Exersize and breast milk

Hi
I've been going to the gym for a while now, but have recently stepped it up to going about 2-4 times instead of just 2.

I have been a little *cough* constipated the last couple of days and have noticed that my 7 month old fully breastfed little girl is too.

We did start weaning at 6 months, but she went totally off food all together - only breastfeeding - for about a week and a half, but is back eating - heaps!

But now she's a bit constipated too. You can see she struggles.

Is this because my exersize? Does it affect my milk? How much extra water should I be drinking to compensate so that my milk isn't affect and she's not affected? Does she need to have her own water?

Exercise is usually good for constipation but you do need to drink a bit more water to compensate for the extra water loss..

I doubt that your DD is constipated because of you exercising however at her age you could introduce some water in a sippy cup. Also maybe try giving her some pears as well as her usual fruit. Bananas can be constipating for some children so if she eats them try dropping them from her diet for a while.

If she's constipated then some water would probably help. She's also probably learning how to do more solid poohs - it's actually something they have to get used to as well! Offer her water whenever you offer her food and hopefully it will sort itself out.

Exercise doesn't affect your milk much - the worst that will happen is that you will have sweaty salty nipples that may need a wipe before bub wants to have anything to do with them. You just need to drink to satisfy your thirst - your body will prioritize milk making, so if you don't drink enough you may feel tired, but unless you end up seriously dehydrated the milk will still get made just fine.

Hi,

As others have said it's not the exercise. For you, it's probably a change in your diet - with her it's probably the amount of solids she is having. But, no it's not the exercise

Barb

Hun, I agree, not the exercise. You could try offering her an extra breastfeed or two a day and see if that helps. Breastmilk has laxative properties so a bit more would probably help. Eden might also have ramped up the solids a bit too quickly - DS2 did that too and he is still a big eater! Maybe dropping the food back just a bit and then building it up again slowly might help her body to keep up with it all. That seemed to work with DS.