Breastfeeding a newborn and managing to ride?

S

sparky1981

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 October 2010
Messages
383
Visit site
I had my baby 2 weeks ago and am hoping to ride in a months time. Im breastfeeding and am finding it difficult to spend much time with the horses as she wants feeding all the time so am wondering how im going to be able to start riding again. Did anyone else manage to juggle breastfeeding with riding and how did you do it?im wondering whether to try expressing an a few weeks?
 
A month is a really long time when your baby is only 2 weeks.

At this stage she will want feeding all the time, is totally normal, but by 6 weeks you will probably find things have settled down at a bit and it will seem a possibility.

I rode out for the first time after my baby at 6 weeks, my DP came along too with baby in a sling. We just walked quietly around the lanes and baby slept the whole time.

I'm still breastfeeding my daugther now (she's nearly 2) but only at night and in the morning. I rode off and on from 6 weeks onward. It gets easier and easier as they get older but follow your instincts as well. If you don't feel ready to leave her, don't. The time passes quick and riding will become a vaild option again!

Re expressing, I started feeding expressed milk sometimes from about 3 months. I never had any trouble getting my daughter to accept a bottle of EBM although I know some of my friends did. I have heard if you introduce a bottle too early it can cause breast confusion so it might be worth holding off on the expressed milk until she is a little bit older. But express and freeze all you can is my advice. you can never have too much milk in the freezer (the things us mums do LOL!!!!)

Good luck and hang on in there!
 
First few weeks of breastfeeding are all about establishing supply and demand, then, you will find your baby will settle more and go longer between feeds... and you will have more time than if you need to be washing and sterilising and making up feeds. stick with it if you can as honestly, it becomes a doddle after the first few weeks and I have fed 4 babies (one of whom was 10lb 8!).
Its also brilliant for getting your stomach back :)

Congrats on your baby.
 
You should be able to go 2 hrs between feeds after a while, I was riding a week or so after giving birth. I have my horses at home though so easy to nip in and feed, but I would often wander around the garden saying hello to the horses in the field, with her under my t shirt, no-one would have known if I was feeding her or not. I did this with all 3 of mine.
 
I thought you're not supposed to ride for 3 or 4 months after birth because your belly muscles won't heal??? I'm sure my midwife said this to me when I was expecting my last one.

If I'm wrong than that is fine! I'm pregnant and due next April. I was getting depressed thinking I was going to have to spend summer out of the saddle. Tbh I haven't asked the midwife this tme around.

ETA expressing milk is great. If you're going to do it invest in an Avent hand pump - much better than the battery versions.
 
Last edited:
scrunchie said:
I thought you're not supposed to ride for 3 or 4 months after birth because your belly muscles won't heal??? I'm sure my midwife said this to me when I was expecting my last one.

If I'm wrong than that is fine! I'm pregnant and due next April. I was getting depressed thinking I was going to have to spend summer out of the saddle. Tbh I haven't asked the midwife this tme around.
Click to expand...


Everyone is different, in pregnancy you learn to listen to your body, so keep listening, your body will say when its too much (pain, more bleeding, out of breath etc) .

I imagine you would feel unbalanced for quite a while because of your tummy muscles so dont go riding your 3yr old TB ;) . Obv if you have had a c/ section wait longer than a natural birth without complications. Mary king got back on board pretty quick from what I remember
 
thankyou so much for replies i have a very supportive family and hubby so they can help. im hoping to be able to at least ride weekends so my other half can help out. just wondering if will have time to groom, tack up ride then untack and chuck out in field before she needs feeding again. we have the horses at home so that does help x
 
Toffee44 said:
....so dont go riding your 3yr old TB ;) .
Click to expand...


:lol:
I went to view my ex-racer when I was breast feeding.

I never felt unbalanced after giving birth (just a bit sore!), I think riding helps those core muscles that need to be get back to where they should be :)
 
I agree def express and freeze as much as you can. I got back in after about 7 weeks and was lucky that my baby took to a bottle no problem.
She often came to the yard with me and my sis would look after her while I rode then I was able to feed afterwards before finishing up.
You will find you will get into a routine and will find what works best for you fairly quickly.
 
Are you comfortable feeding outside?

Once I got the hang of it, I used to BF mine anywhere really, just quickly stick her under my T-shirt and all sorted. I could definiately groom whilst feeding once I got the hang of it, or I would just take a break for a bit and sit on a haybale.

For winter, I would recomend a long strappy top under your T-shirt/jumper/coat so you can pull the strappy top down below your bra and lift everything else up. This avoids having to expose any tummy flesh to the freezing air. A big coat that you can wrap round yourself and your baby will keep you warm.

