My baby is 4 months old and I breastfeed her. I exercise in the evening, when my 6 children are at bed or ready to go to bed... If I do lots of aerobic exercise, as a kickboxing tape or if I've walked a lot during the day, I've less milk the day after but, if I do a strenght tape, for example S&H, I've a lot more milk the day after...very good for baby !:9
I asked my doctor about that but she was really surprised and could'nt explain : we're French and live in France and women lifting weights are rare here, lots of women don't breastfeed so breastfeeding/lifting weights women are very rare, LOL !
Could somebody explain me what happens with milk production ? I like to understand how body works
I don't have an answer to your question, but I just wanted to say hi! Just got your email about our trade, and your PSLA tape will be on its way tomorrow
Oh, you might want to post this question on the Pregnancy forum, too. I bet you'll get an answer there if you don't get one here...
Hi, I'm an RN and one reason I thought of might be that you're getting a little dehydrated on the days you do aerobics. Make sure to drink at least a quart of water before, during and after your workout, in addition to the rest of your water intake throughout the day. You might want to try drinking even more, but don't do more than sip during the workout so you don't make yourself feel too bloated. Congratulations on your baby!!
Thank for your answer, Carol but my question wasn't well made... I'm not surprised because I've a little less milk if I do aerobic exercises,in fact, I'm very surprised too have much more milk when I do strength training. Does it come from the blood circulaion in the chest muscles, near the breast glands ? I don't know and would be happy to know...
Hi again Emmanuelle, it's been a while since nursing school, and I don't work specifically in OB right now, but I do believe your milk production comes from your overall general circulation, not any one place specifically in your body. So, if you're more dehydrated on one day, you would tend to produce less milk that day. If your baby is getting enough on a day to day basis, it's probably nothing for you to worry about, although I can tell you really would like an answer, and I can understand why. You might want to ask your OB/GYN at your next visit. He or she might know of a reason for this. At any rate, I think it's great you have the energy to stick to your regular workouts while you're still breastfeeding! You sound like a great mom! My daughter is almost 13, and there are days I still miss the infant stage ... especially now with her entering her teens! LOL! Keep up the great work!!
Hi and congratulations on your baby. Breastfeeding is complicated but I was told that nursing before exercise was the best because your milk has a different taste after exercise that some babies don't like. As for the lack thereof after cardio, I agree with the hydration answer. Try drinking more on cardio days and see if that helps. Not sure about the lifting and more milk thing but go with it and if you have to pump on those days and see if she will take it from a bottle when your supply is low. I nursed all mine and I just did it before I exercised to ensure that they got full with no distasteful mouthfuls
Breastdfeeding is such a wonderful thing !
These days, I don't use cardio tapes, only strentgh ones since I've seen this results with brestfeeding. I haven't seen difference in baby's appetite before or after exercise : each time, she eats like a horse and now, she has big, big thighs and a lot of energy ! She's very cute but seems to be very different from her brothers ( she's the first girl after 5 boys, )I'm happy I've more milk with exercise than without exercise, that's encouraging !
