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Feeling light headed when feeding
Hi ladies
I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this...
My DD is 3 1/2 weeks old and we had some issues geting BF'ing going at first as she was premature but is now feeding well. For the last 5 or so days I've been getting dizzy spells (especially in the evening) and often feel light headed when I'm feeding.
Hubby seems to think I'm not eating enough and HV has said I really need to make an effort to eat more. I guess they might be right as I think I'm probably lucky to get my 2000 calories a day, let alone the 500 more required for BF'ing. Could that be the case? But then why is it just when I feed - because baby is taking the calories then?
I just don't have that much of an appetite at the moment - think it's the tiredness and new-mum worries!
MW has also said it could be my iron levels and has said she'll check next week if I'm still feeling unwell, but I'm not sure as my iron level has always been really, really good.
Any advice, especially on how to get extra calories without having to eat too much more?
Thanks, NN and Olyvia xxx
I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this...
My DD is 3 1/2 weeks old and we had some issues geting BF'ing going at first as she was premature but is now feeding well. For the last 5 or so days I've been getting dizzy spells (especially in the evening) and often feel light headed when I'm feeding.
Hubby seems to think I'm not eating enough and HV has said I really need to make an effort to eat more. I guess they might be right as I think I'm probably lucky to get my 2000 calories a day, let alone the 500 more required for BF'ing. Could that be the case? But then why is it just when I feed - because baby is taking the calories then?
I just don't have that much of an appetite at the moment - think it's the tiredness and new-mum worries!
MW has also said it could be my iron levels and has said she'll check next week if I'm still feeling unwell, but I'm not sure as my iron level has always been really, really good.
Any advice, especially on how to get extra calories without having to eat too much more?
Thanks, NN and Olyvia xxx
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Replies
I lady in my postnatal caught a bug and couldnt eat well - her baby lost weight that week as the HV said her milk wasnt any good.
I noticed that for one day I didnt eat any veg and Bebe didnt poo! So it goes to show how what we eat means so much.
I am light headed alot (not when I am feedng)....I am not that worried about it....I just make sure I am hydrated as I notice I feel faint when I am thirsty - I get sooooo thirsty now!
xxx
I don't know exactly why - I just think that bf'ing is so clever that as soon as baby starts feeding and you get the 'let-down', your body is looking to produce the next lot of milk (basically the more milk baby takes, the more milk you produce). I guess if your not eating properly this can cause low blood sugar and that faint feeling.
Also, make sure you keep very hydrated - lots of water and always have a drink while feeding. I remember I used to get a terrible thirst as soon as baby latched on!
Mx
As you ladies said I have been sooo thirsty since BF'ing - and I crave orange juice!?! I thought cravings were meant to come in pregnancy
We eat really good meals with plenty of veg so I think I just need to eat more snacks and make sure I don't leave long gaps between eating. Siany I can relate to being starving at the 5am feed!! And I am pretty sure my milk is rich enough as at the first weigh in Olyvia had gained 7oz and a week later she'd gained another 9 1/2oz!
Thanks again )
Love NN and Olyvia xxx
Just a note - My midwife told me to be careful of drinking too much orange juice due to the high acid content....can hurt babies tummy - not sure if this is true..but I was careful anyway.
Now that Bebe is 4 months - I have alot of juice now and Bebe is fine! xxxx
I found it difficult to find time to eat and to be honest wasn't really hungry. But like Siany said, if you feed whilst feeding lo it starts to be a habit and it really helps. for next time I definitly know that I will do it from the start.
i felt completely drained. i kept being told to make sure i was eating/drinking plenty etc.
however at 6 months i started to feel worse - really light headed/dizzy/very tired. they checked my iron levels and surprisingly they were ok. did some more tests and they were fine so the dr said it was due to breastfeeding and told me to stop (i was just expressing 2x a day at that point). so i stopped and i've felt better since
just make sure you keep yourself fed and watered
xxxx