Tired of being tired? Close to every-single other breastfeeding mother is too! It may feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water. You’re just barely getting by each day. Bedtime roles around and you hope for more sleep only to be disappointed hours later when your baby needs to be nursed. How do you overcome exhaustion while breastfeeding? In this article, you will learn 10 tips to help boost your energy and health so you can feel more confident and capable throughout your day!
What Causes Fatigue During Postpartum?
Anemia
Anemia is when your body has a depleted iron supply. What does iron do in the body? Iron plays an important role in the creation of red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. If your body is not receiving enough oxygen due to a depleted level of red blood cells, then one symptom you can experience is exhaustion.
Be sure to contact your doctor if you’re experiencing exhaustion that won’t go away with sleep, diet, etc. Your doctor will be able to help you assess your iron levels and test for anemia.
Another reason why this is important to stay on top of is because while you’re breastfeeding, low iron levels for mom may mean low iron levels for baby.
PPD
Secondly, one possible reason for exhaustion during postpartum is postpartum depression. Mothers with PPD may experience exhaustion as well as a lack of motivation to complete their daily tasks.
Again, be sure to contact your doctor if you’re experiencing symptoms of PPD or suspect PPD. The earlier you get PPD diagnosed and treated, the quicker the recovery will be!
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid gland is underactive. The thyroid gland, located in the neck, plays many roles in regulating body function. Several hormones are created by the thyroid glad that regulate heart, muscle, digestion, metabolic and growth functions of the body.
If your thyroid is underactive, you symptom you may experience is exhaustion. As always, be sure to contact your doctor with exhaustion that you can’t shake or get rid of by normal eating and sleeping well.
What Causes fatigue during breastfeeding?
Lack Of Sleep
Every single breastfeeding mother will tell you how tired she is! Not only does breastfeeding put a high demand on your body and can wear you out physically, breastfeeding takes time! Unfortunately, during baby’s first days and weeks of life, breastfeeding can happen as frequently as every hour or two. During the night, this can really be draining on mom.
Thankfully, there are ways to cope and share the load with spouses and family members so you can get a little break!
If you’re needing a way to boost milk supply so you can have extra milk for a family member to help feed your baby for you so you can get a break, check out my articles on milk supply. There’s tons of great information there for you with tips to boost milk supply
Also, take my free class “3 Secrets To Naturally Boosting Milk Supply”! I share with you 3 things that worked for me to boost my milk production from 1oz to 4oz within a week. These tips are not shared in the other milk supply articles, so please fill out the form below to take advantage of this free class for you!
Healing From Delivery
Depending on the type of delivery you had, there may be some extensive healing involved during the postpartum period. Mothers with C-section deliveries, perineal tearing, or other traumatic birthing experiences may need more energy for their bodies to cope and heal afterwards.
Put the demand of breastfeeding, caring for other children, and other responsibilities a mother may have on top of that and you’ve got on exhausted mother! Be sure to give yourself tons of grace, patients and love while you heal after giving birth. Your body will love you for it!
Burning Fuel Faster
When you breastfeed, your body is burning its fuel sources. Just like an engine needs gas to run, your mammary glands are pulling extra energy from your body to produce breastmilk for your baby. To keep your energy levels up, be sure to have plenty of healthy snacks on hand to munch on throughout the day.
Caring For Multiple Children
Motherhood is not for the weak! You’re pouring your every day and energy levels into ensuring your children are dressed, fed, taken to school, put down for their naps, diapers changed, and baths are taken. Additionally, you’re regulating their emotions, coaching them on appropriate ways to respond to disappointments, anger, feeling crazy, etc.
All of these require an enormous amount of mental awareness and physical energy from you. If you’re caring for multiple children, pat yourself on the back even if no one else is! Even if you feel like you’re floundering. You’re shaping the lives of your children every day, which is exhausting. But you’re doing it, and you’re doing great!
How To Boost Your Energy
Now let’s talk about how you can boost your energy level while breastfeeding!
1. Get Good Sleep
This is a no-brainer, but often hard to accomplish. Why? Sometimes mothers have too much going on in their head and can’t fall asleep because of mental alertness. Other times mothers can’t sleep because they are busy breastfeeding every few hours or taking care of other children. On the other hand, sometimes mothers can’t sleep because if they do, they will experience guilt over taking time for themselves instead of caring for the family in some way.
