[ennay]

I am starving...absolutely starving. So for those of you whose babies ebf'd , how many extra calories do you think they are taking in when they do the non-stop nursing marathon?

So far since midnight he has nursed at 3 am, 5:30, 7:30, 9:20, 10:40, 11:30, 1:00, 2:00., 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, from 6-7 non stop; and its only 7:45 and he is begging for me again.

Fuuuuudge I am tired.

[lilybelle]

I bet you are totally exhausted. I breast fed both my babies. I don't remember them eating this often. But, It was at least 14 yrs. ago, so maybe I just forgot. I dropped weight like crazy while breastfeeding. I have seen some posters say they gained while breastfeeding. I do know that I ate a lot and drank a lot of liquids while feeding them and I was always hungry. I'm not sure how many calories a day the baby requires from the mom, but it seems like it was a lot. Good luck and I hope you get some rest soon.

[ennay]

8 pm, 9pm 10-11 non stop....

my dd did this too instead of the 3-5 day increased eating she did 18 hours of marathon eating...I'm hopin he is done soon!

I had a very hard time losing weight after dd, but this time it is coming off pretty fast, makes me want to get to goal before he starts eating solids but that is probably pushing it.

I know he normally needs ~500 calories, cant even begin to estimate today...at least 800

[carolr3639]

I've always read that moms need about 500 extra calories for breastfeeding. I nursed 10 but my last few didn't gain very well maybe because I was always trying to lose weight. I didn't use formula but gave cereal a little earlier than I did with miy first babies. I feel that if I had just eaten when I was hungry and stopped when full not stuffed I would have maintained my weight these last 35 yr. I have also take prednisone off and on and that hasn't helped matters.

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

You know, I don't know of any info out there about growth spurts. But I do feel your pain. When very new mine all nursed about every half hour or 20 minutes to get my supply established. There were times when I had to hand the baby off to Daddy just so I wouldn't scream! Of course I am probably certifiable because I am nursing both my 14-month-old and my almost-3-year-old (yay child led weaning! ). What I would do in your situation is eat when I am hungry, but keep a very close eye on my portions (not doing this is why I'm sitting at about 200lbs right now; I have learned my lesson!). Eat to need, don't worry about hitting an exact number of extra calories. I EBF'ed Linda until almost 8 months, and I think Esther was about 7 mos or so before she really had any interest in food. I don't think most of the info out there accounts for stuff like growth spurts and older nurslings.

[ennay]

lol , the weird thing I noticed after I posted this is that I felt HUNGRY, but my stomach felt full...I've never felt that before. It was like my brain was sending out all the hunger signals but my stomach was already full.

I wasnt so much worried about eating too much as not eating enough for a growthspurt. I have some other issues that make me not trust my hunger completely (eating to hunger has in the past had me gain weight rapidly)

Heck, maybe that was what true hunger feels like instead of what I normally think of as hunger.

and...I nursed my dd for 22 months and I was so grateful that she self weaned then because I knew I was going to ttc. Kudos to you Momma! Mine just slowly lost interest.