Breastfeeding and Slimming World

[bunnylovesalan]

Are people buying anything for their baby for Christmas and if you are what kind of things do you get them?

It is so much fun seeing different poo shades, lol I never forget seeing charles first poo all balck thick tar like, hehe

I express between 6-8 days, I suffer from postnatal depression and stopped expressing for like a whole day as I was in bed mainly and had no motivation. Instantly messed up my system so keep at it and keep the brain getting them messages, as the more you express the more the brain thinks you need milk for the LO

 

[RoxieP]

Just marking my spot - hi girls! I am still just breastfeeding my 9 moth old, so just get the 1 extra HE now!

 

[Eeek]

Hi ladies, wondered if I could pick the brains of some of you experienced BFers...
My LO is now 5 months old and - aside from the very occasional taste of a small piece of fruit or similar from my plate over the last week or so, is exclusively Breastfed. I'm therefore enjoying a full compliment of 6 HExs on my extra easy programme!
We plan to start baby led weaning properly when he hits 6 months, but in the meantime he literally has had just a suck of half of a strawberry or raspberry on two or three occasions. He is a good sleeper and generally sleeps though for between 8 and 12 hours, possibly waking up (just once) in the night a maximum of twice a week.
Today I've had a bit of a shock - my periods have returned. I don't exactly know why (probably just the rush of hormones and return of PMS) but this has made me feel really sad and down, and somehow like my little boy is growing up too fast and isn't a newborn any more. I know that sounds crazy, and I can't explain it more articulately, but suffice to say it's made me want to have a little cry!!
Anyway, the reason for my post is that I wonder whether the fact that my periods have returned signal the fact that my body thinks that the baby is weaning, as I understand that they generally don't return until then. If that's the case, should I be dropping my HEx allowance to 5 (the recommended amount if you're breastfeeding a baby under 6 months that is beginning to wean)? I know that I will have to drop to 3 once he gets to 6 months anyway, so suppose it's not the end of the world, and I'm inclined to err on the side of caution!!
What do you think? And (if you don't mind sharing), when did your periods return after breastfeeding?
Thanks in advance ....!
Exx

 

[Snap_Dragon]

Hi Eeek, sorry can't help you much as I'm still fairly new at this and I've started having bleeds again (for about 7 weeks pp) as I started the pill. I wouldn't be surprised if you have a lot of hormones about which would explain the moods. Bf doesn't always keep periods away I've known a lot of ladies get theirs return before they started weaning.

I would have thought that you HEX should stay at the same levels untill you are properly weaning as you are still supplying all the milk for nutrition, but I'm happy to be corrected by someone who knows better.
Well done on getting so far the bf and with your weightloss. x

 

[Snap_Dragon]

:break_diet: Had a bad week last week, which included eating Mc Donalds (I actually felt a little ill after, so won't be making a habit of it) and I pretty much inhaled half a small box of chocolates.. And I still lost 1lb this week. I put that down to Breast feeding, I hope it doesn't come back to bite me. I'm not thinking that I can get away with this every week, but now I am wondering how much would I have lost if I hadn't overindulged?!?
Oh well drawing a line under it and climbing back on the wagon..

 

[Honeyoc]

Hi Eeek, my periods returned when my daughter was around 3 months! It's nothing to do with your body thinking it's time to wean or anything, it's just something that happens at different times for different women. I was quite excited when mine came! Not because I like having a period but because I felt like my hormones/body were returning to normal lol. I wouldn't bother dropping HEs just yet as a taste of fruit doesn't count as weaning. When my babe turned 6 months I started traditional weaning and only dropped my HEXs one at a time rather than all but one as SW recommends. So for each additional solid meal I dropped a HEX until I was left with the one extra. I couldn't let go of them all at once lol. Didn't affect my losses and it was more gradual and more sensible in my opinion

 

[sarah83]

Had a really good day today. First visit from health visitor and Bella has gone up to 6lb2 so really pleased with that. Think we've got a supermodel in the making as she's in the 2nd centile for weight but the 98th centile for height!! God knows where she gets it from as we're both short!
Also Bella has been feeding from the boob all day - no expressed milk or nipple shield in sight yay!! So hoping we've cracked it now.
We also had a lovely walk into town and Bella met lots of people and cost me a fortune lol!