Take a deep breath! Clear your mind and allow yourself to slow down.
If you’re needing more sleep, you need to respond to that need. If you don’t, it will only harm your health more. Again, check out the free class and my articles on milk supply to help up your milk production so you can allow someone else to feed your baby for you so you can get a few extra hours of sleep every day.
Lets check out the other tips on regaining your energy while breastfeeding below!
2. Eat Energy-Boosting Food
Ensuring your body is being cared for and well fed will help keep your energy levels up while breastfeeding. Granola, fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, cheese, and olive oil are all great, healthy sources of energy for your body!
3. Report Any PPD Symptoms To Your Doctor
If you’re experiencing extreme exhaustion where it is hard for you to get out of bed, perform daily tasks like doing laundry, dishes, or caring for other kids, be sure to talk to your doctor. If you have PPD, they will be able to help guide you on a healthy path back to your healthy self!
4. Accept Help From Others
Fourthly, another way to boost your energy while breastfeeding is to accept help from others. To be clear, don’t just accept any help. Only accept help that will actually be helpful to you! Often when people offer help to a new mother, its to hold the new baby. That may not be all that helpful to you. Frankly, you may want to hold your own baby while they do something else! Put people to work doing something that would actually be helpful to you.
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5. Cut Out Stressors
Stressors are anything that causes you stress. Take a quick assessment of your day. When do you notice your stress rising? Is it seeing the pile of laundry that needs to get done? What about the dishes? Or maybe it’s not related to housework. Does your stress come from hearing your children cry? That’s a huge one for me!
So one way I know to decrease my stressors daily is to do my best to get my children fed as soon as they are hungry. That way they don’t scream and cry when they feel like they are starving! While breastfeeding, this is called on-demand breastfeeding. Apparently, for me, on-demand feeding continues with solid food!
6. Lower Your Standards Of A Clean House
You’re in a special season of life right now. This season will not last forever, so enjoy it! Your house will one day be cleaner, but it will also be quieter and lonelier. One way to save your energy while breastfeeding is to simply lower your standards for having the cleanest home.
It’s ok if the floor isn’t vacuumed right away. The laundry will not care if it sits till tomorrow to get done. Let someone else push “Start” on the dishwasher for you and empty it later!
You are future-shaping and people-building right now. The house can wait.
7. Get Moving….Carefully
An overwhelming amount of evidence has shown the link between physical exercise and energy levels. When you move your body in physical exercise, your muscles are releasing the build up of stress and toxins that run your energy low. Ridding it from your body through exercise will help boost your energy levels!
Drinking plenty of water while you exercise will also help flush these toxins from your body! This will help you feel more energetic as well!
8. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is simply being in the moment.
For example, when you are playing with your baby on the ground, think about your baby’s sounds they make. Look at the smiles and eye expressions they give. Think about what you love most about your baby, or what they do that warms your heart. This is mindfulness. You’re not letting your thoughts drift to chores or something that stresses you out. You are present with your baby.
Practice mindfulness while breastfeeding too! It may be harder to do since you can’t move a lot, but it will still help you reserve your energy levels.
9. Try Side-laying While Breastfeeding
I asked a group of lactation consultants what they would recommend mothers to do boost their energy levels while breastfeeding and one lady recommended side-laying while breastfeeding. It’s a very relaxing position to feed in. You may really enjoy this position with your baby while nursing!
If your not sure what the best breastfeeding positions are, check out my Breastfeeding Accelerator Course. You will learn the most common breastfeeding positions and how to do them. Additionally, you will gain knowledge on getting a good latch, preventing and treating sore nipples, how to soothe and find the root cause of colic, and so much more! Check it out by clicking the button below!
10. Aromatherapy
The world is full of natural stress-relieving properties! Essential oils are the oils from flowers, trees and other plants that are harvested and concentrated into small bottles. You can then use these oils in all sorts of medicinal purposes, including aromatherapy!
Leave A Comment!
What did you learn from this article that you want to put into practice? Leave a comment below sharing your plan with us! You could also inspire other mothers to do the same!
Want To Learn More?
Check out these other related article on breastfeeding to learn more to aid you through your breastfeeding journey!
The Breastfeeding Accelerator Course
Best Nursing Bras For Mothers That Won’t Break The Bank
Essential Oils For Breastfeeding
Home Remedies For Breast Engorgement
Free Class! How To Naturally Boost Your Milk Supply