Sunday, November 29, 2009 Melissa asks

Q: Can breastfeeding a baby affect my blood sugar?

Can breastfeeding a baby affect my blood sugar? I have not been diagnosed as diabetic but was with gestational diabetes and I am trying to watch my blood sugar levels to prevent diabetes. It seems when I nurse in the morning that my fasting number is over 100 and when I do not nurse it is low 100 or in the 90's area. I say this cause this am it was 101 and the day before it was like a 107 after I nursed my little girl. We are still only like 7 weeks from when I gave birth to her. So how long does my blood sugar take to normalize after I give birth? Or is it going to vary since I breastfeed her?

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12/16/09 4:00pm

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my last child (25 yrs ago.)  I breastfed for the first 3 months.  During the time I was nursing, I found that my sugars were lower during the nursing period.  After I quit they went up and I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  Keep your weight down, get exercise (not just caring for and running after a child) and eat right (veggies - fiber - cut sugerary drinks <especially diet soda>) and you will have the better chance of avoiding type 2 diabetes.

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By Melissa— Last Modified: 12/27/10, First Published: 11/29/09