Also a sling is your friend I think. I used to strap my daughter to my chest whilst I did all the grooming/tacking up stuff then hand her to dad whilst I rode. She seemed much more relaxed than in a buggy and less inclined to cry.
 
yes ive considered a sling and have been talking her up with me and huuby in her buggy but think she might get abit cold when colder weather comes in so will leave her at home then with mum or hubby.when did you all start expressing my friend advised me not to leave it to long or they wont accept bottle.i have brought a breast flow bottle that stimulates the breast so i can hopefully go between the 2.im not starting quite yet tho
 
Hi my baby is 6 weeks now and she is going about 2-3 hours between feeds, and tonight is the first time I've got on my boy partly because he's recently been gelded though
I just gave bin a groom and popped on him in the field bareback although I would have thought I would have enough time to go for a quick hack
What I was so surprised about was the lack of my core strength which is literally none existent but had not really noticed until now
Also when I got back she was still asleep :)
I did try expressing last week but she was having none of it so will try again in a few weeks
N&F
 
I shudder when I think - I used to take baby to a show and breast feed in between classes. I must have been mad!

Big loose cardi, cape type thing and you can be very discrete.
It takes time to get established with the milk supply and the demand from the baby and breast fed babies tend to want to feed more often.
I never got ANY of mine, all three, to take a bottle, they were weaned onto a cup, despite trying every sort of bottle, teat, etc. so I would take advice and get them used to taking a bottle soon. Otherwise they will refuse point blank, like mine. The first one was over 12 months before I stopped, the second about the same and the 3rd eight or nine months. By that time is was only a bedtime feed.

I know you want to ride, but don't aim to do too much of anything apart from looking after the baby, you won't have this time again, it soon passes. Enjoy.
 
My baby is 12 weeks and goes about 2 1/2 hrs between feeds. I have found ok to ride in the last few weeks if i get my act together as we live about 15 mins away from yard. Stomach muscles are weak as anything, but getting better! Be careful about waiting too long to introduce EBM and a bottle as i waited the recommended 6 weeks and LO flatly refuses to have anything 'fake' near her mouth thank you very much! Slings are life savers and BF is so easy once you get the hang of it. no making up bottles in the middle of the night!
 
Yeah, no probs. Well not too many! I would advise you to start feeding expressed milk asap as my baby that I waited a few weeks to introduce to EBM refused it and the other two took to it fine. After first two I was back riding in a fortnight, 3rd one it was 4 weeks due to stable problems, but that was much better in terms of strength and nerve! I did get bucked off on the road when the 2nd one was 4 weeks, which did really make me think about the risks. I sold that horse and got a safer one! Talking of risks I wouldn't handle/groom a horse with a baby in a sling, both in case of getting knocked over or the baby getting kicked or bitten. But defo emphasise with sitting on a hay bale feeding baby. I think by about 1 month a baby should be able to go a couple of hours without his/her mum. Good for you, them and hubby imo! Good luck - babies and horses are a knackering combo, but what a privilege to be able to enjoy both.
 
I have to admit that I've always given up breastfeeding at around 6 weeks. I've always found it very tiring - my babies have always been hungry through the night and I wasn't getting much more than a couple of hours sleep. They seem to sleep for so much better on formula - all of them started going through the night within a couple of weeks of changing.

But this is child no. 5 :eek::eek::eek: and is definitely the last as I've finally convinced hubby to have the snip. I'm determined to breast feed properly this time around.
 
I think if I had to get up to make bottles in the night I would be THAT tired that horses would have to go lol
I keep thinking that I can't wait till she's going longer and I can ride properly but it only seems like yesterday tht she was born, it's all going to fast and my lads not complain at all with all this lazing in the field all day
N&F
 
I think I started expressing at 3 or 4 weeks, main reason was to include hubby and give him the chance to feed the baby. I know alot of advice I was given was not to do it too soon but I had no problems so guess I was lucky.
Just don't let it stress you out.
 
I agree with all of the above, I knew after a few weeks that I had a 2 hour window in which I could do as I liked, although to be honest that was sleep !!!

You will get your own routine, and in the next week or soo that will become apparent , if you are like me, that first few weeks seemed like a life time!!!!!

Good luck and please remember that these first weeks are precious and do not last long! I did not believe it and all of a sudden my baby will be 6, 2 days before Christmas and I am so wanting those days back :)
 
I breast fed for six months (he was prem) but after the 8 weeks I did give him the odd formula bottle so I could go and ride. I'd had a C section, so couldn't do much earlier.

