Breastfeeding When Sweaty

The first time your baby refused the breast, you should have taken a shower. Why don't you pour a bunch of salt on your food and see if you like it. Of course it's because you worked out! Try wiping off the breast with a wet towel if you do not have the time to shower. I've had to do that several times.

It is the lactic acid build up in your milk not the sweat. There are plenty of moms who feed while sweaty...hello Florida! My daughter was sensitive to it but my son wasn't. They say to wait 2 hours after exercise to feed. Just another thing to add to your list of don'ts!!! :)

It is not the sweat, but of course you shouldn't nurse your daughter when you are sweaty. The reason she won't nurse is the lactic acid. Breast milk tastes different after exercise. You are basically souring your breast milk for several hours after you exercise. If she will drink from a bottle, pump before you go to the gym so she has something to eat for the several hours after your workout. Or better yet, arrange your gym schedule around her feeding schedule. If she is still very young and eating every few hours, you may need to back off on your exercising until she is a bit older. Set your priorities. You may love your time alone at the gym, but you are a mommy now and your baby will not be small for long.

It may not be the sweat so much as the different taste. My daughter was the same as yours. I had to shower and even wait a little bit before feeding her. My son on the other hand, nursed no problem, even if I just came home from a half marathon - go figure!

You're releasing lactic acid when you exercise so the milk will taste different. Try exercising right after her feeding and then your body will have enough time to 'recover' before the next feeding.

The woman who wrote that exercise can change the taste of breast milk is correct. Vigorous exercise causes a build-up of lactic acid, which changes the taste. Some babies are more sensitive to the taste than others. My first baby didn't like it, but the other two either didn't notice or care. I'm not sure how long the build-up lasts, but it seems like it was fine about an hour later. I would just pump that milk and mix it with other milk I had pumped that tasted normal. My daughter would usually take a bottle while I was at the gym, so she didn't need to nurse right when I got home. Good luck, and good for you creating such healthy alone time for yourself!!!

It has nothing to do with being sweaty. Exercise builds up lactic acid in your milk, making it taste sour to your daughter. Nurse her just before exercising, and she'll probably gradually get used to the taste of the milk and be willing to drink it anyway, after a while (all mine did).

That sounds like a nobrainer to me. Breast milk is sweet and sweat is salty. It probably didn't smell like it is supposed to.

Easily remedied... just take a quick shower and make sure you rinse well. :)

After exercising... it's not the sweat. It can literally change the taste of the breastmilk.... as one exercises it releases certain chemicals & hormones etc. So, they say that after exercising a baby may not want to nurse and reject it. But after a few hours, the body goes back to 'normal.'

The recommendation is plan ahead and plan exercise before you want to nurse... or pump a few bottles first. Keeping in mind that this can also change your breastmilk production too.

R.,
Aside from her not getting your clean smell, breast milk is soured by exercise sometimes. None of my children would nurse for the first 2-3 hours after my workouts. I would pump just before the gym and then that would be the milk they got after my workout and then the next feeding would be resupplied with good milk. Even if they don't latch on, they smell the soured milk, their senses are excellent, just like we would not drink a sour glass of milk after putting the glass to our face and smelling it, they are not going to drink from us if we don't smell right! This was a good time for daddy to feed the baby too, it was a long hot shower for mom to shave her legs, etc. and relax after a workout and bonding time with daddy!
Good luck!

Hi R., I think a shower goes without saying if your baby is going to put her mouth on you. Think about it, would you want to perform certaind things on your husband right after a good work out with no shower? I think not. We learn as we go. J. L.

When you excercise your body releases endorphins and some other types of (natural) chemical reactions. After a hard excerscice, it can make your milk taste sour.

Hi R.,

I always shower off after the gym before I breastfeed and after I get a massage (when that happens). Indeed, my little one has refused to breastfeed when she smells sweat or even the oils from a massage therapist's hands on my body. If she is crying from the lack of food while I have been at the gym and there is no time to shower because of her panic sitution, I take a clean washcloth and simply wash all of my breasts and chest with warm water and soap she is familiar with before I feed her. I have learned this lesson well, so I NEVER breastfeed when I come right from the gym. I always shower before feeding.

