Experienced 5:2er.. Now breastfeeding Mum of 11 week old

This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Nama 8 years, 10 months ago.

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Boobfeeder

8:59 am
17 Jan 16
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Hi, I am going to embark on 5:2 again. I am breastfeeding. I am putting on this post so people can see the pros, cons and progress of 5:2 when breastfeeding a baby this age, as there is little anecdotal evidence about. I would appreciate it if people didn’t warn me off unless they have specifically breastfed and done fasting. I will let u know how it goes!

LittleWing

8:48 pm
18 Jan 16
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I was 5:2ing whilst breastfeeding my 5 month old baby, at which stage I was beginning to wean him so he was not 100% reliant on my milk.

Neither me or baby had any issues at all, but he was 5 months and starting on solids, like I said… your baby is quite a bit smaller.

You seem to have made your mind up and I understand your position as with both my kids I found the weight gain during and post pregnancy disheartening and depressing.

Apparently breastfeeding helps you lose weight but I found quite the opposite… especially at the beginning, I was stuck at home on the sofa in winter breastfeeding round the clock, so constantly hungry and grazing, disturbed sleep patterns and sedentary! For most, not a recipe for weight loss and vitality!

I’d be interested to see how your journey goes but perhaps people’s reticence in answering to this post would be that they would be concerned about you fasting if your baby is still solely reliant on your milk… you haven’t said if you are supplementing with bottles?

I hope it goes well for you and you both stay well, I imagine the lack of hard evidence would be down to ethics and the lack of anecdotal evidence* down to new mums being scared of backlash so you are very brave. After all it is your body and you are in the best position to listen carefully to what it tells you!

*There may be a little anecdotal evidence on this forum – I know because I wrote some!

Nama

9:07 pm
18 Jan 16
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Hi Boob. Good luck with your fasting. Your bub will soon let you know if he/she is hungry. Just drink lots and lots of water and be sure to only eat really nutritional food when you do eat. As your little one is relying totally on your milk for growth and development, you will have to be super zealous about this. You will probably lose weight quite quickly. If your supply seems to drop, just feed really frequently for 24 hrs or so and it should catch up. Dont use formula as your body will take that as a signal that it does not need to make as much milk as previously and it becomes a downward spiral – simply feed really frequently and your supply will increase. Apologies if you know all this already! My youngest is 33 but I still remember that post baby frumpy feeling and being too tired to eat sensibly. Focus on your baby and yourself and ignore social stuff and housework, they can keep!