I found expressing impossible (we were too poor to afford an electric pump, just a manual gismo) so he had formula occasionally.

Never seemed to do any harm and he wasn't confused by it.

The bad thing was that I'd spend a few hours at the yard and my boobs would fill up...by the time I got back home I'd be ready to pop
lol.gif


He's 15 now and would die if he knew I was telling people this stuff
whaat.gif
 
Yep, I breastfed and did my first Fun Ride when baby was 6 weeks, then competed at the National Sidesaddle Champs (and placed) when he was 7-8 weeks.
I think the key was I always had one person solely for baby, who kept him safely away from horses so I didnt have to worry, and also then another (my mother) to groom!
He (baby!) wasnt very old when I drove (same horse) around Windsor Great Park. That day I booked 3 "nannies" incase I was let down at the last minute. 2 came with us plus baby, plus my 4 year old son. It was a 2-3 hour drive each way in an ancient landrover!!
I then cooled off a bit with my riding as toddlers are more difficult, so we bought the dreaded shetland and did endless lead rein etc for years.
Both lads ride now, so I must have got something right!!
 
And bottles are soouch hard work!!! I could not produce enough milk, I wad at the time very slim with a small baby, so had to go between bottle and boob!!! I never had any problems so I think that the switching between the 2 causes problems is a load of rubbish to be honest, ad long as they know when to expect booby and bottle and you can stick to it, them all should go smoothly, when all is said and done they really are creatures of habit :)
 
Just a suggestion, try asking your midwife about borrowing an electric pump from your hospital. Up here they lend you a big black and white machine called Daisy - and you do really feel like a dairy cow using it.

I never got on with electric or battery pumps. I found that I could adjust the pace and suction much better with a manual and get the job done a lot quicker.
 
mulledwhine said:
And bottles are soouch hard work!!!
Click to expand...

Erm.. a kettle of boiled water and you can make enough bottles up to last the day, keep them in the fridge and reheat when needed (taking the top off lets them heat up quicker). If you use a microwave (not recommended by health professional as can cause "hot spots" (they've obviously never heard of shaking the bottle after heating) it takes around 15 seconds to heat up to blood heat.

As I've said, I've always breastfed the first few weeks and then gone onto bottles. Tbh, I prefer bottles because it stops me leaking milk everywhere and found that formula fills babies up more than breast milk. I wouldn't knock it.

I just hope this baby isn't as hungry as the others were because it's always been an ambition of mine to breastfeed properly.
 
This is a great thread. Please don't let it descend into a breast v bottle debate.
Neither of my boys have ever had a bottle. I breastfed both until they were 12 months & then they went straight onto a cup.
I found a sling essential for poo picking, mucking out etc.
I would tack up, feed baby, then pop baby in buggy & then push him around the manège whilst leading horse until baby fast asleep then park buggy in the corner of the manège, hop on & ride.
If baby didn't want a feed & woke up needing feeding when I rode I just hopped off, sat on mounting block & fed.
Marks & Spencer do a fantastic sports bra, uber supportive & fastens at the front with a zip so easy boobage access.
If baby didn't want to settle in buggy then [shrug] horse was put away & I tried again the next day....it wasn't the end of the world.
My first son I was back in thesaddle 10 days after he was born. The 2nd son it was 7 days & I was back competing 6 weeks after that.
The most important thing is to enjoy your baby! They grow up too fast :)
 
My baby is 11 weeks old and I have just returned to riding after a 5 year break! Mad I know but I couldnt wait any longer!

I breastfeed and only express to allow me to go to the yard (I'm not into public feeding unfortunately - would be so much easier if you're brave enough!)

I expressed from 2 weeks and never had a problem other than she can be a bit fussy with me after she's had a bottle.

I bought a medela electric pump, expensive (around £100) but worth it as I can express a feed (currently around 5oz) in about 5 minutes so its a real time saver and less stress.
 
Hit reply before I'd finished!

Just wanted to add that if you OH and mum are happy to have the baby you could leave a bottle and easy have 4/5 hours to yourself - leave straight after you've fed the baby yourself, bottle for the next feed 2/3 hours later and then she'll be ready for you after another 2 hours or so :-)
 
My daughter is just 8 weeks old. I've been riding again since she was 3 weeks old, well I started with the odd plod round the block. While I was breastfeeding, I fed her first thing, car drive to yard would send her to sleep and id go straight up yard and ride for half hour, the other lady at yard (family friend) will keep an eye on little legs for me, and I'd norm manage half hour ride and skip out before 10 min drive home and feed again.

Unfortuately, breastfeeding didn't really work for my daughter and myself so I combi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top