Tandem Nursing

[Ambie]

Anyone else here tandem nursing? I did a Whole 30 a few months back (and eat the same as whole 30 up till a few weeks ago when we fell off the wagon). I am constantly hungry... I feel like I'm justifying massive quantities of food because I nurse my 2.5 year old 4 times a day & my 9 month old all the time.

I add CO to my coffee to help push off the hunger, fry my eggs in CO, have a ton of roasted veggies each meal, etc.

Anyone have ideas how I can feel full longer? Or even full right after a meal? I swear I eat like an Olympic athlete. I start my next whole 30 in May and want to try implementing ideas early.

[Robin Strathdee]

Make sure you're eating as many meals as you need. For most nursing mamas, that's at least 4.  Keep those meals high calorie and don't skimp on the starchy veggies.

[AmyS]

If you're nursing two I'd aim for six full meals per day and work down from there to the suggested four, only if you find you don't need six.  Make sure that you include lots of starchy carbs in each meal.

 

I nursed twins so not quite the same as tandem nursing, but it's absolutely astonishing how much you have to eat to nurse two.

[Ambie]

Thanks ladies! Would 1/4 cup of rice do a meal as my starchy carbs? I'm not a potato fan & sweet potatoes give me awful gas if I eat them regularly.

Nursing twins!!! You go mama.... that had to be so tough.

[AmyS]

If you're not doing Whole30 you could experiment with rice, but if it were me I'd eat more than 1/4 cup.  You could also try other starchy carbs like different varieties of squash, carrots, beets, and so on, especially if you're aiming to stick fairly close to the Whole30 template - not sure if you are though.

[Noelle]

For what it's worth, I'm nursing just one toddler and I eat four HUGE meals a day. I could easily see needing five or six meals while nursing two little ones.

Also, I've found that, for whatever reason, eggs alone don't cut it for protein for me. I seem to need some meat with my eggs to help them "stick."

[Ambie]

I should look at the list... but are white potatoes allowed? I really can't tolerate sweet potatoes... I do love some rutebega soup or collard greens in the morning. I'm going to have to look into what types of carbs that are starchy are ok. Rice seemed easy, but I see that's a big no no.

Thanks so much. I feel better hearing 4+ meals is more realistic for me right now.

[AmyS]

Rice and white potatoes are out.  There are many varieties of sweet potatoes, though.  There are also many varieties of squash, and there are carrots, beets, turnips, and other veggies that fill that starchy carb role.  Good luck hunting 'em down!

[LisaLulu]

I tandem nursed my girls for 6 months when I wasn't doing whole 30 and I was so hungry all the time that I actually got into a lot of bad food habits that caused me to do this whole 30 in the first place! Now I'm just nursing one and it's still a challenge to eat enough (having time to eat let alone make the food is a problem sometimes too). I made some plaintain chips fried in coconut oil last night and ate them with a giant steak, it filled me up really well.

[AmyS]

Yes, when you're nursing, GIANT is the word for your meals.  FREQUENT is another good word.  You'll never eat like this again, enjoy!