Have you delivered recently? Are you surprised when worrisome nausea to which you though you said goodbye long ago (during your first trimester) of pregnancy did a strong comeback? Are you feeling the spell of nausea mostly when you are feeding the baby? No need to be astonished or confused. Some breastfeeding moms experience nausea while feeding their child during their early weeks of the nursing session. It is fairly common and you can deal with it easily. Read on.
Breastfeeding nausea

  • What Causes Nausea During Breastfeeding?
  • When Should I Worry About Feeling Nauseous While Feeding My Baby?
  • How Can I Prevent Or Stop Being Nauseous During Breastfeeding?

What Causes Nausea During Breastfeeding?

Ten reasons which may cause nausea during breastfeeding are:

  1. Release of oxytocin: The hormone oxytocin manages the flow of milk from your breasts to your baby. Not only oxytocin causes the milk ejection reflex but it is also connected with digestion and other gastrointestinal hormones that can cause nausea. Mostly nausea caused by the release of Oxytocin disappears around two months after delivery
  2. Baby’s growth spurts: During early weeks of life, the baby drinks more breast milk and that too more frequently. This will cause a spike in the oxytocin hormone level. This constant hike in the hormone will increase the chances of feeling nauseous
  3. Deficiency in the diet: Your body needs an additional 250 calories every day to keep its capacities at ideal levels while breastfeeding. Keep in mind that your body’s first obligation will be to deliver excellent milk (calorie stacked) for your child, no matter you eat more or less than needed quantity and quality. Your body will pull the extra calories needed from its reserves if your intake of the calories become insufficient. Thus, any shortfall in the diet will be evident in the mother though never in her breast milk
  4. Low sugar level: If you don’t have your food on time, the blood sugar levels will dip fast when you are breastfeeding. This can make you nauseous
  5. Low blood pressure: Low blood pressure in a breastfeeding mother can lead to nauseous feeling during breastfeeding
  6. Dehydration: There is an increased chance that the mother gets dehydrated while breastfeeding if she is not properly hydrated by drinking more water. Dehydration can cause nausea
  7. Recuperation after delivery: Being pregnant and coping with delivery demands various physical and hormonal changes. The process of getting to normal may not be easy for some women. Their body take more time to get into the track. Fatigue and sleeplessness can be the outcome resulting nausea during breastfeeding
  8. Iron deficiency or being anemic: Iron deficiency is one of the major cause that could trigger nausea during breastfeeding. Losing too much blood during delivery can lead to iron deficiency when the daily intake of iron is inadequate
  9. Post-natal depression: When the mother uses anti-depressant drugs for the postnatal depression, even if they are prescribed by the doctor and are safe during breastfeeding, can often experience nausea during breastfeeding

Nausea during breastfeeding

When Should I Worry About Feeling Nauseous While Feeding My Baby?

Even though feeling nauseous while feeding your baby during the early weeks is not uncommon, you should consider seeking medical attention if:

  • You experience severe nausea that exceeds eight weeks (two months)
  • You are experiencing some other symptoms associated with nausea. For example, when fever is associated with nausea, it could be the indication of urinary infection and seek medical advice is required

How Can I Prevent Or Stop Being Nauseous During Breastfeeding?

Feeling queasy while breastfeeding can be very hard to handle. Especially as you have a baby to take care, feeling nauseous during feeding him can create more issues than the nausea you experienced during your pregnancy.
Here are few suggestions that may help you to deal with nausea:

    • Follow the tips used to control the morning sickness: As nausea during breastfeeding is much similar to the morning sickness, you experienced during your first trimester of pregnancy, consider the tips you tried for treating the morning sickness to stop nausea during the breastfeeding also
    • Increase the intake of fluid: Increasing the daily intake of liquid will help to fight against nausea during breastfeeding. Try to drink more pure water in addition to other liquids like juice. You should try to:
      • Drink a glass of milk before starting to feed the baby
      • Drink two to three glasses of water just before nursing
      • Sip lots of liquid in between the feeding schedules
      • Drink Buttermilk or lassie which will help both to control nausea and hydrate your body
    • Munching while feeding: Keep some crackers close by and munch on while feeding your baby. This will help to keep nausea at bay
    • Eat well: As your body needs more energy, make sure you are having a well-balanced healthy homemade food
      • Do not go for heavy meals as it will make you more nauseous
      • Likewise never eat food loaded with extra fat, salt or sugar
      • Eat six small meals during the day. You can have healthy snacks in between the meals
      • Eating on time is as significant as eating the right food. This will help to keep the blood sugar level constant
    • Lying down while feeding: Feeling nauseous is found to lessen when the mother lie-down when feeding the child. Make sure the child is in a convenient position when you try this
    • Sleep well: Take plenty of rest and sleep as and when you can. Your body will require a lot of rest to recoup from the birthing process, and in addition, the additional rest is needed to deal with the weakness of nursing. Always take a nap when your baby sleeps and ask the other family members or maids to take care of other errands. Lack of sleep and weakness can also trigger nausea while you are breastfeeding
    • Home remedies: Indeed, while you are breastfeeding your child, you need to avoid medicines as much as possible. However, you can try replacing the medicines with some home cures that could check nausea. Some of the home remedies are:
      • Ginger: Eating or drinking products with ginger will help to clear nausea. Try ginger tablets, sip ginger tea. Chewing ginger tablets will also help
      • Milk kefir: Milk kefir is a refreshing, probiotic cultured fermented milk drink (tastes like a mixture of yogurt and buttermilk). Drinking 4 ozs on an empty stomach in the morning and increasing little by little every morning up to 8 ozs is found to work fast in eliminating nausea
      • Peppermint: Chewing and eating peppermint leaves will help to relax your stomach muscles and helps the fats to break down faster. It will also help the food to pass quickly through the stomach and intestines and thus, prevent nausea

Despite the fact that the above suggestions are believed to be safe, discuss with your doctor before trying any of them.
Never get too much annoyed by your new issue. With the help of all the above remedies, you could be able to control being nauseous. And wait patiently as it vanishes from your body along with the pregnancy hormones.
Read more on breastfeeding a baby in section here.