Fasting & breastfeeding, anyone?

[raw-mommy]

i would like to know if anyone has done fasting while breastfeeding? i know it seems like it doesn't go hand in hand, but i am hoping i am wrong. i would LOVE, LOVE to do The Master Cleanse for at least 10 days but my husband tells me i'm nuts and he thinks i might loose my milk. any suggestions? please help?

i can't imagine not being able to fast as long as i continue to breastfeed. my daughter is 14 months old and now she eats solids very well :-) i don't want to loose my milk, but at the same time i would like to take a little care of myself. overall i just need a boost in my health and i know fasting will give me that. i read Stanley's "The Master Cleanse" book i didn't see anything regarding nursing mothers so i am assuming "the Master Cleanse" is safe while nursing? also, i read that with the "lemonade" your body receives all the nutrition it needs. so will my body have the appropriate nutrition to continue to make milk?

also, question - does anyone use the organic cayenne pepper drops or only dry HOT cayenne pepper powder. which way is better? it seems like the powder would be a messy way to go. can i use the cayenne pepper tincture when preparing my lemonade drink?

thank you! i hope i receive some advice on this matter!

thank you! thank you!

julia :)

[Anastazia]

Hi~
I totally understand the desire to fast, cleanse, detox, rebuild, even & especially when nursing (& after pregnancy), (drove me crazy to wait 3 years till my girl weaned, but I survived...) toxins you're releasing DO get into the milk, sometimes quite concentratedly,:eek: & it isn't good to do for more than a day or so!

I discussed this at length with my midwife & the women at la leche league, (br. feeding support) & yes, you can lose your milk rather quickly when you don't consume enough calories (it's not just about nutrition, it's about having enough calories to actually produce the milk...actually, br.feeding requires 500 more calories a day than pregnancy, for example...that may be slightly different with raw, seeing as calories don't seem to work the same way when 100%), even with taking the herbs that increase it...

...also your child will likely taste the cayanne & it could easily upset their delicate little digestive system (not to mention that sometimes it BURNS on the way out, which for kids especially can lead to MAJOR constipation, as in, "THAT HURT, & I ain't goona do it again until I absalutely HAVE to!!!)

Just being 100% raw is beneficial for healing/detox, but more gentle on your body...what about partial juice or smoothie fasting (feasting)? It'll accelerate things a little, but still lotsa nutrition for baby to get from your milk...:)

...of course the other option is to store a bunch of milk before you start the fast, then pump & dump during, to keep your milk production high, taking the herbs that help increase it, pumping more often than you'ld nurse...

...I was looking into that, but it would've inturrupted the nursing relationship between Hannah & I too much, & at that age, the child is likely to wean & not go back to the breast...:(

...didn't anyone ever warn ya that motherhood teaches you patience like nothin' else in the world??? (Ok, except marriage!!! :rolleyes: )

~Anastazia~

[raw-mommy]

thank you so much for a fast reply!! it's not what i wanted to hear :( but you make perfect sense :) i am a 100% raw and so is my daughter and my husband. i guess we are healthy peoples after all :) i shouldn't worry so much, but it's nice to know someone understands how i feel. aaahhh, i wanted to do "The Master Cleanse" sooooooo badly. ok i will wait. i will do the "green" smoothie fast for now like you have suggested. how many days can i safely do the "green" smoothie fast for?

do i need to add any fats (avocados, flax, olive oil, hemp...) to the smoothie or can i just do fruits and greens (i would like to lose a little weight if at all possible)

thank you so much for your kind help!! i am brand new to this site and i look forward to meeting other raw moms, like yourself :)

hugs,

julia

[heabrook]

I posted this to your other thread..

I can understand where you are coming from but I don't really know about fasting and breastfeeding. Though, I am basically fasting right now and I am breastfeeding my 12month old daughter.

I have recently discovered that I am celiac, and right now I am unfortunately not able to eat much of anything so I have started drinking fresh raw juices and eating some raw pureed "soups." My daughter is celiac too and she is not on solids, just my breastmilk.

I am doing child-led weaning so that means I will be breastfeeding my daughter until she is ready to end her nursing career. Obviously I will be introducing solids to her before then though :) The main reason she is not on solids is because a lot of foods were causing her to have rashes, etc... now that we now we are both celiac we can heal and eat what is not going to harm us. She was getting gluten through my breastmilk since I was eating wheat and other gluten containing foods because I did not know that we were gluten intolerant.

If I were you, I might try light fasting. You could do the master cleanse but still eat meals as well, just less than you normally would. Just a thought! Kudos to you for breastfeeding your daughter :D

[Anastazia]

You're welcome!
i would do it as long as baby is happy & satisfied & seems to be getting lotsa milk...& I would add fats, our body needs them, & the fats in avacadoes have been found to help your body burn fat! i remember reading here that Alissa & others were eating 2 or more avacadoes a day in the start & still lost weight!
They also help with feeling satisfied, (so likely that would translate to your milk, too, for baby to feel satisfied...in other words, up the fat content, the good fats you & your baby both need!) & are good for your skin & hair & brain!

