Tips for an easier fast for exclusively nursing moms

Silver Member Joined: May 09 2010 Posts: 608

Thank you so much, everybody, for your advice and for taking time to type it! Needless to say, I am REALLY NERVOUS for this fast (I don't know why, maybe I'm like this every year and I just don't remember...?) and can use all the advice I can get. Would anyone suggest cooking/baking towards the end of the day to pass the time? I'm getting mixed reviews with that.. some say it really helps, others say it makes them sick.

Definitely AYLOR. I did and I was surprised with the answer I got. He told me that I should fast until chatzos and then drink (or eat - once the fast is broken it's broken). I told him that I will try to fast the entire fast and he told me that I shouldn't even try. He said that I can't because my baby and I are at risk of dehydration.
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Diamond Member Joined: Oct 08 2009 Posts: 4018

I usually fast fine, but when I had a nursing baby I was told to give the baby a bottle of water, but that I must fast! I discovered something that works for me, I take a few green kamut capsules before every fast and it helps me not to feel hungry at all. I also eat a lot of grapes and watermelon before the fast, as well as drinking a lot for 2 days before the fast, whether nursing or not. I once fasted on Yom kippur with an infant of a few weeks old, who kept on nursing and nursing, by the end of the fast I was feeling so awful and discovered that we had a case of thrush! Never forgot that one!

Staying in bed and taking it easy makes Tisha Bav an easier fast, unlike Yom Kippur when you want to be in shul, at least a bit.