 

[Lukasmummy]

I'm only managing to express 3-4 times a day, between hospital visits, pain from the c-section and the really bad seizures I have been having I just can't cope physically with doing it anymore than that. Trying to take the opinion that some milk is better than no milk. I usually manage to get something between 60-130ml each time. The hospital have decided today that Leia needs a little bit more help because her weight gain is so small so they are starting her on 3/4 nutraprem 1/4 breastmilk at each feed, it should help her put on weight a bit quicker. I have struggled with expressing every single time, usually I get milk for a few days and then it dries up nothing they have suggested to try has worked. Longest I have managed previously is 7 days of expressing, Leia is 8 days old today and it still seems to be flowing ok so that's encouraging. Gave her a cuddle today and she was going nuts trying to get into my bra, guess I must smell like lunch to her, I felt really mean making her wait until her tube feed was due at 3. Hugs Crystal xx

 

[sarah83]

Crystal I really feel for you, it must be so hard with her being in hospital. You're doing fab expressing that much - well done! You're doing the best you can for her and you're right - any milk is better than no milk x

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

wi today... im dissapointed and dont want to weigh later! i cocked up yday big time!!! brownies.. biscuits.. choc bars.. sauce in jar.. cake...

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

1.5off... thankfully! so determined for this week! 2.5lb till 1stone!

 

[ChezJacqueline]

When a mother's period returns varies but generally if you go consistently for more than 4 hours without a feed at night your fertility will return.

I have two children that were exclusively breastfed for 1.5 yrs and period returned 4 weeks after weaning them. I have a 6 month old that still is feeding and not sleeping thru the night so I have no periods at present.

I know mom's that have got periods 3 months post baby despite exclusively feeding so there are people that are different from the norm.

HTH

What do you think? And (if you don't mind sharing), when did your periods return after breastfeeding?
Thanks in advance ....!
Exx

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

really ? Penny goes 10-4:30, 5:15-8 and ive no periods yet.. going back on the injection this fri!

 

[pizzle84]

sorry if this has already been asked but im trying to get all the info i can before i get preggers! when breastfeeding on SW do you have to eat more fatty HEX's or anything like that??

 

[Eeek]

Thanks for the advice guys - after the first 24 hours I started to feel much brighter - must have been a rush of those dreaded hormones! Am going to keep enjoying my full HEx allowance while I've still got it!! HoneyOC - I agree with you about gradually reducing the HExs once my LO starts to wean - sounds far more sensible to me too!
x

 

[sarah83]

After everything going so well I am sorry to say we have had to resort to formula. The last week Bella has been terrible in the evenings - basically awake crying from about 7pm to 1-3am.
We had a suspicion it was colic but I started to worry I wasn't producing enough milk in the evenings as Bella seemed restless straight after a feed whereas in the mornings she'd sleep after a feed.

So as a trial today I breastfed her as normal in the morning but her afternoon and evening feeds have been formula... And lo and behold she has been sleeping soundly after every feed.

I've still been expressing everytime she's had formula to keep my supply up but not sure what I'll do now as although I really wanted to breastfeed her, at the end of the day I'd rather she was happy and content than upset every evening.

Well done everyone who's lost, I'll be jumping back on the wagon next week when hubby's back in work. Quite excited actually!

 

[pizzle84]

I really wanted to breastfeed my little boy, he was born 8 weeks early so breast milk was very important while he was in hospital. But when he came home he was so hungry i just couldn't keep up with him, like you said in the evenings he didn't settle and we gave him gripe water for collic. After putting him on formula he was great and slept really well.

 

[sarah83]

Thanks Hun, sounds really similar. I picked up some infacol today to try but doesn't look as if we'll need it at the mo if this works. Did you combination feed (bf in mornings, formula in evenings) or switch to formula completely?

 

[pizzle84]

i started breastfeeding mornings and formula towards the evening but in the end i just couldn't keep up with him. He started getting really hungry in the mornings so i swapped over completely to formula. A friend of mine was very pro breast feeding and as soon as she heard id swapped over she really laid into me and said i was a bad mum for depriving my baby!!! at the end of the day my boy needed and wanted formula, its what kept him happy so thats all that mattered to me. So dont feel bad if you have to change over to formula. My little boy is 4 now and a very clever so formula didn't do any harm!

 

[jojogonnabeslim]

Sarah my sister went through something similar so did both and had no problems, i wont hesitate to do the same if thats what it takes, happy baby happy parents lol.xx