Breastfeeding Giving Me the Chills

Have you been losing weight? A common side-effect of losing the baby weight is feeling chilly- especially if a lot of calories are being literally sucked out of you. :)
I was cold like that, too early on while breastfeeding, but it stopped for me around six months. Then at about ten months I started getting cold again- which went with the new weight I was dropping while still breastfeeding.
:)

Its probably not exactly related to breastfeeding, but the hormone changes associated with pregnancy, birth, and then breastfeeding. I would get your thyroid checked. Its really common for your thyroid to go a little out of whack during your childbearing years.

Have your thyroid checked. One of the symptoms of underactive thyroid is feeling cold all the time. It may not be related to breastfeeding. If your thyroid levels show "normal", ask if you can have a trial of thyroid hormone to see if that helps. Good luck!

K. Z.

Maybe circulation concerns? Maybe you can get massages or have your husband massage you 30 minutes before you nurse? It helped me, my children are 8 and 2 and no longer nursing, but I got the chills also. It helped.
H.

If this is your first baby it is probably not the breastfeeding itself that is causing you to chill. It is part of you body and hormones readjusting. It may feel like breastfeeding is the cause because you have to uncover a bit.

This happened to me with my first child and it took a while for it to pass. I'd feel so cold that nothing could warm me up. I'd literally be shivering at 80 degrees. This wasn't as difficult with my second baby - it only lasted a few weeks.

If you continue to have difficulty, you may want to talk to your doctor about how long it is taking for your hormones to get back in balance.

Best wishes,
M. Fastrup

Hi--
I agree with an earlier post---it's probably a thyroid imbalance. Don't worry, it's no big deal. Having a baby can throw your hormones off and so can breastfeeding. Your thyroid is part of the endocrine system that makes the hormones, so if one part of the system is out of balance it can throw another part of the system out. There are some simple natural cures to get you back in balance if you don't want to take medicine. The easiest is taking a kelp supplement--it's the iodine that does the trick. I would recommend seeing a natural doc to help you with dosage. If you want to try it on your own start with a small dosage and build it up until you start feeling warmer. If you start having night sweats then you've over-dosed and thrown your thyroid to the other extreme. Happy to talk to you more if you need more info on this.
J.

I freeze all the time! my daughter will be nursing and be hot and almost sweating and im freezing, she hates to be covered up while eating and im the one who has to have a blanket around me! Lots of good advice from other answers, good job on still breastfeeding!!

I haven't experienced exactly what you are talking about, but I felt like nursing just sucked the life out of me sometimes. Pumping was especially exhausting.
Getting your thyroid checked is not a bad idea, pregnancy can do weird things.

I didn't have chills with my 1st, but with my 2nd, i constantly get chills while nursing and when it's a "tiddle bit nipply", it hurts because my nipple suddenly changes in my son's mouth (becomes hard like normal)...have wondered what that feels like to him...LOL! I just snuggle under a blanket or use my nursing shirts that keep as much skin covered while I nurse and that has alleviated it some. Interesting fact though, I don't notice if I get chills while I'm pumping...hmmm...maybe because I am too distracted to notice how cold I am when I am busy watching the pumps.

I had them, and they were also related to weight loss. When I realized that is what it was, I grabbed a blanket and enjoyed the "burn". :)