Babies simply have a heightened sense of smell and they associate their mothers, especially the breastfeeding ones with very particular scents. Salty, sweaty ones are not ones they can identify or appreciate, especially since our gym bodies pick up other odors from other gymgoers.

Hope this was helpful.

They love the smell of the soap you use, if you were in your daughters shoes would you want to be held next to a sweaty betty body, lets say your hubby played BB for 3 hrs had sweat all over him then crawled into bed with you , you turn over to cuddle him OMG gross LOL LOL LOL

I'm a mother of 3 and a Lactation Consultant. Yes, it's lactic acid, most babies do not seem to mind the taste. Your little one may be more sensitive. It WILL NOT harm your baby. Keep up with your workouts, studies show those BF moms who exercise often have better milk supplies, more energy ,and are calmer. Keep up the good work.
Shower 1st, hand express a teaspoon from each breast while in the shower. Remember babies can smell Br. milk from 3 feet away so don't change your "scent" with any new products. Good luck!!!

W., mother of 7-5-2(still nursing of course)

R., You may have to change your routine. Try pumping before working out so she can eat from a bottle while you are at the gym, or nurse her before you work out. I doubt the problem has anything to do with you being sweaty. It's been many years since I have nursed, but I remember reading that breast milk will taste sour to a baby right after any type of exercise. Perhaps you can start going to the gym after you put her to bed for the night. Good luck!

Didn't read your responses, but perspiration is salty. Try washing off your breasts and changing your bra/shirt before feeding her. Sometimes its just that simple...you may need to also do an armpit check, babies are so sensitive! I really hope this helps because you need to keep this time for yourself...helps you feel sane! Love my workouts too :-)

I think its is horrible that mothers are being so critical of nursing after the gym. I cannot believe (I mean I can) what Laura V wrote. The point is information sharing not to lay on the guilt, most mommy's do that well enough to themselves.

It may be the sweat, but I've heard not to nurse after working out because you have built up lactic acid while exercising, and it effects the breast milk. I know she hadn't actually tasted the milk, but maybe she could sense it.

Hi R.,

You are lucky to have your "own" time at the gym. Good for you. What I have read on the issue it that your body produces some hormone during strenuous activities that makes your milk salty. Taste it next time, maybe it's true. Babies surely have a sweet tooth. I have experience a similar situation when weaning off my child; the milk started to taste salty and she was refusing the breast until it naturally dried out. She was 1 1/2 at that time.

Good luck,
K

You didn't mention how old she is. But my son, at about 9 months-ish, started kinda refusing the breast because all four top teeth were coming in!

Hi~

I had a similar experience! When my son was maybe 5 months old, I took advantage of a gift certificate for a massage. I chose an herbal massage with essential oils which made me smell and feel fantastic. The problem was that my son didn't like the smell and refused to breastfeed. It took me a while to figure out why he stared fussing so much when I would hold him. After my husband was having luck holding him and I wasn't, it finally dawned on me that the oils made me smell differently and my son didn't recognize me!! So I took a shower right away and washed off all the oils. My son finally came to me after my shower and nursed just fine. I think this is just a learning curve for new mommy's!!

Although there is conflicting data, some says that Lactic Acid builds up in your breast milk when you work out which can give babies a tummy ache or taste weird and so you should wait about an hour after working out to nurse them! So its the lactic acid not the sweat...

When you exercise (enough to sweat) you produce lactic acid. This is probably affecting the taste of your breast milk. Please check with your pediatrician as to the most optimum time to exercise while you are breastfeeding.

Yes I have had that happen before. I run every morning and when I got back I would nurse my youngest. She use to be fine with it. One day I got back and she did the same thing your little one did. After that I just always made sure to shower before or just wipe off my breast with a wet towel or something.
Good luck.