Treasure that special time in your relationship with her as long as you can, it passes so fast, even if you nurse 5 years! (That's when Samual was weaned, in Old Testament times, before going to the temple...)

My daughter got sick, couldn't nurse for days, I couldn't access a pump, & my milk dried up...she was soooooo upset! (even a year later!) She wanted milkies MUCH longer!

She had just turned 3 & I'd always told her she could as long as she wanted to...{I couldn't even undress in front of her for a good 6 months without getting my chest pounced on!!! Lol!}

~Anastazia~

[Tiffany]

raw-mommy I hear you!!! I want to do a cleanse so badly. I even read all these juice feasting blogs so I can juice vicariously through other people. Doesn't help that hubby just finished a three month juice cleanse and his energy and weight are so great right now, I am jealous!

I would think that something along the lines of a juice feast, including the fatty supplements like hemp and flax oil would probably be the best route, but I am not sure about trying it because son is only 8 months old so it is way to early to wean him and I would be so sad if my milk dried up.

Heabrook, I would be really interested to hear how your juice and soup routine works out, if you keep it up for a while.

[Anastazia]

just thought of something, you could do a juice feast or smoothie feast, every other day! Or every third day, or wahtever works for you...
~Anastazia~

[raw-mommy]

i LOVE you, my Raw-Mommies! you are the nicest mommies i have ever encountered! thank you ALL for wonderful & thoughtful responses!! so happy to know i am not a lonely raw-mommy in this SAD world.

i am reading through all the responses for the 2nd time & i will follow all the great advice. thank you so much!

Blessings to ALL raw-mommies!

julia :)

[Raw Angel Mom]

I so understand you. I have been wanted to do a cleanse in me since i was pregnant. My daughter is 2 now and i still nurse her. I followed other advice by not doing a cleansing. But you can do an hydro collon cleansing without affecting your milk or child. I done it and it was fine.

You are cleansing and detoxing slowly on your raw diet anyway. Try to add more greens in form of smoothies or juice (leafy fresh greens parsely, spinach, kayle, dandelion, etc.....) just visit www.rawfamily.com

Love to your and your beautiful baby.

[Ginger]

I didn't read the other posts yet but i'm sure nobody is going to recomend fasting or cleansing while breastfeeding. I don't either, but I will tell you that I have done it and my child is totally fine and has never even has a cold in her life or any other symptom (except when I let her eat SAD on a couple occasions she got a fever and said her tummy hurt and even threw up twice)

I have done some cleansing and fasting, even dry fasted for 5 days after drinking a little bit of juice and lemonade for 3 days prior. I had no problems with my milk and my child had no problems either except she got a couple pimples that lasted a couple days. I saw them and started giving her flor-essence to help her detox with me. I completed my very first fast when she was around a year old and still nursing almost exclusivly. I fasted on wheatgrass, pomegranite juice and coconut water for 3 days and it was so amazing. I didnt drink very much at all. I later did 8 days with 5 being on nothing at all and still I had plenty of milk. Do you know what caused me to lose my milk? I went back to eating SAD and my milk was completely gone witin 30 days.

[4forme]

Wow, this was a great thread! I have been wanting to do a fast or cleanse for so long. Knowing that if I did, alot of my cravings would deminish due to getting rid of the Candida.
I like the idea of Juice feasting or doing just msoothies.
I have a question though. What exactly is "Juice Feasting"? Does it just mean drinking lots of juices, as oppossed to limiting the amount?

So, if I do juice or smoothies only, that's okay? I don't want to dump her with toxins.

Oh, (slightly off topic)I have just read about bentonite clay or charcoal absorbing alot of the toxins. What do you know about this? Is this safe, and safe while nursing?

Ram Mommy, let me know how you are doing, and what you end up doing. The rest of my family is totally SAD, so it's just me, and my nursling who is about 75% raw. It's so tempting, and I havn't been doing well lately. We definately feel it. Dd has been so cranky, and I feel so yuck. Raw is the way to go for sure!

RawVeganMom, ya know, when I am 90-100% raw, my milk is plentiful, but the more SAD I eat, the less milk I have. Interesting! Before going raw, I had to take fenugreek everyday to have enough.

[EmJo]

.
I have a question though. What exactly is "Juice Feasting"? Does it just mean drinking lots of juices, as oppossed to limiting the amount?

So, if I do juice or smoothies only, that's okay? I don't want to dump her with toxins.


I'm nursing a 15mo too! :)

From what I've read, juice feasting is consuming juice from 15 pounds of fruits and veggies per day. And the blogger that I'm reading about who is in the middle of a "juice feast" has had a lot of detox symptoms, so for LO's sake you don't want to do just juice. Smoothies are a different story, if you're already close to 100% raw. It would be just like continuing raw, with everything being blended. You could probably get away with juicing in the morning, and then doing green smoothies the rest of the day.

[raw-mommy]

thank you again for all the responses! you ALL are so wonderful! i like the response from "raw-vegan-mom" it's good to know that you were able to do a cleanse and keep your milk. yeah!!

thank you again to everyone for detailed & thoughtful responses!

blessings!

julia :)