Breastfeeding moms--what do you miss?

Question

Remember life before breastfeeding? I barely do and don't get me wrong and I love BF my son but things I miss are:
Drinking real milk not soy milk
Eating cheese
Chinese food!!!!
Fast food
One size breasts at all times
Drinking an occasional alcoholic beverage

You know now that I see what I have typed maybe I should breastfeed forever!! I'm much healthier this way!!

I drank milk in the beginning and he was very gassy and colicky. Since I have cut out dairy he's happy as a clam. I ate spicy food once and he cried for two days, thanks but I'll wait until I'm done BF before I try spicy foods again. Trial and error is where I get my list.

Answer 1

I only miss being able to go out (on the rare occasion that it is) and have more than 1 drink. It's been like 2 years now (pregnant and I'm still breastfeeding my 10 month old daughter).
I am lucky though - I can eat pretty much anything. EXCEPT Caffeine. I can no longer have my Pepsi a day. She cried for 5 hours straight one night. I cut it out of my diet - and she's been fine ever since.
I do miss having boobs that are actually the same size. There's only a small difference in them but it still bothers me.
All in all, I am happy to be breastfeeding and dreading the day she weans. (well, kind of)

Answer 2

My son is not lactose intolerant, and never has been. So I never had any trouble with that. Ive always eaten all the dairy I wanted.

After the first 3 months I could eat anything, even chinese.

My boobs stayed the same size from birth until he was about 7 months, then i went down to my pregnancy size. Iam waiting for my prepregnancy size once we're done. I hope. lol.

I have a drink once in a while. Once he's in bed and down for the night. There no evidence that one glass or one serving effects the breastmilk after a few hours. Its metabolized out of your body, even the breast milk after a certain amount of time. By the time he wakes up in the morning for a nursing, or mid night for a nursing its all out of my system.

So honestly, aside from having an impossible time with giant boobs, my life hasnt changed a bit.

Iam sorry yours did.. lol, sounds like you have it hard.

Answer 3

Wha...?

Who told you you couldn't eat Chinese or drink the odd drink or...??

"A breastfeeding mother has to be obsessive about what she eats. Not true! A breastfeeding mother should try to eat a balanced diet, but neither needs to eat any special foods nor avoid certain foods. A breastfeeding mother does not need to drink milk in order to make milk. A breastfeeding mother does not need to avoid spicy foods, garlic, cabbage or alcohol. A breastfeeding mother should eat a normal healthful diet. Although there are situations when something the mother eats may affect the baby, this is unusual. Most commonly, "colic", "gassiness" and crying can be improved by changing breastfeeding techniques, rather than changing the mother's diet."

"A mother should not drink alcohol while breastfeeding. Not true! Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all. As is the case with most drugs, very little alcohol comes out in the milk. The mother can take some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does. Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers."

http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=79

NB: "There is no need to pump & dump milk after drinking alcohol, other than for mom's comfort -- pumping & dumping does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the milk."

http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

(If that 'pump and dump' bit made sense, you'd have to get a blood transfusion to sober up. It clears from your milk just as it clears from the rest of your body.)

Re. above answers: yes, you can exercise:

http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/mom-exercise.html

(Where do these myths come from?)

Answer 4

I didn't have any food limitations when I was nursing my son... he really didn't have any reactions to anything I ate... why do you have so many limitations?

You can drink an occasional alcoholic beverage too by the way. You can either pump and dump, or you can nurse your son right before drinking and then make sure a couple of hours go by between your last drink and the time you nurse... then it won't affect him.

I totally missed the physical activity... that was the worst for me. I had an over abundance of milk and I just couldn't bare to run... and that has lead me to be pretty lazy even though I've stopped nursing... it wasn't good then, and it isn't good now.

But its worth it!

Answer 5

I'm breastfeeding right now and hope to go on a diet soon. So I sorta feel held back a little...but I guess I could just be coming up with excuses for being too lazy to work out. Is your baby lactose intolerant? Is that why you can't have milk or cheese? I hardly ever drink milk or eat cheese so that wouldn't be a big deal. I eat junk food from time to time, doesn't have any affect on the baby...I do miss having boobs one size though...when you get filled up its hard to get everything in the bra I have! Hang in there...I bet you will feel differently when you stop...probably miss it a little.

Answer 6

I did not make any alterations to my diet. I love spicy foods and my son actually seems to enjoy my breast milk more when I eat the "taboo" foods. I also drink an occasional beer or mixed drink. Not every day, but once in a great while (I am not much of a drinker). Making too many unnecessary changes to your diet can make you moody and ruin the breastfeeding experience!

Answer 7

I didn't miss anything food related.

We had no sensitivities to foods, and on occassion I followed the "rules" on alcoholic beverages.

*** NOTE to all new moms/moms to be: there is no general "breastfeeding moms cant eat these foods" lists... you can eat everything - unless your child reacts to something funny. read more here: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/mom-diet.html

my daughter did have a little issue with me consuming too much whole wheat... I could have some - just not shredded wheat cereal for breakfast, a whole wheat sandwich for lunch, and whole wheat pasta for dinner. I had to choose one that I wanted that day, it was fine... I would have been miserable if I'd had to cut out any Asian foods - I love Thai & Indian food, spicy food in general!!

I did miss pretty bras. I know they do make pretty nursing bras, but I was too cheap to buy one - my nursing sports bra from target was only like $12!

Answer 8

I nursed for 14 months. My daughter is now 18 months, and let me tell you I gained soooo much weight after I quit breastfeeding! an entire twenty lbs. I had lost all my baby weight but since you need to consume more calories whenyou nurse, I didn't reduce what i'de been eating while nursing! But yeah, aside from that you'll miss nursing when you quit it. It used to put her right to bed every night :)

Answer 9

I still eat chees...and chinese food...and fast food! Heheh! Is that really that bad? And it's ok to have the occasional alcoholic beverage, they have charts that tell you when to pump it out and how long it will stay in your body. And to the other answerer....breastfeeding doesn't make boobs sag, being pregnant does!

Answer 10

I don't miss anything. I can still eat whatever I want, do whatever I want(as long as my son is nearby, which is fine with me), and I still enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage.

I will miss nursing my child much more than I would ever miss any of the things that you have listed.