definitely craving sweets as a nursing mama. and cheese...i love cheese. i'm sure i have clogged arteries i'm eating so much cheese.

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When I was pregnant I had *cravings* for very specific things; grapefruit, bagels, cheeseburgers and snickers bar. I was hungrier than usual, but not hugely so. Now that I'm nursing (newest son is 6 months old) I get hungry all the time; crazy hungry. I don't get as many cravings, but when I do they are almost always for sweets.

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Pecan pie! I can eat half a pie at a time. It's disgusting... and so good.

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Thank god I'm not the only one craving sweets all the time. I know it's not good for my cholesterol, but I can eat cookies all day long. Today, after lunch, I had two pieces of chocolate, but that was not enough. I had to have some Swiss Cake Rolls also! I'm losing a lot of weight now, but at least I'm not gaining, and I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight. When I was pregnant, I wanted stuff like chicken and mashed potatoes

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Gawd, I'm on month 14 with my son and I still eat a ton of food. Unfortunately, though, since it's not exclusive, I've been putting weight back on but I'm still hungry! When the heck does that go away? When you wean?

And yes, the cravings are always sugary. Honey in my tea, cookies, cake, brownies...but never starches. I could care less about a cracker or some bread. While I was pregnant, it was more of a beans and Mexican food, ALL OF THE TIME. I couldn't get enough chocolate in the third trimester.

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I meant to say I'm not losing any weight now (of course I'm not, I eat 10 cookies a day!)

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When I was pregnant I didn't have too many cravings, instead I had aversions. It took me almost until the 6th month to be able to eat meat again, and I still can't eat pork chops. However, when I started breastfeeding I swear that I made my husband make more chocolate chip cookies in the first two months than he had in the whole previous year. It has calmed down but I still have days when I am starving and I make my husband bake cookies. (I'd do it myself, but mine suck! :})

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I was hungrier when I was breastfeeding than when I was pregnant... unfortunately I stopped breastfeeding,but haven't stopped eating !!!! LOL

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I constantly craved sweets while breastfeeding. While I was pregnant, I craved salt and vinegar potato chips and Taco Bell.

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oh my gosh! i'm so glad that other breastfeeding mamas crave sweets, too. i could eat sweets all day long, especially cookies and cake. i've baked at least twice a week since our 8 month old was born.

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Oh me too....i learned that we crave sweets when we need protien, so try some hardcore protien first and see if that helps.
I am one of the unlucky ones how gains weight while BF, NOT during pregnancy.

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ICECREAM....When I was breastfeeding I started craving icecream anything. Before children, I didn't even like icecream. I've long stopped breastfeeding, but the icecream craving lingers on...

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So happy to hear that I am not alone in the suguar craving breastfeeding mom category. When I delivered in the hospital, I received a box of chocolates and choclate covered raisins along with bridgemix. Needless to say the whole box of chocolates was gone before I got home 2 days later and the cravings have continued on as my son is 2 months now. I have baked rounds of cookies along with eating a bag of kisses, chocolate and butterscoth chips. I eat more now than when I was pregnant only gaining 35 pounds and losing 20 before returning home.

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my god I thought it was only me. I wanted sweets all the time when I was pregnant and now that I am breastfeeding it is the same. I want cookies and fudge.
While I was pg I wanted cream cheese everywhere, now I am eating my bagels dry. I am all about protein and sweets.
Don't get me started on the Lays Dill Chips, sounds gross, but so tangy and tasty.

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Chocolate chocolate chocolate is all I want. And all of a sudden. Good thing it's Valentine's Day, I can be seen in public with my lust!

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8 weeks after delivering my second child, i can't stop eating. but the cravings i have are for chocolate and peanut butter. as i sit here reading, i'm digging into the jar of creamy jif with a spoon, and alternating with a chocolate icing.

not conducive to losing weight, but oh so yummy ;)

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When I was pregnant I ate broccoli every night for dinner - a huge steaming bowl of green veg but especially broccoli with a sprinkling of grated cheese. I felt oh-so-healthy! As soon as I gave birth I went off food completely but craved chocolate like mad. I don't even eat chocolate that much normally but I was sending my husband out to the petrol station to buy 3 or 4 bars at a time. Eventually a neighbour told me that she'd had the same craving when she was breastfeeding. She said it could be caused by a lacking vitamin or mineral in my diet but she couldn't remember what! Never found out what it was though and as soon as I stopped breastfeeding the cravings stopped and my weight plummeted back to normal (thankfully.)

Now I'm pregnant again and can't stand broccoli - it tastes like washing up liquid...but I can't get enough boiled eggs! Wonder if the chocolate cravings come back when this baby's born? Does anybody know what mineral might be missing if you're craving chocs?

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Sounds like you aren't the only sugar freak out there!

I was just telling a pregnant friend how she can look forward to "the nursing diet"--the chief tenet of which is, Eat whatever you want, whenever you want it.

Sadly, I wanted, and ate, just for instance:
* an entire box of Halloween Lucky Charms--with marshmallow ghosts!--in 1.5 days
* what had to be enough Girl Scout cookies to send a troop on a field trip to Washington, D.C.
* umpteen pounds of sugar in my (sometimes 3x daily) lattes, which i drank alongside a giant peanut butter/chocolate chip cookie, every afternoon.

This in addition to regular, healthy meals. For the first six months, I often ate two breakfasts. And, in spite of it all, for months I dipped way below my pre-baby weight. (Now it's evening out a little more. It's nice when your pants don't fall off.)

During pregnancy, I wanted meat, peanut butter, and eggs by the dozen. I was hungrier than usual, but never once had to eat during the night. But for the first month or so of nursing, I'd beg my husband to bring snacks during the night while Baby A fed...cheese and crackers, protein bars, whatever he could find in the dark...or else my hands would shake so much I feared I'd drop her.

Now that Baby A is two, we're down to nursing only in the morning, and it seems she's going to drop that soon. My appetite has slowly normalized since she was about 18 months. There are many things I'll miss about our nursing relationship, and the nursing diet is definitely among them.

Now I tell my preggo friends not only to fill the freezer with made-ahead meals, but also to stock the pantry with quick, healthy, no-cook snacks. And lots of them. Nursing hunger is way more intense than pregnancy hunger, and I don't think people know to expect it.

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I can’t believe it, I thought there was something wrong with me or that I was just so tired that i always needed a sugar rush for a little boost. I was starting to get worried,however - wondering if all of this sugar is ok for the baby. My DD is 6 months and unfortunately I’m not one of the lucky ones loosing the weight so easily. I was bedridden with my pregnancy and gained almost 70pounds, lost about 27 pounds before I even came home from the hospital and gained back about 5. It’s depressing me but I can’t help it I’m always hungry. Even though now that i know I’m not alone - it’s still getting me down somewhat…every morning I wake up and tell myself today no sweets and before the bedtime comes I’ve given in at least once if not more. It’s not only the sweets, I’m just always hungry…it’s scary.

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