Nursing and energy drain?

[hrsmom]

I'm starting to wonder if nursing is or can be an energy drain on the body? I never thought about this before!! About a week or week and a half ago, I started a kind of night weaning routine (again!) where I basically don't nurse for the third wake-up. (It's going well, too, yippee!!) I've started noticing that since I have been getting 5-hour stretches of no nursing (not 5-hour stretches of sleep, since she does still wake up, but no nursing) I actually have energy in the morning. I don't wake up feeling completely exhausted, which I have for the past 20 months or so!

Has anyone else noticed this, or is this a well-known fact that I didn't know about? I'm enjoying having some amount of energy, for sure!

[3girls1boy]

Maybe your just happy that the night weaning is going well.

[hrsmom]

That could be!!! It is really nice that I can tell her no that one time at night and she'll go back to sleep! Maybe it's less of a mental drain than a physical drain this way. And my back certainly is happy!

[sassycat]

Personally, I always feel a bit sleepy after nursing. I especially notice it
if
I'm doing something that requires lots of concentration like working or driving.

[Anna's Lovey]

oh, totally. I started gently insisting that my lo take in more solids and nurse less (mainly because I was scared into believing that she couldn't be healthy with so much breast milk and very few solids) at sixteen months and, man, did I look and feel soo much more energetic! Too bad I got pregnant(Oh my, I'm just seeing the connection) within a month, and am back to tired me.

[battymama]

I totaly have, my dd has started to slowly cut back her nursing the last month, she used to pretty much nurse all day, now she is down a couple of times a day, in the am and before bed- and she started to sttn (8 hours!) rather then 3 or wakings at the same time. but even before she started sttn i had more energy.

I have been battling anemia since i got my period back 4 months ago, and that seems better this month too.

[asoulunbound]

Nursing mostly makes me hungry. I think I'm tired all of the time so I don't notice a large drop in energy post nursing.

[jessicarae]

I have felt half in the bag for 26 months. It's exhausting, maybe more for some women than others. I feel like it's one of those things that bfing advocates gloss over. I've just had a bunch of lab work--thyroid, B12, iron, etc-- everything's fine. I eat a whole-foods diet, plenty of food, exercise, etc etc and night weaning only helped marginally. So far the benefits of toddler nursing outweigh my constant fog...or I have a high tolerance for being uncomfortable for what I perceive is the long-term good involved. Debilitating is a strong word, but I definitely don't have the energy or mental clarity I did pre-pregnancy. I actually logged on tonight to read about weaning. I don't know if I can wait til she's ready. I love nursing, I love how much she cherishes it, how much it benefits her, but I've been getting impatient and "touched out" feeling for the first time and don't want to put that on her. So doing a little research, and venting

[welteee]

Exhausted!

I've wondered about this for a long time. My daughter is 22 months and showing no signs of being ready to wean, but I am definitely just wiped out all the time and also very "touched out". I have a real inner resistance now to hugging or sitting close with anybody, including my 10-year-old daughter and my husband. I force myself to completely ignore it when it comes to my older daughter, knowing that she needs my hugs and my physical closeness. My poor husband though is really left with pretty much nothing. He has been so incredibly patient but is just now starting to express some resentment. Maybe not even resentment, just a real dissatisfaction.

Anyway, my energy level is so low I can barely get through the day. By the time dinner's cleaned up, I'm ready for bed. I'm hoping my body will readjust itself at some point after DD decides to wean. Otherwise I'm going to have a pretty sedentary rest of my life!

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by welteee

I've wondered about this for a long time. My daughter is 22 months and showing no signs of being ready to wean, but I am definitely just wiped out all the time and also very "touched out". I have a real inner resistance now to hugging or sitting close with anybody, including my 10-year-old daughter and my husband. I force myself to completely ignore it when it comes to my older daughter, knowing that she needs my hugs and my physical closeness. My poor husband though is really left with pretty much nothing. He has been so incredibly patient but is just now starting to express some resentment. Maybe not even resentment, just a real dissatisfaction.

Anyway, my energy level is so low I can barely get through the day. By the time dinner's cleaned up, I'm ready for bed. I'm hoping my body will readjust itself at some point after DD decides to wean. Otherwise I'm going to have a pretty sedentary rest of my life!

First of all I give you mamas props for going past 18 months! I've been so "touched out" for awhile now and DD is only 19 months. She is down to nursing before bed only ...whew! I'm so over BF!!!! it really does exhaust you. You're giving so much of yourself emotionally and physically. and most BF babies aren't great sleepers at least until you NW. I also think unless your diet is VERY good it can be depleting as well. I have never really known what tired is until I had a baby and BF. I too agree with PP mentally I'm not as clear as I was before baby. I think a lot of it is diet, We don't eat like out healthy ancestors. Good fats, high amounts of A and D like they used to eat....its sad really.anyway jsut my 2 cents