons of protein, eating every few hours, drinking tons of water . . . nothing fills me up. It is RIDICULOUS. This is my 3rd child (I have a 2.5 year old, a 13 month old and a 9 week old. What do I do?! I will feel guilty if I quit, but I am losing my mind!

P.S. I am eating over 2000 calories a day and still famished. All. Day. Long.

J3nnyV

This is such a personal decision, but I would encourage you to eat more and listen to your body's cues. You're supporting another body too, so your body is working hard mama. Plus, you've got 2 other littles, so I bet you never sit down.

It takes about 20 weeks for your milk to regulate and you're halfway there. Can you hold on?

I eat a lot. 2200 plus exercise cals...so usually 2500-3000 a day. I've still lost weight....1 lb a week.

I know you're looking for ideas:

1. Eat every hour, instead of every few hours: muffins, PB sandwich, cashews, almonds, cottage cheese, dried fruit (I love the Kirkland dried fruit and nut medley).

2. Re-evaluate your calorie target and consider setting to to active and to lose .5 lb a week. I think most nursing moms of more than 1 child underestimate their activity levels.

3. If you think quitting nursing will help, start by cutting back instead so you don't end up making a decision you can't reverse down the road. Supplement with formula for 1 or 2 feedings for a few days to test if you're less hungry.

Good luck with your decision.

JennaVee2010

I was in the same boat while nursing! CONSTANTLY hungry! At first I thought it was cool, cuz, ya know...if my body felt hungry I didn't feel guilty about eating! Then after a while I noticed that if I didn't eat enough, I was miserable! Headaches, unhappy tummy, tired, etc. J3nnV's suggestions are awesome! And nursing is such a personal decision (as well as a touchy one). I recently stopped nursing due to medical issues (about 2 weeks ago). I didn't think it would bother me as much as it did. The only positive side is that my appetite went back to normal after about a week. I immediately lost 5 pounds. So all I can figure from that is that I wasn't eating enough while nursing.
If you feel strongly about nursing, please consider re-working your diet first. Allow yourself more caloric intake for the day, or higher calorie snacks that will stick with you longer. In my case, I would do anything to have been able to continue nursing!

kcasey155

My four were EBF and I understand about the hunger, but I totally agree with everything said by J3nnyV and second it. 2000 calories is not a lot, unless you're only 120lbs. That's what you need to survive and you need to add more for running around after and feeding kids. If you're hungry then eat, don't calorie count, but eat well not junk! Give it a couple of weeks, log what you eat to keep track, but don't stick to the calorie count. (Change your settings to active and +2 gain to give yourself a greater allowance as well.) Use the notes section to log how often you're feeding baby and hopefully you'll see a pattern between what you consume and how often you feed. Then after a few weeks try and find what your maintenance should be, (how many calories you need to sustain yourself while breastfeeding without the scales going up or down). This can take a few weeks and a little experimentation. From there you can work out what your calories should be to lose, gain or sustain your weight while EBF. This time should be about baby, not you, so don't worry too much if you're not yet where you want to be with your own weight or fitness. They'll be plenty of time to sort that later, you've got a lot going on right now! Hope that all makes sense. Good luck!

Fordtraktor

I would not stop nursing because of weight loss plateaus...the benefits to the baby outweigh my weight loss goals. But I feel you on the frustration -- I am not losing like I,would prefer either.

I am keeping cut up veggies like celery and baby carrots around, eating fruit, and otherwise trying to make it easy to grab a healthy snack to eat while nursing instead of the bagel I want. Not sure how well that is going to work, though! I have also added a 3 mile walk with the baby to my routine. Exercise makes me less hungry for some reason. Plus, if I am moving I am not stuffing my face. Good luck!

Jenny_Rose77

I would not stop nursing because of weight loss plateaus...the benefits to the baby outweigh my weight loss goals. But I feel you on the frustration -- I am not losing like I,would prefer either.

^^This!

cocolo89

I could have typed this myself months ago. I was feeling the same exact way and the feeling went away after 3months PP. No matter how much I ate I had an empty pit and lost zerooo weight. I didn't start losing any weight up until about 3months PP it suddenly started coming off, I lost 10lbs in the last 2 months with little effort and I still am losing slowly without even eating healthy and not exercising as much as I used to.

Rosered3333

I'm right there with you. My baby is 3 months old and I'm eating so much, about 2200+ calories a day and I'm still hungry. If you look at this website though, it tells you what to expect from breastfeeding and the timeline of how much your baby is supposed to eat as he/she gets older.

http://www.thealphaparent.com/2011/12/timeline-of-breastfed-baby.html

I'm especially encouraged by the part that says that you'll start burning a lot of fat from breastfeeding once you get to 3 months. I hope that's true because I have 13 lbs to go.

I did fit into my fat pants today, which is encouraging. But I'm definitely not experiencing the weight "just melting off" because I'm breastfeeding.

And now I'm hungry again. I'm about to have my first of two lunches of the day. I feel like a Hobbit.